It is eight years since the much-missed Town and Country Club, which played host to such stellar names as David Bowie, Robbie Williams and Blur, closed its doors, leaving a yawning chasm in Leeds's music scene.

But tomorrow night the launch of the city's newest, and biggest, concert hall will go a long way to closing that gap.

Housed in what used to be the Town and Country Club, Leeds Academy not only continues the city's musical lineage, it heralds a new era.

Steve Hoyland, the man in charge of the venue, itself a grade I listed building, says everything is on schedule and is promising a "great party" when chart-topping band Kaiser Chiefs play.

"They are a great band and one of the biggest in the UK, they are up there with Coldplay, the Arctic Monkeys and U2 and they are the right act to open this venue," enthuses Hoyland.

"You always want the biggest band from the city to open your venue and we've got that, although to be honest we didn't have to twist their arm, they wanted to do it.

"They used to come here as customers when it was the Town and Country Club and I think I'm right in saying that one of the band members worked as a glass collector here."

With a total capacity of 2,700, including a main auditorium that can hold 2,300, Leeds Academy is not quite the full-scale arena that music fans have been hankering after, but it means bands that once bypassed the city now have somewhere big enough to play.

"Leeds is a major city but in the past it has lost a lot of bands simply because the venues weren't here. Acts like Duffy and James wouldn't have come to Leeds before because there wasn't a venue that could deal with the amount of production their shows need. Now everyone wants to come and play here," says Hoyland.

Following this week's opener there are 38 more gigs lined up for the rest of the year, 14 of which are sold out in advance.

"We've already sold over 52,000 tickets and there's no doubt we'll see more sell-out gigs. Leeds is a very strong city for ticket sales, it's definitely as strong as Manchester, or Birmingham.

"The city has a massive catchment area and we believe the venue is what people in Leeds and Yorkshire have been waiting for."

As well as the Kaiser Chiefs, the Last Shadow Puppets, Duffy, Goldfrapp and the Zutons are among those lined up to play at the academy. And Hoyland is confident that more will follow.

"We are here for the long term and we're here to bring something to the city and to put Leeds firmly back on the artistic touring circuit."