Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England, where Seventeen, The Alarm, Dave Sharp & The Barnstormers, Mike Peters & The Poets of Justice, Mike Peters (solo), Coloursøund, Dead Men Walking, Big Country, Los Mondo Bongo, Dave Sharp (solo), The Alarm2.0 have played live at various venues.
Leeds is also the home town of Craig Adams who has played in The Alarm, Coloursøund and the Children of the Revolution
(v) 4th December 1980 : Seventeen – The Warehouse Club, Leeds, England
Supporting The Stray Cats
Band Line Up : Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie Macdonald, Nigel Buckle
(v) 17th June 1982 : The Alarm – Bodington Hall, Leeds University, Leeds, England
Band line up : Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie Macdonald, Nigel Twist
(v) 3rd November 1982 : The Alarm – Refectory, Leeds University Student Union, Leeds, England
Supporting Belle Stars
Band line up : Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie Macdonald, Nigel Twist
(v) 14th May 1983 : The Alarm – Riley Smith Hall Leeds University Student Union, Leeds, England
Supported by The March Violets and The Three Johns
Band line up : Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie Macdonald, Nigel Twist
Set list- Shout To The Devil, Declaration, For Freedom, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, Reason 41, Up For Murder, The Deceiver, Blaze Of Glory, The Stand, Tell Me, Third Light, Across The Border, What Kind Of Hell, Sixty Eight Guns, Unsafe Building, Lie Of The Land, Marching On
Fan Comments
My best gig ever, simply because it was the first time I’d seen them. they played for what seemed like hours, finally running out of songs & playing Marching on for the second time. I was so excited I stayed up all night talking about the show before getting more tickets for other Alarm gigs the next day. I had never seen a band so ALIVE! Ah, to be there now… Shaun Finnie
The March Violets gig review by Nikola Vitus Largatyija
Of all the gigs I paid to see in Leeds back in 1983, the best value by far must have been a triple bill on May 14th at the legendary Riley Smith Hall at the Uni. U2 proteges The Alarm, promoting their latest single “Marching On”, which they played twice that night, were the headliners, with Mike Peters’ combo touted as the new Clash in the more easily excitable quarters of the music press. The Alarm had been support on some of U2’s recent “War” tour but The Nightcaps did the honours for the Leeds Uni refectory show some two months earlier.
The main attraction for most local music aficionado’s however were the other two bands on the bill that night, The Three Johns and The March Violets, both vying with the Sisters in the indie charts at that time and featuring the distinctive Leeds drum machine sound. The Three Johns featured (and still do) ex-Mekon Jon Langford on guitar who had played with the Sisters for some very early live shows but now kick-started (literally) the pedal-operated drum machine track that was the backline to the Three Johns live sound,with singer John Hyatt’s Lydonesque croon soaring melodically over the scattered shards of Langford’s jagged chords. This was the time of their more indie rock second single “Pink Headed Bug” (“I was a pink headed bug, crawling up the side of the City Hall”) which brought them greater success than the angry anti-apartheid debut single “English White Boy Engineer”, which was also aired that night in an energetic performance which showed why they were to become Indie Chart residents over the next five years.
Second on the bill but main focus for many were The March Violets playing a homecoming gig on their Tetragrammaton tour, back in the days when Rosie still shared vocal duties with Simon (think Ben Gunn to Cleo’s career-minded Wayne Hussey). Visually the Violets seemed to be the template for Floodland-era Sisters, Denbigh bearded and full of cock-rock testosterone, Garland the feminine counterpoint. Tom and Loz created a rather diluted version of the Girls’ rock beat but which was nevertheless still powerful, and songs such as The Undertow, 1-2 I Love You and Children on Stun all had more impact live than on record. New single Crow Baby and breakthrough hit Grooving in Green were the highlights though, and it seemed as if the band had the potential to go as global as the Sisters already seemed destined to become.
And back in May 1983, three bands of the future for a measly two pounds ticket cost seemed like the bargain of the century – a shame there were only about 250 there !
(v) 14th July 1983 : The Alarm – The Warehouse Club, Leeds, England
Supported by Under Two Flags
Band line up : Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie Macdonald, Nigel Twist
(v) 4th October 1983 : Riley Smith Hall Leeds University Student Union, Leeds, England
Marching on Through October Tour
Supported by The Climb
Band line up : Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie Macdonald, Nigel Twist
(v) 14th May 1984 : The Alarm : Leeds University Student Union, Leeds, England
Band line up : Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie Macdonald, Nigel Twist
(v) 7th May 1985 : The Alarm – The Refectory, Leeds University Student Union, Leeds, England
Absolute Tour with support from Faith Brothers
Band line up : Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie Macdonald, Nigel Twist, Rupert Black
May 7th 1985 marked one of the most bizarre turns in the your history of The Alarm. The Alarm had been (frustratingly, mistakenly, wrongly, dismissively – choose your own adverb here) compared to The Clash by the UK music press. The sad part about it, was that The Clash (the remains of the band anyway) believed it. The Alarm had already been supported by Mike Jones’s B.A.D. the year before which was odd enough, but the events of May 7th were unprecedented. As The Alarm, were getting ready to play inside, The Clash (Mark II) showed-up and performed an acoustic busking concert outside the venue in Leeds (The University refectory where The Who’s – ‘Live at Leeds’ album was recorded). The band stopped their sound-check to go watch the proceedings.
“I distinctly remember Redeye bursting on to the stage during the soundcheck and announcing that Joe Strummer and The Clash were busking to the fans outside the venue. I didn’t believe him at first and thought it was a wind-up but soon realised it was true and so I dropped everything and ran outside to see what was going on.” – Mike Peters 2015
Outside where the Alarm were playing that night, The Clash were disrupted 15 minutes / 4 songs into their set (about 7pm) as Joe Strummer got covered in red paint (which was thrown by members of Chumbawumba from the roof of the University Building), in protest at The Clash being part of CBS Records and the Company’s alleged involvement in the construction of Cruise Missiles.
“Meanwhile, anarchy was becoming archaic in the U.K., as a pallid version of the Clash, sans Mick Jones, roamed the streets in search of lost credibility. They’d done the America, champagne and coke thing, and they came back over here trying to prove that they could still relate to the kids, “To me it just smacked of insincerity; they were doing this tour where they would be busking outside gigs. So [fellow Chumbawumban] Danbert [Nobacon] sprayed them with red paint and then got chased through Leeds City Center by a load of angry people. But he managed to escape.” – Dunstan Bruce (Chumbawumba)
“It was certainly strange to see my hero Joe Strummer outside The Alarm’s gig at Leeds, especially when the paint got thrown around. Even stranger, was seeing the concourse empty as the door to our own gig opened and the fans rushed in to get down to the front. I could see The Clash from about a 100 yards away and I felt sorry for Joe and the band, they were obviously trying to prove some sort of point and in many ways, I could relate to what they were trying to do, especially as it was the way The Alarm had demonstrated itself in the early days after arriving London 1981, and busking on the subways and performing outside the Crypt Folk Club at St. Martins In The Fields Church in Trafalgar Square, when they wouldn’t let us play because of the way we looked. I think another reason they might have been there was driven by the fact that Mick Jones had performed the first ever Big Audio Dynamite show as support to The Alarm in Glasgow Nightmoves in 1984. I can imagine Joe Strummer thinking somewhere in his reasoning that Clash fans had started following The Alarm after they had sacked Mick Jones. In the music press at the time, there had been some verbal comments from Joe saying ‘The Alarm were an imitation of a shadow of The Clash’ and here he was imitating The Alarm with acoustic guitars. The week he died, I got a letter from an old Alarm fan – Graham Lampen, who had met Joe in a restaurant just before he passed away, where Joe admitted to him that he was a fan although he wasn’t allowed to admit it. – Mike Peters 2015
(Clash pictures and news clipping originally from Strength an Oral History on The Alarm.com)
5th May 1987 : The Alarm – University, Leeds, England
The Electric Folklore Tour
Band line up : Mike Peters, Dave Sharp, Eddie Macdonald, Nigel Twist, Mark Taylor
1st October 1991 : Dave Sharp & The Barnstormers – Duchess Of York, Leeds, England
Hardv Travellin’ Medicine Show Tour with support from Toby Bourke
Band line up : Band line up : Dave Sharp, Reverend Charlie Mackintosh, Rockabilly Billy Penn, Dr Joe De Lorenzo, Chris Rioux
21st July 1992 : Mike Peters and The Poets of Justice – Duchess Of York, Leeds, England
Band Line Up : Mike Peters, Ethan Johns, Dave Watkins-Clarke, Martyn Barker, Jules Jones Peters
2nd November 1992 : Mike Peters and The Poets of Justice – Duchess Of York, Leeds, England
The Exodus Tour
Band Line Up : Mike Peters, Ethan Johns, Dave Watkins-Clarke, Martyn Barker, Jules Jones Peters
10th February 1994 : Mike Peters and The Poets – Duchess Of York, Leeds, England
Back Into the System Tour
Band Line Up : Mike Peters, Chis “Field Marshall Slug” Lewis, Brychan Llyr, Emyr Penlan, Owen Thomas, Jules Jones Peters
22nd March 1994 : Stiff Little Fingers – Metropolitan University, Leeds, England
Get A Life Tour
Band line up : Jake Burns, Dave Sharp, Bruce Foxton, Dolphin Taylor
Dave Sharp briefly joined the Stiff Little Fingers line up, at the invitation of front man Jake Burns
20th April 1994 : Mike Peters – Irish Centre, Leeds, England
Mike Peters solo acoustic supporting Aimee Mann
22nd October 1994 : Mike Peters and The Poets – Duchess Of York, Leeds, England
Scattered Across This Land Tour
Band Line Up : Mike Peters, Chis “Field Marshall Slug” Lewis, Brychan Llyr, Emyr Penlan, Owen Thomas, Jules Jones Peters
15th February 1995 : Mike Peters – Duchess Of York, Leeds, England
7th June 1995 : Mike Peters – Town & Country Club, Leeds, England
Supporting The Stranglers on their 20th Anniversary Tour
20th January 1998 : Mike Peters Electric Band – Duchess Of York, Leeds, England
With support from Jay Aston
Band Line Up : Mike Peters, James Stevenson, Craig Adams, Johnny Donnelly
29th September 1998 : Coloursøund – Duchess Of York, Leeds, England
Band Line Up : Mike Peters, Billy Duffy, Craig Adams, Steve Grantley
25th May 2000 : The Alarm 2000 – Town & Country, Leeds, England
Supporting Big Country on the Final Fling Tour
7th December 2000 : The Alarm 2000 – The Cockpit, Leeds, England
With support from Spear of Destiny
(v) 28th March 2001 : Dead Men Walking – The Leeds Irish Centre, Leeds, England
Band line up: Mike Peters, Kirk Brandon, Pete Wylie, Glen Matlock
5th May 2002 : The Alarm MMII – The Cockpit, Leeds, England
The Resistance Tour 2002 with support by Spear of Destiny and Pete Wylie
Band line up :
28th April 2005 : Mike Peters – Joseph Wells, Leeds, England
Mike Peters The Voice of The Alarm Interactive Tour 2005 – Solo show
(v) 10th March 2010: Los Mondo Bongo – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, England
Band line up: Mike Peters, Pablo Cook, Steve “Smiley” Barnard, Derek Forbes, Steve Harris, DJ Ray Gange
16th April 2011 : Big Country – Rock City, Nottingham, England
Dreams Stay With Me Tour
Band line up : Mike Peters, Bruce Watson, Jamie Watson, Tony Butler, Mark Brzezicki
(v) 1st May 2022 : Dave Sharp – The Grove Inn, Leeds, England – live gig
Rock against Racism 1st May All-Dayer event 2pm to 11pm
Other acts performing – Beer Snobs, Kingcrows, Whisky Pistols, La Costa Rasa, Vig Vam Bam, Rory Hall, Paul Morricone, 189ers, Suitcase Rags Trio, Declan McNullty, Christy Herron Band, Character Asters, Bibles FC
Dave played a solo set at 7.45pm 
(v) 16th August 2026 : The Alarm2.0 – Lending Room, Leeds, England
Marching On Tour Summer 2026
With support from The Sick Fix and Skäl
Band line up : Eddie MacDonald, James Stevenson, Steve ‘Smiley’ Barnard, Paul Cuddeford
Set List : Knife Edge, Marching On, Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?, The Stand, Rain in the Summertime, We Are The Light, Tell Me, Deeside, Strength, Sixty Eight Guns, Sold Me Down The River, Rescue Me, Spirit Of ’76, Blaze of Glory
(Set list provided by Patrick Murphy)
(Photo by Ron Ash)
(Page updated 13/09/2026)