This weekly music guide is brought to you in partnership with PPL PRS Ltd. Big thanks for their ongoing support of local acts and venues.
Stay in the know and be the first in line. Every week.
Diary Dates
The Frank & Walters – Saturday 9 November
Firebug
The alternative pop band from Cork are back. It’s been a long, strange, beautiful journey for The Franks, who in the 90s flirted with the charts on this continent and others, but no-one can deny they made their mark. Hell, there’s even an all-girl Japanese Franks tribute band! Sing along to After All, Fashion Crisis Hits New York, This Is Not A Song and Happy Busman.
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Saturday 9 November
The International
Benjamin Francis Leftwich is a singer/songwriter from York who has the sort of voice, delivery and material that tiptoes in to your soul, makes a big old comfy featherbed and refuses to leave. He has drawn comparisons to Damien Rice and José González, though he cites Arcade Fire, Ryan Adams, and Bruce Springsteen as his inspirations.
Mouth Culture – Tuesday 12 November
O2 Academy Leicester
It’s a hometown show for Leicester’s Mouth Culture as they continue to make waves. The eclectic quintet take a deep dive into each phase of love and friendship through honest words and honest music; a direct result of 5 best friends sharing their experiences.
High Fade – Thursday 14 November
The Soundhouse
On a three-man crusade to set dance floors alight with their inimitable brand of razor-sharp funk and disco, High Fade can already count Jack Black, Cypress Hill, Deep Purple’s Glenn Hughes, and Brad Wilk from Rage Against The Machine as fans. Honing their sound on the streets of their native Edinburgh, the band are at their best when up close and personal with audiences; with over a thousand gigs now under their belt, their refined, infectious live performance has become an integral part of the band’s DNA.
Meltheads – Saturday 16 November
The Soundhouse
Meltheads have been spreading wildfire on stages in Belgium and The Netherlands for a good while now, driven by the metronomically tight rhythm section of Tim Pensaert (bass) and Simon de Geus (drums), and fuelled by the razor-sharp and skilful guitar of Yunas de Proost. And then there’s frontman Sietse Willems, a man born to be on stage, like Morrison, Plant and Iggy Pop in one brutal and gnarly package.
The Cabarats – Friday 22 November
The International
The Cabarats bring a new musical experience to the global music underground. Using a collection of intriguing instruments, the group concoct a spell-binding musical potion designed to thrill and entertain audiences far and wide. The potion combines the haunting eastern sound of the Oud with the delicate beauty of the Accordion. The magic is embellished further with the addition of guitar, brass, percussion and glockenspiel. Throw in a solid rhythm section and captivating vocal melodies and it’s nearly there. Finally, chuck in a few rats, give it a stir and the spell is cast!
••••
INTERVIEW: DREAMCAGE ON UPCOMING HOMETOWN SHOW
Leicester band, DreamCage, are gearing up for a hometown show following their second UK tour. We caught up with them to find out more about the band and their future plans.
How would you describe Dreamcage for anyone who doesn’t know your music?
DreamCage is a 90s sound that combines the likes of grunge, shoegaze and alternative rock. Often compared to Pixies and The Smashing Pumpkins
Tell us about your journey so far as a band?
The band formed in 2021. After the debut release of our first single “Fairweather Friend” we ended up headlining a lot of venues right away around Leicester with a good reception. We then released our next single which snowballed us into selling out on our merch and headline shows, so we started touring the UK. When our EP was released we secured a lot of festival slots, more gigs around the country, and a lot of London shows, and we had the privilege of playing our first O2 Academy gig. After that we took a break from the touring to record more music and with our latest release “Gone & Stay” we’re once again touring the UK and each show gets bigger.
Which 3 acts would be listed in your “for fans of” section?
We would say DreamCage is for fans of Queens of the Stone Age, The Smashing pumpkins and Wunderhorse
Tell us about your upcoming Leicester show?
Our Leicester show, known as The Ch’riffmas Headliner is a celebration overall. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved in the last 3 years, very happy with “Gone & Stay” and it’s a hometown return from our second UK Tour celebrating its release. We’re very excited to play to the crowd that watched us grow.
What do you think of the Leicester music scene?
The Leicester music scene is great. There are so many bands with a lot of potential and each year we seem to see a new influx of people that keep everything alive. The Big Difference is an unbelievable venue and Ant does a really great job keeping the place successful. More and more venues like OMC and The International just keep providing more room for bands to grow and pack out bigger venues. It would be great to see more touring bands coming through and supporting the local scene because there’s a lot of talent that deserves exposure.
What does 2025 hold for Dreamcage?
2025 is going to be an exciting year. We have plans to release another EP early on as well as another tour. For the first time we’ll be playing some gigs in Europe and we’re speaking to a few different festivals about stage slots, as well as plenty of plans for a bigger variety of merch.
How can people hear more of your stuff?
If anyone wants to hear more stuff we’re available on all platforms, but we have around 15 songs we still haven’t released. Your best bet hearing those would be coming down to any of our gigs, we always include them in our sets.
DreamCage play at The Big Difference on Saturday 14 December as part of a festive gig curated by The Creep Records. Tickets are on sale HERE. Keep up to date with DreamCage via their Instagram @dreamcageband.
Playlist
Take a listen to a selection of the acts that are playing live in Leicester over the coming weeks. From old school 90s to the latest local bands. Discover a new (or old) favourite.
