Live at Leeds is a music festival

Music festival

A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...

 that takes place across various venues in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 on the weekend of the May Day bank holiday

Bank Holiday

A bank holiday is a public holiday in the United Kingdom or a colloquialism for public holiday in Ireland. There is no automatic right to time off on these days, although the majority of the population is granted time off work or extra pay for working on these days, depending on their contract...

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The festival began in 2007 to mark the city of Leeds's 800th birthday and was jointly hosted by Leeds City Council

Leeds City Council

Leeds City Council is the local authority for the City of Leeds metropolitan district of West Yorkshire, England.-History:The city council was established in 1974, with the first elections being held in advance in 1973...

 and music promotion company Futuresound. This initial event took place at the end of May and featured around 50 bands playing live in and around Leeds city centre along with film screenings and a music industry seminar. The 2008 event took place over the weekend of the May Day bank holiday and featured two concerts by Leeds band The Pigeon Detectives

The Pigeon Detectives

The Pigeon Detectives are an English indie rock band from Rothwell, West Yorkshire, who formed in 2004. They have been championed by such well known DJs as Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley, and performed at the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2006, where they were tagged "the band most likely to leap to...

 at Millennium Square as its centrepiece. 1990s

1990s (band)

-History:They were signed to Rough Trade Record Company when they were spotted at only their sixth gig, and have released two albums so far, Cookies and Kicks....

 and White Lies

White lies

White lies or Kind Lies are benign or trivial lies.One example of a white lie would be when a person falsely affirms that they consider their friend beautiful or intelligent so as to reinforce their friend's self-esteem...

 were among the groups who played the 2009 festival, while 2010 saw sets by the likes of Lightspeed Champion

Lightspeed Champion

Devonté Hynes , better known as Lightspeed Champion or Blood Orange, is a British composer, songwriter, producer and author, who has written for artists such as Florence and the Machine, Diana Vickers and The Chemical Brothers on their 2007 Grammy award winning album We Are The Night...

, British Sea Power

British Sea Power

British Sea Power are an indie rock band based in Brighton, England, although three of the band members originally come from Kendal in Cumbria. Critics have likened their sound to a variety of groups, from The Cure and Joy Division to the Pixies and Arcade Fire. The band are famed for their live...

 and The Twilight Sad

The Twilight Sad

The Twilight Sad are an indie rock band from Kilsyth, Scotland, comprising James Graham , Andy MacFarlane and Mark Devine . The band are currently signed to Fat Cat Records and have released two full-length albums, as well as several EPs and singles...

. Live at Leeds 2011 took place at venues including Brudenell Social Club

Brudenell Social Club

The Brudenell Social Club is a social club in the Hyde Park area of Leeds, England. It is best known as a venue for live music.The Brudenell was formed as a 'gentleman's social and recreational club' in 1913 and originally was a social club for cabaret and bingo...

, O2 Academy Leeds

O2 Academy Leeds

The O2 Academy Leeds is a music venue situated in Leeds intended as a larger music venue for the city. It is run by the Academy Music Group and follows in-line with their other music venues around the UK...

 and The Cockpit and was headlined by James Blake

James Blake (musician)

James Blake is a British electronic music producer and singer-songwriter from London, UK. On 6 January 2011, Blake was announced as runner-up in BBC's Sound of 2011 poll...

, Anna Calvi

Anna Calvi

Anna Calvi is an English musician who plays in the band of the same name. On 6 December 2010, Calvi was announced as a nominee for the BBC's Sound of 2011 poll. Her self-titled debut album was released in the UK on 17 January 2011, where it debuted at number 40 on 23 January...

, The Futureheads

The Futureheads

The Futureheads are an English post-punk band from Sunderland. consisting of Ross Millard , Barry Hyde and David "Jaff" Craig...

, Frightened Rabbit

Frightened Rabbit

Frightened Rabbit are a Scottish indie rock band from Selkirk, formed in 2003. The lineup consists of lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and lyricist Scott Hutchison, guitarist and bassist Billy Kennedy, guitarist Andy Monaghan, drummer Grant Hutchison and guitarist and keyboardist Gordon Skene...

, Pulled Apart by Horses

Pulled apart by horses

Pulled Apart by Horses are an alternative rock band from Leeds, England. They formed in late 2007, and released their debut self-titled album Pulled Apart By Horses on 21 June 2010.- Formation and debut release "Meat Balloon" :...

, Young Knives and The Duke Spirit

The Duke Spirit

The Duke Spirit are an English rock band based in London. Their sound has been seen as a melding of many influences ranging from the alternative noise of 1980s/90s guitar bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and Spacemen 3, the tremulous rock n roll of bands such as The Gun Club and The...

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