The HiFi Club

This unassuming basement club is a reliable option for a good night out if your horizons extend beyond the usual Pryzm/Space/Mission commercial sweatboxes. For those who love alternative music – be it indie, electronica, hip hop or a mix of genres – The HiFi Club is a veritable treasure chest. It has hosted gigs by everyone from SBTRKT to The Pigeon Detectives, as well as DJs Gilles Peterson, Andy Votel and Jerry Dammers, and is home to a weekly stand-up comedy night and four weekly club nights that encompass a range of sounds from Motown to funk, soul and hip hop.

The rest of the time, The HiFi is simply a laid-back bar that attracts a T-shirt and trainers-wearing crowd with its comforting range of world beers and spirits. The drinks menu is focused on simplicity: it takes too long to make cocktails, they’ve rationalised, so the ethos is choose your liquor, choose your mixer and get going. Service is therefore quicker, drinks are comparatively cheaper, and you don’t have to wait for ages to be served – even when it’s busy.

Tasteful, modest and authentic decor of exposed brickwork, and semicircular sofas and tables is very different to the tackiness that characterises so many of Leeds’ other big clubbing spaces.