Blood Youth forced to abandon gig at Leeds rock venue after audience member injured

A band had to abandon their gig in Leeds part way through the set after an audience member was injured.
Youth Blood were performing at The Key Club in Leeds on Sunday night. Picture: GoogleYouth Blood were performing at The Key Club in Leeds on Sunday night. Picture: Google
Youth Blood were performing at The Key Club in Leeds on Sunday night. Picture: Google

Headline act Blood Youth were performing at rock venue The Key Club when the lead singer spotted someone in the crowd had been hurt and called a halt to the set.

YEP reviewer Andrew Steel, who was watching Sunday night’s gig, said: “It’s a very small venue and there’s no security barrier which means fans can leap up on stage.

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“At various points in the evening, different people got on stage and stage-dived onto the crowd. It raises questions for me, as a music enthusiast, over the safety of small venues particularly.”

Mr Steel said he could not remember seeing the injured man on the stage at any point, but it appeared that he was hit by someone else as they leaped into the crowd around seven songs into the set.

“The music was still playing really loudly,” he said. “The next thing we saw was the band’s frontman ducking down. I’m pretty sure he jumped to the ground having seen something was happening.”

Returning to the stage, the singer urged everyone to make space so bar staff and people with medical experience could help the injured man.

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The Key Club said fixed barriers were in place at the venue to stop members of the audience getting onto the stage.

It said CCTV footage had been reviewed since the night and this showed the man was not injured by any stage-diver.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service said it sent a rapid responder and an ambulance after receiving a call around 9.50pm on Sunday.

A spokeswoman said the man had been taken to Leeds General Infirmary with a suspected knee injury.

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Mr Steel said the band had originally intended to return to the stage but cancelled the rest of the gig at around 10.25pm as the man was still being treated at the scene.

The venue in the Merrion Centre bills itself as the city’s only dedicated rock venue and regularly hosts gigs alongside its weekly club nights.

Mr Steel said small venues such as The Key Club were popular with certain bands precisely because the audience could get up close.

“Some artists, particularly in the metalcore genre, relish the interaction and involved with the crowd,” he said. “I understand why they do prefer intimate venues.

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"Ninety-nine out of 100 times there will be no serious injuries, but one in a hundred there will be and it can be really nasty.”

In a message on their Facebook page, the band told fans: "We had to cut our set short last night because somebody got really hurt. We've been in contact with the guy and thankfully he's doing great and is going to be okay.

"We hate seeing things like this happen, especially when we're all there to have a good time, so please just look after each other at shows. Huge shout out to all the medical, venue and security staff that helped us out, and thank you Leeds! He and we will be back."