Live At Leeds In The City 2023: Meet the promoter behind the event where you could find 'the next Ed Sheeran'

Live In Leeds: In The City was established in 2007 and has become one of the biggest events in the city’s music calendar. Hosted on stages across the city, from a chapel to Leeds’ most recognised venues, the event is known to plunge talent into the spotlight.

Since the launch of Live in Leeds: In The Park, a summer festival at Temple Newsam, the original event has returned to its roots.

Futuresound promoter Joe Hubbard told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “The two events have differentiated and found their own path. The City is more for people who want to discover the next big thing, watch new music and find new bands.

“The Park has more traditionally big names. It’s part of the journey, a band starting out might do Live At Leeds: In The City and eventually they’ll go on to The Park.”

Live at Leeds: In The City will return on Saturday October 14, with general tickets under £50. The full line-up has now been announced and BBC Introducing West Yorkshire will host a stage at Call Lane bar Oporto, showcasing local talent.

“I’m excited to see Hot Wax,” Joe said: “They’re doing really well at the minute, and Last Dinner Party who are tipped to be that next big band. There’s a lot of Leeds and Yorkshire artists as well so there's loads to look forward to.”

More than 100 artists will grace stages at more than 15 venues, including the Brudenell Social Club, Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds University Union and the Wardrobe. It’s a welcome boost for businesses that have had a challenging few years to contend with.

Joe said: “The event gives a lot of people a job in music, either the few of us who do it year-round like me or the lots and lots of people that do it on the day.

"It brings in money to the city through bars and venues; most of them have a full programme of music from the afternoon to last thing at night, so it’s a full day of takings and a full day of work for the engineers and staff. It’s like an ecosystem of people who work in music.

“The financial gain is high, but it also helps put venues on the map. You can see how Oporto has grown in the past few years, to the point where they’ve got a pretty full programme all week. It helps get more artists through the doors of those venues.”

The logistics of organising an event with multiple stages and hundreds of artists is a challenge, but Joe said watching everything come together on the day makes it all worth it.

He added: “The driving factor is that feeling of standing at the back of the room when there’s a really good gig going on, and thinking - I helped make this happen and help make these hundreds of people in the room really happy.

“You’ll hopefully find the next big thing. We’ve had Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, Lizzo and The 1975 and I’m sure that at this year’s event we’ll have someone who will be the next one of those names in a few years time.”