Kaisers Kickstart Leeds Academy

Academy Music Group moved another step closer to creating a national network of venues when local favorites Kaiser Chiefs were first to play its new building in Leeds.

The Oct. 8 show heralded the opening of two new rooms – a 2,300-capacity venue that Kaiser Chiefs debuted and a 400-capacity venue for smaller acts and club nights.

The smaller room will double as a bar while the larger room is used for live gigs.

Refurbishing the listed building on Cookridge Street, which AMG chief exec John Northcote described as a “landmark building,” cost about £4.5 million and took nearly a year.

It’s already well known to agents and promoters, as it hosted live bands between 1992 and 2000 and was known as the Town & Country Club.

It was originally opened in 1885 by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, who were the Prince and Princess of Wales at the time, and served as an entertainment venue until 1938, when it was gutted and reconstructed.

It reopened as a cinema and has since been used as a bingo hall, social club, a rehearsal and storage space for Leeds Playhouse Theatre and a film and television studio.

AGM has appointed Steve Hoyland, who has run the 1,200-capacity Liverpool Academy for the last five years, as general manager.

Denny Rankin, who has joined AMG from Leeds University Union, will be his deputy.