Kaiser Chiefs Raise the Roof With Gig at New Academy

By Chris Bond

The band’s sell-out gig raised the curtain on the long-awaited music venue and also kicked-off their own UK tour.Lead singer Ricky Wilson and his band got a packed audience going with a mixture of crowd-pleasing hits and songs from their forthcoming album, Off With Their Heads, which is released next Monday.Last night’s gig came just days after the quintet was named best live act in the Q Magazine awards and they did their best to live up to the billing.It was a big night for the Leeds Academy which opened its doors for the first time following a 4.5m refurbishment. Housed in what used to be the much-loved Town & Country Club, which closed eight years ago, the Academy has a capacity of 2,300 making it the largest permanent live music venue in Leeds.Speaking before last night’s performance drummer Nick Hodgson, who once worked as a glass collector in the Town & Country Club, said: “When I walked in I couldn’t believe we were in Leeds, because when we go to places like San Francisco we always think, ‘why hasn’t Leeds got a place like this?’ and now it does.”

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