NEWS
Leeds venue Boom has launched a crowdfunder after finding new premises. This follows their announcement last November that they are “being forced” to shut down in March this year.
The venue previously said that its landlord decided to terminate its lease to start work developing the building into flats and shops.
However, in an update shared yesterday (January 29), the venue looks set instead to relocate – and they’ll need some help.
“Before Christmas we made a formal offer to take on a building on the fringe of Leeds City centre,” they revealed. This new venue – which they note is larger than their current Millwright Street location – will be set up as a Community Interest Company (CIC) music venue to offer various community facilities and initiatives, such as rehearsal spaces, a recording studio, education programmes, and F&B offerings.
“We will protect everything we have built over the last decade including the scenes and communities that use our spaces, the bands and gigs we work with and all the connected businesses involved,” they continued.
“Boom has [been] through a pandemic and a cost of living crisis and many challenges in recent years – we’ve learnt a lot especially around how our organisation needs to be more resilient and how that looks and works with a fresh start.”
The venue has raised £30,000 for the new location so far, but they require another £52,000 to secure the deal.
Boom has since launched an official crowdfunding campaign with a target goal of £15,000, with the venue aiming to raise remaining funds through exclusive merchandise and physical media releases on vinyl and cassette tape. Find the campaign here.
Boom has been a vital part of Leeds’ alternative music scene, having helped foster a generation of hardcore bands in the city. “If people didn’t get to experience Boom,” Higher Power guitarist Max Harper told NME, “it would be very, very sad.”
“Leeds would definitely not have the scene that it has without Boom – maybe the desire for other people to travel to Leeds for shows wouldn’t be there as much. There are other small venues too, but Boom has been the constant and the foundation, and probably the inspiration for people because it’s a very encouraging space.”
Earlier this week, it was reported that 2024 saw the UK lose one grassroots music venue every two weeks – with nearly half making a loss and 200 remaining in a state of emergency as the country faces a “collapse in touring”.
Kate Nash, a Music Venue Trust patron, told the Houses of Parliament in an effort to highlight the growing issues that touring musicians and venues face.
She said, despite being “pretty successful” with “thousands and thousands of fans” and being able to “sell out a venue or two”, the practice of planning a tour was now “never exactly what you think and you’re always going to go over budget.
“The way touring works right now is that you’re always over-budget, you go into the red, and fingers crossed you make nothing,” she continued. “You’re hoping you can make it zero and make absolutely fuck-all. It’s a bit of a weird job, really.
Fontaines D.C. have teamed up with Rosalía for their new collaboration, Where Is Gone?.
The song features on the Irish rock band's forthcoming album, Dopamine Chamber, which arrives on Friday (16.10.26). For guitarist Carlos O’Connell, working with the Spanish superstar is particularly special because of his own Spanish roots.
He explained: “I’ve admired Rosalía ever since her debut album, which I thought was absolutely beautiful.
“What excited me most was the way she continued to preserve Spain's musical traditions, something that felt spiritually connected to what we've been trying to achieve with Irish music. Having roots in both countries, it's been really special to witness. "She's an artist who has continued to amaze me at every point in her career.”
Frontman Grian Chatten has also described the collaboration with Rosalía as one of the most memorable achievements of his career.
He revealed that he felt "humbled" when she agreed to lend her voice to the band's album.
Speaking to NPR, Grian said: “I've always felt there's something almost like a single big idea that I'm personally trying to communicate to the world before I get old and die, if that makes sense. There's one thing I think I'll spend my life trying to express. I have a feeling she has a similar outlook. … I mean, she's an amazing arranger, composer and lyricist. It means so much that she wanted to sing on something we'd put together. It's definitely one of the highlights of my career.”
Rosalía's links to Irish rock music extend beyond Fontaines D.C. She also offered inspiration and helped develop the Spanish lyrics for U2's The Mirror Maker (Rosalía), a track from their forthcoming album, Carnaval de Luz.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last week, she spoke about frontman Bono, saying: “I don't know him personally, but he sent me a text explaining that he was working on a new project and had written a song called The Mirror Maker."
Rosalía joked that Bono had invented a few words of his own.
She recalled telling him: “I wasn't sure what to make of it, but I told him he could create his own language if he wanted to.”
She described the opportunity to collaborate with the 66 year old music veteran as a real privilege.
She added: “Bono is a legend.
“It's amazing.”
Bono recently revealed that he was worried about seeming like a stalker when he reached out to Rosalía to ask whether he could name the song after her.
