Pivotal Leeds venue Boom announces closure in March 2025
Leeds venue Boom, which has played a crucial role in the stories of many of the city’s favourite contemporary bands and been a formative cultural hub that others from far and wide have played, has announced it will be closing its doors in March 2025.
It’s another sorry sign of the times and the bleak futures faced by many of the country’s most important grassroots establishments. Alongside Boom, Manchester’s Night and Day Café has been under the threat of closure for some time. Boom, which is situated on Millwright Street and is dedicated to punk, hardcore, and metal, revealed that its landlord has opted to terminate its lease to begin transforming the building into flats and shops.
In a post on Substack, which disclosed more about the situation than their announcement on Instagram did, the venue—which has been open for ten years, starting as a practice room and then evolving into a multi-stage venue, now also featuring creative studios—thanked its patrons and outlined plans for the future.
They revealed the stresses they have faced over recent years and echoed those suffered by others countrywide. They wrote: “Over the last 4 years we have been quite public with our struggles with maintaining Boom whilst up against a global pandemic, increased costs, changes in the music industry and a cost of living crisis. Boom has always been a small team made primarily of volunteers – all working other jobs to support Boom. We would like to thank the team here at Boom past and present for what we’ve achieved over the years.”
They added: “We’ve been presented with situation after situation in recent years where stepping back and closing Boom would be the easy choice. But we’ve always made a fight out of it, lost a lot in the process – but we’ve made it through and continued a venue dedicated to alternative music. Unfortunately our final battle to stay at Millwright Street can’t be won. Boom must now admit defeat and close at the end of March 2025.”
While Boom is closing its doors in March, the venue still has plans. They explained that they are sending invites to bands and artists they would like to play there one last time and that Leeds hardcore outfit The Flex will close out the final show. They state that details will be made available in advance with schedules on-sale time.
The venue explains: “The team behind Boom will be opening a new venue location in 2025. Our new space is established as a community interest company. Our plan for the new space includes a live music venue, bar, community space, rehearsal and creative studios – a non-profit – serving the community.”
Adding: “We will also be setting up a formal education arm to the venue, supporting people into the live music and media industry with live sound and lighting.”
Pointing to their broad significance outside of hosting gis, Boom notes that they have a history of mentorship and have taken on students and provided education, experience, and a way into the industry. They say they’re “immensely proud” of what their students have achieved, including the team running the live sound for Leeds group Static Dress as they supported Bring Me The Horizon at Birmingham Arena earlier this year.
They conclude: “Our final run of shows at Boom Leeds will help us fundraise the build and opening of the new location and secure it for many years into the future.”
Elsewhere, in October, the iconic Salford Lads Club announced that it is also under threat of closure. Its plight and that of other vital venues like Boom comes after years of cultural degradation in the UK.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.