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York or Leeds?


Guest subaudio

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Guest subaudio

Hi.

Hope this is in the right place.

I currently live in Scarborough on the east coast, which is lovely, but I can't find a decent gig.

I'm pondering moving to York, I love the history and that its a smallish city, but I'm worried that I may struggle to get a gig there as well, with a perhaps saturated market like it is here in Scarborough.

Leeds is much bigger, more central and has more venues but, having moved back to my native Yorkshire from central London, I'm not overly keen to live in a big city again.

Music is my life, I'm very experienced in what I do, rock to folk via funk and avant garde, I'm in my late 40s but have a young outlook on life and I look younger than my years, I have a lot of music in me still, original for preference but I like getting paid for covers as a side gig :)

 

Does the fine hive mind of Basschat have any sage advice for me?

I don't get out much so have little on the ground experience of York or Leeds so any advice is much appreciated.

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Guest subaudio

Forgot to add, I don't have transport.

Im not working at the mo and I never got over not needing a car in London where I used public transport for gigs, even when doubling as a double bassist.

I was the scourge of the traveling public :)

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Guest subaudio
Just now, ped said:

Busses in York are pretty good but I think Leeds is better connected like that - not that I go often. The train from York to London is brea, if that's a factor. 

I moved from Oxford to York and absolutely love it!

I didn't realise your in York Ped, we met at an early BassBash in a very nice central London pub that I could never find again :)

I also used to live in Didcot years ago :)

I love the idea of living in York, it suits me better personally, I just don't want to go through moving only to be sans gig in a different place.

York to London is very easy, I've caught that train many a time, not really a factor for me at the mo but handy none the less.

 

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Come to York for a beer any time :)

[Edit] I'm not actually sure about the get scene in York, it's probably quite good, lots of live venues anyway - but most bands I am tempted to go and see are in Leeds (which puts me off!)

Guess it depends what sort of band you're in, too.

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I moved from Edmonton,  North London  to west Yorkshire  many moons ago, stopped  going to London when all the  oldsters had passed.    I go to both York and Leeds regularly,  couldn't  live in Leeds, as a country  boy now it's too busy and fizzing for me, York I could manage, if your heart is up here, could you not have a short break in York and check out the "scene" ?  Apologies if  I'm telling you  how to  sucks eggs.  Best of luck with your decision fella.

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25 minutes ago, subaudio said:

 

I love the idea of living in York, it suits me better personally, I just don't want to go through moving only to be sans gig in a different place.

 

I would suggest that unless you need an income from gigging then I would go where your heart is!

I've yet to visit York but I'd imagine it is a reasonable size and I'm sure there will be opportunities there - I've been to Leeds a few times with work and its always struck me as just another city with all the associated hustle and bustle.

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Leeds is an amazing city. Fantastic centre. Loads of live music and a vibrant music scene. Open mics every night of the week somewhere. Public transport is posting to and frequent. And as previously mentioned. Cheaper to buy/rent than York. Although York is a lovely place with a great music scent- just smaller than Leeds 

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40 minutes ago, Len_derby said:

Having lived in York and still visiting friends there I'd say that by northern standards house prices and rents are high.

It's rammed with visitors too. 

Absolutely. We live in East Yorkshire, not that far from York, and the house prices / rents deter us from looking to move there. Nice place but as Len says, it is a tourist hotspot which can get to be a pain. Leeds is a lot bigger, with a busy gig life and plenty to do, although (as a lot of places, including even York!) it does have some areas which are a bit dour. Think you would fare better for finding a band in Leeds, not least due to the Leeds College of Music having plenty of good players looking to gig.

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I grew up on Scarborough, there's always been a really lively live music scene there but I bet it pays naff all of you need it as an income. Shame the beached festival stopped a few years back, sadly. 

No experience of York myself from a music perspective but I have aguitarist mate in Leeds who is always at gigs, loads of variety there 

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I used to play a fair bit in Scarborough, loved The Indigo Alley on Thursday nights! The Watermark café do some good stuff, as do The Merchant Irish bar. There always seem to be a lot of really good musicians for not a particularly large town for some reason.

When I gig in Scarborough these days it's usually at one of the hotels doing cover stuff for functions etc. 

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When I lived in the Leeds area I never struggled to find a working band, and plenty of gigs too. Since moving to Scarborough three years ago, I havn't been able to find anything local, although I never went networking which probably didn't help.  I had to look further afield and my current band is based in Hull. It's a tribute band tho, so gigs are fewer than say a normal covers band, and we travel the country. I've given up trying to find anything local.

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Guest subaudio
2 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

I grew up on Scarborough, there's always been a really lively live music scene there but I bet it pays naff all of you need it as an income. Shame the beached festival stopped a few years back, sadly. 

No experience of York myself from a music perspective but I have aguitarist mate in Leeds who is always at gigs, loads of variety there 

Cheers mate.

Scarborough is lovely but it's a saturated market for musicians, every one plays something it seams so theres no space for another bass player sadly.

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Guest subaudio

Thanks very much guys, great advice all.

I guess it's a balance between wether I want to live somewhere "nice" or be busy gigging.

I should get out and check the scenes, good advice that.

I'm a bit of a Norse/Yorkshire history nerd so York has big appeal there, wether that overrides musical concerns, I don't think it does, though with my current beard I could find gainful employment as a professional Viking at Yorvik :)

I'm lucky to live in social housing so it's easier to move, no mortgage etc.

I'm not relying on gigs for money, certainly not original gigs, I'd like a covers side gig to feed my gas addiction :) the other thing about moving is general non music employment prospects being better out of Scarborough to live on.

 

The Uni at Leeds is a definite plus, I never forgave myself for not going there to do a music degree, I got offered a tour so did that instead, so I may yet go back to school.

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I left Scarborough years back and the uni has changed hands and location at least once since then, but there was a music recording degree course which my guitarist was on. I got in to that band via the noteboard in Dean's music on At Thomas Street, no idea what that is now. Surprised you can't get anything set up though I guess a lot of the bands I've seen back there have been student bands. 

Leeds has a lot going on, my mate has been in a few rock typical pub covers bands and auditioned for some funk/ disco and jazzy stuff too. I bet there's allsorts going on in York. Don't know if Lemomrock is available up there but maybe have a look through that to see what type of bands are about and what type of "wanted" ads there are.

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Music scene is very good in York ,

some good jazz around ..... however venues are really crap!!! 

Also renting or buying in a ok area is a bit expensive compare to Leeds where you could afford the same property for couple of hundreds less ! 

Leeds music scene is great , some cool venues and loads of talented musicians , also reharsale space are so so so much better than york  and cheaper of course . I ve lived in york for 12 years and anytime I needed a musician or reharsing I had to go to Leeds, you are also closer to Manchester .

if I was really focus on doing music I would def choose Leeds over york , if you are a part time musician and looking to play couple a gigs a month with no commitment then york is the better choice . Do you have family ?

Some great schools too!

Edited by fiatcoupe432
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Me and the wife visit York every year for our Anniversary lovely city seems to have a decent music scene but so expensive...haven't been to Leeds for a long while but I can imagine like most cities it would have a good music scene.....York is beautiful mind....whatever you do don't re-locate to Grimsby only 2 decent music venues lol....good luck.

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I live in Harrogate and gig all over Yorkshire, including York and Leeds, in 2 covers bands.  As a punter its Leeds every time - loads of great venues, music of all sorts being performed, a really lively scene and well served by public transport.

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