It may be hard to believe nowadays, but until first direct bank arena opened in 2013 with gigs from rock royalty in Bruce Springsteen and Elton John, Leeds was the largest UK city without a large, modern indoor venue to call its own.

Before then, the demand was such that a campaign was launched called - with suitable bluntness - ‘Leeds needs an arena’. It was supported by artists like Kaiser Chiefs and the local media, and a Cultural Facilities task group was formed to consider the options.

A new arena was by no means guaranteed - the task group looked at refurbishing existing venues, or even a different kind of venue - but finally an arena was included as one of the priority developments in the Vision for Leeds 2004-2020 document.

And thank goodness it was!

What makes t he arena s

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