by Kseniia Vedeneeva.
What’s happening right now?
Leicester’s music scene is growing every day and is bringing in new young talent, but not everything is as perfect as it seems. Before talking about the future, we must honestly acknowledge the scale of the problems that take place in Leicester now.
At the end of 2025, something happened that upset all lovers of Leicester’s music – the legendary club The Shed has been closed after 31 years of operation. It hosted such artists as the Arctic Monkeys and Kasabian early in their careers. And unfortunately, it was not the only bad news. Our review of the last night at The Shed.
According to the Music Venue Trust, the situation for live venues across the country is critical. The average profit margin for live music venues is just 2.5%, more than half of them are unprofitable, and 30 venues have closed in the past year.
However, unlike many cities where the process of closures led to the complete disappearance of the scene, Leicester responded to the crisis with systemic action.
The opening of Sally Cinnamon’s on Cank Street, the renovation of 2Funky Music Cafe and Firebug Bar with support from Coldplay, and the launch of the Busk Leicester program for street musicians – all of these have created the groundwork for a brand new Leicester music life. But all this would be useless without the new
talents that appear on the city’s turf. Read our review of Sally Cinnamon’s.
New talents of the city.
Jake Thompson. Jake Thompson is a young Leicester’s singer-songwriter who has been performing on stage since the age of 12, inspired by Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars, and whose persistence is now paying off at a national level. His debut single was named ‘Track of the Week’ on BBC Introducing, and also, he will take to the main stage of the Riverside Festival on June 6th. For Leicester, Jake is crucial not only for his music but also because he is living proof that the system can work. He came up through local venues, performing at neighbourhood festivals. Now his name tops the bill of the city’s main annual event. This is a signal to every teenager with a guitar in their bedroom: ‘You could be next.’
Chantelle Marquez. Chantelle Marquez represents a different portrait of Leicester talent. Riverside Festival organisers describe her as ‘an up-and-coming independent British artist whose music is quickly gaining popularity online.’ She has been writing raps since the age of six – an age when most children are learning to read, she was learning to craft rhythm and rhyme. Chantelle represents the part of Leicester’s scene that grew up not on guitar riffs but on beats and lyrics. Her music is a direct response to the city’s multicultural character, where Bhangra meets Hip-hop, and Drum & bass meets Afro-beat. The fact that she has been invited to share the main stage with Jake says that Leicester’s new scene is not monolithic. It becomes even brighter and more diverse day by day.
Charles Looker and Charlie Cooper. While adults talk about crisis and write strategies, two 19-year-olds named Charles Looker and Charlie Cooper simply went ahead and organised their own festival. In August 2026, Victoria Park will host Summer Of Funk, a funk and reggae festival they expect to draw 4,000 people. Their motivation sounds almost defiant: “As a city, we have an amazing music scene, but we’re lacking organisation at the venues,” says Charles Looker. “You hear about Manchester and Bristol – they have great
scenes, but we should be on a par with them.” But their most interesting move is their approach to economics. They plan to keep drink prices at around £3 each – a direct challenge to festival pricing that often makes live music inaccessible to the very young people who create it. At 19, they understand something that some professional promoters never grasp: a scene stays alive when it stays affordable.
Support for young artists.
All the names above are just the tip of the iceberg. The systematic work is happening through the Leics Connect! program, launched in January 2026 with support from Youth Music and the National Lottery through Arts Council England. The program is designed for teenagers aged 14-18 who face barriers to entering the music industry – whether financial, lack of connections, or access to equipment. Participants receive mentoring from professionals, access to digital music technology, live performance training, and industry advice. The culmination of the program is a performance by its graduates on the main stage of the Riverside Festival on June 6-7, 2026. The names of these artists have not yet been announced. But the fact that the city council, educational institutions, and the industry have united to give them a stage is more important than any individual name. This is the creation of a system that will produce talent serially, rather than relying on happy accidents.
Future for Leicester’s music.
The future of Leicester’s music shine and bright. It’s never determined by the number of clubs opening or closing. It is determined by whether the next generation has a place, the tools, and the belief that someone will listen. Leicester is now full of young and passionate music-loving teens and adults who are passionate about their work. Moreover, there are people willing to help them develop, which is the most important. And as long as they exist, music will have a future. The closure of the old clubs is not the end, but simply a transition to a new stage for which Leicester and its people are ready. Information about Leics Connect!
