The Grove Inn
3
The Grove inn is an establishment in the back row of Leeds near the dark arches, a foreign area of Leeds to me been that I usually spend my time in the City Centre when I have some lack of inhibition to be at home, a pub that features four separate rooms, two of which are held for musical exploration and open mic nights, the music that is played here is a large bowl of influences from Jazz nights which circulate on Wednesdays, Acoustic north where singer songwriters perform and help in setting up equipment and PA systems every Thursdays while local singers group on a Fridays. Seemingly this pub conveys a hotspot in Leeds for artists of every creed and ilk, a place for players of every stature to grow, perform and learn from other musicians in a welcoming and friendly environment. A relaxed charming city pub with a warm and friendly atmosphere as the website announces. My opinions varied somewhat from the beer and the long corridor like area situated near the bar, of course it was somewhat out of reach from ones regular pub crawl , but the astounding thing was to see many people to find the venue and to make an effort to here music of every genre, even if the clientele seemingly cater for the elderly, those who live near the area and folky types who hang round the dives and busk on weekends. The backroom was a small but big enough institution to hold music for however long, posters along the walls of every musician that hung around here and a plaque commemorating a man who performed many times with Dire Straits Guitarist and lead singer Mark Knopfler, while a small, brisk area by the fire escape holds an able enough section to fit four or five musicians not less their equipment, the one thing that really astounded me was the respect and the somewhat gratitude of the staff towards the musicians who flock here with one simple room directed to those who should be in the entertainers quarter that if a band are performing then one must not enter until they have finished there performance or a part of their set, foolishly I broke this rule twice once to retain another pint and the other to enjoy a quick cigarette been that the act performing did not suit my particular taste as he introduced every song with some emotive phrase like "This son really helped me when my life was in a dark place". This been my first time here to say that it was welcoming I cannot , but one of the things left a bad taste in my mouth that after only a few minutes of been with the company we owned who showed a half hour late one of the singers girlfriends fainted by the door and had to be rushed out yet it was not due to the pubs fault I may add it was simply by her own malnutrition. For those who want to see a decent live act in a friendly atmosphere with good ale and willing performers simply doing what they can to entertain then this is the place for you, a haven of intelligent players and those seeking to get in the music business by playing anywhere that they can.