Going out guide: Leeds

Kyle is the Music Print Editor of The Gryphon, the newspaper of the University of Leeds.

Best club night

Charli xcx sees Jesus Christ on a plastic sign; I see a Rat Party flyer stuck to the fridge in my flatshare. If you want to rave to techno and hard trance that makes your bones ache, in a sea of bodies draped in faux fur and vintage Adidas, you need to attend this party. Initially funded with OnlyFans revenue, Rat Party’s founders NSFW, Iyesha and Roxanne have established it as one the best parties in town, also donating proceeds to vital sex work and QTIPOC spaces in West Yorkshire along the way.

Three local DJs to look out for on flyers

1. Busy, rhythmic, genre-bending IHATENOISE

2. Metallic, pitched-up Princess Elf Bar

3. Anthemic, campy OWL
   

Best boozer

Like every other pool fraud, I find peace between megapints (that’s two pints in one glass) at Brudenell Social Club.

Bar that serves past midnight

I’m aware of the consequences of saying I am a whore for a negroni, but Call Lane Social pumps me full of them until 4am on weekends.

Beloved takeaway

If I took The Substance, I fear what would crawl out of my back would be me with a brick of Pitza Cano’s cheesy chips and a pack of Vogues smuggled back from Spain for the low price of €6.

Cafe for the morning after

If you’re cool, a baguette from Pickards Tea Room. If you’re cooler, an Egyptian breakfast from La Cafetiere. If you have £6 and no underlying heart condition, an artery clogger from Chichini.

Hyperlocal fashion trend

Leeds is currently suffering from a chronic bout of Magnum Tonic Wine-drinking Xanipulators. If he has maybe-intentional ghost roots and Nike Shox, keep your distance. Don’t let them show you brakence’s punk2 (2020) or benzos.

LBGTQ space

Wharf Chambers, a nonprofit community venue that hosts gigs, comedy, a sexual health service, support groups, and amateur art workshops. An annual £2 membership will grant you evening entry and two plus-ones.

Local hero

Self-described aficionado of ​“comedy, DJing, tarot, sax, filth and slaggery”, Koko Popperz has long reigned terror on the city’s queer scene. Now resident cabaret artist at CAMP and Glamour Pussy at Farsley’s Old Woolen, a Koko Popperz show is a dressing down of gender roles, stripper poles and exhausted holes led by a capricious, trilingual businesswoman.

Coolest local radio station

Leeds Student Radio will take you from Etta James to Aphex Twin over the course of the week, running genre-themed shows from 7 – 9pm on weeknights.

What not to say to a local

Just don’t say you’re from Surrey. Instead, consider smiling and fading into the night’s abyss like Andrew Scott’s parents in All Of Us Strangers (I still weep). Or run.