royal park cellars

And None Of Them Knew They Were Robots @ Royal Park Cellars

The Royal Park Cellars always seems to guarantee a sweaty, close atmosphere, and tonight's gig proves no exception.

Blowback @ Royal Park Cellars

Having been told that The Cellars have been overhauled and improved, I was certainly interested which prompted my attendance tonight.

Mir @ Royal Park Cellars

Tonight brings together three fine, but different, bands for a Satellite magazine special at the Royal Park Cellars, and by the end of the night a decent sized audience has gathered, perhaps 50 or so, to see the headline act of Mir.

Kasino @ Royal Park Cellars

The Royal Park Cellars is a fine venue: a PA and sound engineer that rival Joseph's Well, great lighting effects and its own bar.

four day Hombre @ Royal Park Cellars

Tonight brought together three great bands for the re-birth of the Panama Nights, now scheduled for every Saturday at the Royal Park Cellars.

four day Hombre @ Royal Park Cellars

Things must be looking up for a venue when it is chosen by independent record labels to showcase breaking talent at nights headlined by top local acts.

Dawn Parade @ Royal Park Cellars

Unison take to the stage sporting interesting T-shirts, boy band hair cuts and are apparently very new to the music scene; however, they don't actually show it a great deal.

Juno 2 @ Royal Park Cellars

It has to be said, upfront, that The Panama Nights are probably the most enjoyable gig nights in Leeds.

God Speed You Black Emperor! @ St George's Hall (Bradford)

God Speed You Black Emperor! come from Canada. They wear shirts, buy amplifiers and get scared by tall buildings.

Ragz @ Royal Park Cellars

Despite what NME would have you believe the future of music is not all about "angular guitars". Nor, as The Guardian asserts, is Leeds simply the centre of the universe for Dark Metal and Goth musical inspiration.

four day Hombre @ Royal Park Cellars

"i found a skull today by the motorway its bone was paper thin could crack under anything" because drat create fiercely intelligent ferociously random observational songs with two guitars a bass a drums and a notebook that lends catchy loops to some of the quirkiest yet shamelessly honest compositions i've encountered for a while sung through telephones bolted to microphone stands following introductions every bit as surreal i mean songs about bells palsy don't hit you in the face very often even if youd only half notice when they did but drat are an aural and visual acyclovir-prednisone cocktail tasting of smile on my lips which is of course a first rate thing as the bending notes plus quirky chords swish with sway around the busy buzzy royal park cellars where there are no s m u k punk royal girls stretching today but lots of untailored folk instead even sitting on the floor which is effective although i wouldnt as its covered in stout spilt earlier but got away with i think a sample lyric might shed some light so theres one at the top of the page on their exemplary website there is brittle pale blue and theres even a guitar tuner so go and observe for yourself four day hombre get better and healthier every time i glimpse them which hasn't been enough lately but sufficient to see their hair grow out as their songs strengthen until i love the choruslines that flex and spin like simone clarke like on don't go gently where they probably really did give it away but its okay to remember and reflect that if your miss u contestant did thump you in the chest it was probably just to keep you going believe me sometimes thats more than you deserve child then the im sorry song lifts the place back up in a flurry of oxymoronic harmony joy soon theres drink too both beer and tea which is apt since four day hombre are so very english sounding by which by i suggest they are eloquent when using its not like it used to be you need to download the video you need to offload but in the interim simon or richie or both can do that for you by proxy while you put your hand in the back pocket of those jeans but not to buy the boys the drinks they request from the stage maybe later because right now bathed in red light he looks like john cale before the nobodys little girl song resolves and until the epic single room wends steadfastly into the night we don't have to go home from for a while yet

Kill Manticore @ Royal Park Cellars

For all my scheming and plotting, it is the simple things in life that keep me most amused. Plans. I love plans.

Foley (2) @ Royal Park Cellars

My first trip of 2004 into the deep dark depths of the Royal Park Cellars. It's often dirty rock you find emanating from the cellars but this evening it's an altogether more mellow collection of bands.

Sposh @ Royal Park Cellars

After an interesting wait at a bus stop (involving a chance meeting with a young lady who would later attempt to kiss me), I finally boarded a bus, which the driver said would be heading past the Royal Park.

At The Drive-In @ Cockpit

I never intended writing a review of this gig, especially as most of you were probably there anyway. But here goes ...

Goldrush @ Royal Park Cellars

You may remember Hayley Avron as one third of Leeds garage-indie types The Tennessee Traincrash. While I have to admit I wasn't a particularly big fan of theirs, her new guise as an acoustic singer-songwriter is, it has to be said, a big improvement on the Strokes-lite indie of her old band.

Dr Octopus @ Royal Park Cellars

Brass Moustache - the first of two excellent bands at the Royal Park cellars, a band with a definite influence from the well esteemed 'Cake'.

Visa @ Fenton

Quite an eventful Saturday evening in the end. Firstly, I chatted away to Aeon prior to the Juno-2 gig at Royal Park Cellars - the interview should appear on the site in the next week or so - and then I bumped into Bella.

Inertia @ Royal Park Cellars

The Royal Park Cellars has a rapidly growing reputation, and gets better every time you catch a band down here.

Garlic @ Royal Park Cellars

Despite having come down with the latest illness to be going around Leeds, I still tried my hardest to wrap up and get out to see London's Garlic, who were invited back to Leeds by Panama Promotions after being witnessed playing a storming set at the opening Strychnine Lounge.

The Tonic @ CJ's Music Bar

Well this was my first time to the new live venue on the Leeds circuit that is The Kirkstall Lites, and boy was I impressed after the night was over!

sammyUSA @ Royal Park Cellars

It's cold, it's Friday night, it's the Royal Park Cellars and it's empty for Herrod's arrival on stage.

Juno 2 @ Royal Park Cellars

So, Royal Park Cellars has had a refurb, complete with new stage and drum riser (excellent, now I can see all the hard work normally hidden by the singers).

Kenosha @ Royal Park Cellars

The Royal Park Cellars were decked out very differently tonight from how I have seen them previously.

Juno 2 @ Royal Park Cellars

Thanks to the note at the bottom of the flyers I managed to get the bus up there this time (56/57), it's a long walk from town otherwise, but well worth it!

Mama Scuba @ Royal Park Cellars

Tonight is advertised as a "Leeds 6 Alternative Music Extravaganza" and by heck did promoters Panama get it right, for tonight they have booked perhaps the best three alternative bands I have seen in a long time, all local bands, all doing the city of Leeds proud, and as Steve Kind (Panama) put it when he introduced the headliners Mama Scuba, "I've been wanting to book this band for two years now" - it was well worth the wait!

Catylyst @ Royal Park Cellars

I was supposed to be going to Josephs Well tonight to see Brody, Sugarvalve and Catylyst. Unfortunately they cancelled, so I rang my friends and said, hey no problem I'm definitely coming to see you guys now, only to check the discussion board and see that it had been rearranged at Royal Park and was going ahead as planned aaaahhhhhh!!!

Phluid @ Royal Park Cellars

A night of ROCK down the Royal Park... when isn't it these days? The Royal Park is getting a name for itself now as a more rock sort of venue, possibly due to promoter Steve Kind's insistance that all bands rock at all times.

Beautiful Feet @ Royal Park Cellars

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that as much as anything else when it comes to gigs, the 'flow' of an evening's entertainment is as important as the quality of the music in catching and holding people's attention.

Hatch @ Woodkirk Valley Country Club

A Friday night running up to the New Year and a last minute decision, and a very kind offer of a lift from Steve Kind, sees me travelling out to Woodkirk Country Club, former home to Strychnine Lounge gigs.

Snail Racing @ Royal Park Cellars

Having experienced the laid back styles of an ambient-art-jazz band with a preverbial nice as openers, we're jolted sharply into shape by TIGERS.

four day Hombre @ Faversham

Tonight was going to be another boring Monday night in as usual. I had planned to go the Faversham to see Four Day Hombre but as I hadn't got a clue where it was, and each of the maps I tried looking at all have different things on them, so I had resigned myself to not going.

Tom Gourley @ Royal Park Cellars

A very full and very buzzing Royal Park Cellars had one hell of a night on Wednesday. Agent provocateur Thomas R.

Seismic Loveshift @ Royal Park Cellars

After a day slogging round York, I thought some music was in order to round the night off. Having promised Seismic Loveshift I would try to see their full set this time (failed as usual - sorry!

Aeon @ Royal Park Cellars

So I seem to be back at Royal Park Cellars again (seem to spending some time in here recently) Steve Kind warns me tonight is going to be loud - and it was!

The Scaramanga Six @ Royal Park Cellars

Sheffield noise mongers POLON pose a curious schizophrenia question. Just what is it that they want to be?

Vae Solis @ Royal Park Cellars

So, metal night at the Royal Park, and the turnout looks quite good as the first band, BEYOND REDEMPTION, take the stage.

Little Japanese Toy @ Royal Park Cellars

"Rock Rock Rock Ambient", say the signs on entry to a cosy but not full Royal Park, as those gathered prepare for a four-band show courtesy of Nyevsky Prospect.

Northern Theremonic @ Royal Park Cellars

I came tonight for only the second time to the Royal Park pub and I was indeed a Panama Virgin. I had heard good things about Steve Kind and his nights and was eager to find out if they were true.

The Amazing Pilots @ Royal Park Cellars

Any band with a name containing the word "fury" give you a huge hint as to what they're going to sound like before playing a note, so it's no surprise that Two Wheel Fury provide a riotous, fun affair ranging from punk to alternative rock sounds.

Miss Black America @ Buff Club (Otley)

Otley, centre of the known universe, is on the case yet again. With a Royal Park Cellars triumph behind them on Wednesday, Miss Black America are all over the NME on Thursday.

The Music @ Blank Canvas

I was excited about this gig. I've enjoyed The Music's debut album and have been looking forward to tonight for sometime - tickets sold out about 4/5 weeks earlier so I was expecting an electric atmosphere inside this rather strange new venue under Leeds train station.

The Tennessee Traincrash @ Royal Park Cellars

The irony is lost when the Traincrash (male) vocalist jokingly asks if his woolly hat makes him look like Nickelback, as his delivery smacks, quite sadly, of grunge wannabe throughout.

JR Ewing @ Royal Park Cellars

The original line-up of this Collective AKA gig featured two more bands - the great J.R. from Doncaster (who play Jesus Lizard style rock) and the Informers from France, who last played Leeds 15 years ago with the Exploited!

Drat @ Royal Park Cellars

For any regulars on the Leeds music scene, the Cellars has always and will always hold a very special fondness in our hearts.

Flies are Spies from Hell @ Royal Park Cellars

For this sleep deprived reporter, the prospect of having to walk deep into Headingley on a Thursday evening, with an exam at 9 O'clock the next morning, was not a particularly inviting one, but none the less I upped the courage and made the effort.

Cosmonaut @ Bassment

I'd never been to basement before as I kind of think of it as out of the way, and not somewhere I really want to walk at night, but I saw the note asking for a reviewer, realized it was going to be an electronica based night and then got told I could get into the club afterwards for free, once I had paid for the gig - SOLD!

5ft4 @ Royal Park Cellars

It's Saturday night, the cellars are dark, and Steve Kind is bellowing for us to greet rock uber-beasts CATYLYST, and as they take the stage amidst the roar of two distorted guitars, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat with my fist poised for punching the air and I'm ready to rock.

Orka @ Joseph's Well

I have to say I was pleased that this event was taking place, my 82-year-old gran had a full right mastectomy to fight breast cancer only 3 years ago, and I have lost an Aunt to cancer.

The Xenith Sound @ Royal Park Cellars

The basement of the Royal Park pub is pretty empty as Nex take the stage, but it quickly fills up once the reverberations can be felt through the floor upstairs.

four day Hombre @ Royal Park Cellars

There's a vibe in the air tonight, a tangible, swelling excitement that seems to accompany the Hombre lads everywhere they travel.

The Seven Inches @ Royal Park Cellars

Kaftans! Fezes! Transformers! Lambchop sidies! Spazzy dancing! For the best-kept secret on a saturated indie scene, The Seven Inches are about as inconspicuous as a meat truck at a Morrissey concert.

four day Hombre @ Royal Park Cellars

Apologies to MABEL BLUE for missing the first half of her set, but boy did I like what I heard. I was a little later than usual (busses to blame again!) and when I opened the cellars door I couldn't get in there were so many people.

Ordinal @ Royal Park Cellars

As readers will see from the by-line at the bottom, we are breaking our rule of not reviewing our own gigs.

Tupamaros @ Royal Park Cellars

First - an apology to NONE OF THEM KNEW THEY WERE ROBOTS - as I trotted down the steps of The Cellars for this my first "Collective AKA" night, I heard the final chord of their set and saw the singer lie down on the stage.

Ghosts in the Nightclub @ Royal Park Cellars

I missed Miranda Arieh tonight and I have no excuse for it, sorry. But I stumbled in eventually and had the pleasure of seeing Frankie Eisenhower.

Juno 2 @ Royal Park Cellars

Juno 2 are a band I've heard a lot about but only seen play live once. They didn't particularly blow me away on that occasion, although I seem to remember thinking at the time that they had some good songs and could be great, if only they'd perform a little.

Aeon @ Royal Park Cellars

The first instalment in what was to be another very memorable night. 10,000 Things arrived with a nice solid bass, wild guitar sounds, decent vocals, a sharp percussionist and some disappointing drums, but left me feeling somewhat thwarted by a distinct lack of thought.

Harold @ Royal Park Cellars

Well, another night of Bright Young Things bands down at Uncle Steve Kind's joint and tonight it is The Gordon Bennetts, Mutiny and Harold.

Amycanbe @ Royal Park Cellars

Upon arriving at the pub, I purchased the usual pint of wife-beater and made my way down stairs. Sitting down in the rather empty basement room I was surprised that the first band was not already on.

Being 747 @ Royal Park Cellars

First up are an intriguing prospect called Jail. This band features a front man armed with a yellow fluorescent tube (lit up, of course), wandering around the stage and the crowd and it's not really obvious if he knows what he's doing or not.

Fran Rodgers @ Royal Park Cellars

Ok, here's the bottom line - Fran Rodgers has a beautiful voice. Not just a good voice or an unusual voice, but an actual spine-tingling, tear-jerking voice.

Jon Gomm @ Royal Park Cellars

Playing acoustic guitar before Jon Gomm must be a rather daunting experience but Tim knocks out quite a strong set of songs with confessional and indeed rather poetic lyrics with fresh sounding strummy guitar.

Xi @ Royal Park Cellars

It's a curious trait about us humans, we find release and fulfillment in a variety of different ways.

Bodixa @ Royal Park Cellars

A very fine evening of music was presented by Logo Magazine in conjunction with Leeds based Uglyman Music Ltd and Stuckup Music.

four day Hombre @ Royal Park Cellars

I had a feeling tonight was going to be a good night and it was. Steve Kind introduced each of the bands and let us know what we were in for...

Fonda 500 @ Royal Park Cellars

If there's one thing I love its a bit of swagger in the face of adversity. A nice big "Fuck You" when things aren't going quite right.

Japanaro @ Royal Park Cellars

So here we are then, for another instalment in the Bright Young Things series, put together by Steve Kind.

Halo @ Royal Park Cellars

After the most stressful and unnerving day ever I was in need of some music, so off I race to RPC just in time to catch the catch the start of the All Star 69ers.

Brazil @ Royal Park Cellars

A great concept for a night - no doubt. Let's drag some foreigners kicking and certainly screaming across those windy rain plagued hills separating the land and cram them into Leeds' "most intimate venue" to try and conquer a largely partisan audience, forced to miss the footie and demanding satisfaction.

Visa @ Royal Park Cellars

The evening kicks off with MOJO PIN, a young band who I have not heard before. I was suitably impressed for a first hearing (normally I prefer to hear bands at least once before I review them); although the vocals were a little soft in parts and definition to the words would be an asset, especially when announcing songs.

Galitza @ Royal Park Cellars

So summer is now over and it's time for Steve Kind and his Panama Promotions team to get back into the fray, but this time three times a week.