Sheffield Leadmill album celebrates club's 40th anniversary

The Sheffield venue was closed for most of its 40th anniversary year

A well-known indie music venue has announced a special record to mark its 40th year - despite being unable to open for most of it.

Established bands and newer acts have recorded tracks for the limited edition vinyl in honour of Sheffield's Leadmill.

Promoter Sam Feeley said the venue's future looked "quite fearful" for much of 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

It has since received an Arts Council grant of £241,571 to help it survive.

Located next to the city's main railway station, The Leadmill has hosted artists including Pulp, Coldplay, The Stone Roses and Oasis over the years as well as comedy acts and regular club nights.

Mr Feeley said the venue had gone five months without any income last year.

"We just had no idea how long this was going to go on for and how much support was going to be there," he said.

"For a venue of our size we still had a lot of overheads to cover in that time.

"Once we got the funding in, everything was kind of looking OK again," he added.

As well as the government money, an online auction of a guitar donated by Alex Turner of Sheffield band Arctic Monkeys also raised more than £125,000.

The album features a cover designed by Sheffield artist Pete McKee

The album celebrating the club's anniversary, called Forty, will be limited to 500 copies, with artwork by Sheffield artist Pete McKee and a foreword written by musician Richard Hawley talking about his own experiences of The Leadmill.

Fighting to save the 'magic of live music'

Released on red vinyl to reflect the venue's famous neon sign, the track list includes Enter Shikari, Patawawa, Good Cop Bad Cop and October Drift.

Mr Feeley said: "Now we're just trying to look towards the future."

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