Nirvana, Blur and Coldplay all played early shows at the Duchess of York. Twenty-one years after it closed, a new pop-up version calls attention to the plight of today’s small venues
Kurt Cobain reportedly slept on the sofa, which had been signed by scores of bands. Oasis famously played to no audience at all. For more than a decade, the Duchess of York in Leeds was a mainstay of the northern gig circuit. Before it closed in 2000, it hosted Nirvana, Pulp, Blur, Manic Street Preachers, the Verve and Coldplay on their respective paths to the top.
Today, the site in Vicar Lane hosts a clothes shop. But the venue is being partially recreated in Leeds’s Kirkgate Market for this week’s Compass festival, a showcase for interactive art projects. Pints will be served beneath a mock-up of the old Duchess sign. The walls will be covered in gig flyers, photos from gigs, posters and quotes from former punters.