SouthWestBand - ‘Live in Leeds' @ The Wardrobe, Leeds - 11th February 2023
On the 11th February 2023, after four long months of hard work and preparation as the house lights dimmed and the background music faded. We took the stage for what we would remember one of the greatest nights of our SouthWestBand career to date.
Being a wedding and event band by nature SouthWestBand almost exclusively perform at private events only. This means its’ really tough to see us perform live in the wild (unless you’re a fan of wedding crashing). For this reason once a year we like to host our own public event and party with all our friends, family and fans.
For last year’s event we hired out ‘The Counting House’ a modern live music bar in Wakefield for our event ‘Live in Wakefield’ which was a complete sell out. This year however we wanted the event to be bigger, better, louder and even more of a party so we chose the venue ‘The Wardrobe’ in Leeds.
Planning the event started in late 2022 but wasn't without its share of ups and downs. One of the biggest bumps was having to move the date of the event once ticket sales had already gone live due to a double booking at the venue. We didn’t let it get us down though and worked our butts off to move the event, negotiating band family holidays, stag dos dates among other hurdles to make sure ‘Live in Leeds’ would be a show to remember.
We worked on the show and came up with the idea of three separate acts to showcase all of the SouthWestBand members, the full range of our repertoire and the types of music we play. Act 1 we had the idea of a SouthWestBand DJ and live Sax set to start the night with a mixture of dance and RnB bangers. Act 2 was the original four piece lineup playing a taster set of ‘Dancefloor Classics’. The best of the SouthWestBand repertoire to get everyone bopping and singing along, with a mixture of classics and more contemporary dancefloor fillers. Act 3 and our personal favourite was the ’Rock Show’. A monster set packed with back to back Pop/Punk, rock, Metal and Emo anthems from the days when Kerrang TV was king.
The moment we hit the stage, the crowd was hyped up and ready to rock. So we had to bring our absolute A-game to match the crowd’s massive energy and played our mix of our favourite dancefloor anthems and bangers. The energy level from the crowd was through the roof all night long.
‘Live in Leeds’ was more than just a gig, it was a huge party! We had over 250 peeps show up, including both old and new fans from all over the country and the vibe was electric. The venue was buzzing as everyone danced and sang along, the view looking out from that stage was amazing!
We want to give a big shoutout to everyone who came out to support us! Your energy and enthusiasm seriously made it one of the best gigs of our almost 13-year career. We couldn't have done it without you, and we're already stoked for next year's event!
In conclusion, ‘Live in Leeds’ was a totally sick night that we will remember forever. SouthWestBand definitely proved we have some of the best fans around with how much you guys rocked the place. We can’t wait to see you all again next year. Rock on!
SWB
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