Leeds venue Boom has launched a crowdfunder after finding new premises. This follows their announcement last November that they are “being forced” to shut down in March this year.
The venue previously said that its landlord decided to terminate its lease to start work developing the building into flats and shops.
However, in an update shared yesterday (January 29), the venue looks set instead to relocate – and they’ll need some help.
“Before Christmas we made a formal offer to take on a building on the fringe of Leeds City centre,” they revealed. This new venue – which they note is larger than their current Millwright Street location – will be set up as a Community Interest Company (CIC) music venue to offer various community facilities and initiatives, such as rehearsal spaces, a recording studio, education programmes, and F&B offerings.
“We will protect everything we have built over the last decade including the scenes and communities that use our spaces, the bands and gigs we work with and all the connected businesses involved,” they continued.
“Boom has [been] through a pandemic and a cost of living crisis and many challenges in recent years – we’ve learnt a lot especially around how our organisation needs to be more resilient and how that looks and works with a fresh start.”
The venue has raised £30,000 for the new location so far, but they require another £52,000 to secure the deal.
Boom has since launched an official crowdfunding campaign with a target goal of £15,000, with the venue aiming to raise remaining funds through exclusive merchandise and physical media releases on vinyl and cassette tape. Find the campaign here.
Boom has been a vital part of Leeds’ alternative music scene, having helped foster a generation of hardcore bands in the city. “If people didn’t get to experience Boom,” Higher Power guitarist Max Harper told NME, “it would be very, very sad.”
“Leeds would definitely not have the scene that it has without Boom – maybe the desire for other people to travel to Leeds for shows wouldn’t be there as much. There are other small venues too, but Boom has been the constant and the foundation, and probably the inspiration for people because it’s a very encouraging space.”
Earlier this week, it was reported that 2024 saw the UK lose one grassroots music venue every two weeks – with nearly half making a loss and 200 remaining in a state of emergency as the country faces a “collapse in touring”.
- READ MORE: 2023 was “worst year for venue closures” while “no one in music industry seems to care”, says MVT
Kate Nash, a Music Venue Trust patron, told the Houses of Parliament in an effort to highlight the growing issues that touring musicians and venues face.
She said, despite being “pretty successful” with “thousands and thousands of fans” and being able to “sell out a venue or two”, the practice of planning a tour was now “never exactly what you think and you’re always going to go over budget.
“The way touring works right now is that you’re always over-budget, you go into the red, and fingers crossed you make nothing,” she continued. “You’re hoping you can make it zero and make absolutely fuck-all. It’s a bit of a weird job, really.