Jarvis Cocker and Richard Hawley reveal new Leadmill-inspired song in surprise duet

Hawley has played two homecoming gigs at The Leadmill this week, whose management are fighting a campaign against being evicted by the building's owner.

After being joined on stage on Monday by fellow Sheffield musician Self Esteem, Hawley delighted fans in the venue for Tuesday night's gig by bringing Cocker onstage.

Cocker told the crowd it was his first time back on The Leadmill stage since November 1993 and it was "nice to be back".

Cocker and Hawley performed two duets - a cover of The Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat and a new Leadmill-inspired song called A Sunset. It is inspired by the original venue logo which features a sun set and pays homage to past good times at the venue.

The song was created by the pair years ago but has never been performed publicly before.

Pulp's first full appearance took place at The Leadmill, on 16th August 1980 - 42 years ago.

Cocker has spoken out against the eviction plans publicly before. He said last night that The Leadmill is "more than this building and this stage, it's something that's grown over years and it's a feeling. It's like a form of magic."

He said the landlords of the venue "may own the bricks and mortar, but they don't own the spirit of The Leadmill". Cocker called on them to "have some respect for a beautiful thing".

Almost 40,000 people have signed a Parliamentary petition that seeks to prevent the current management of The Leadmill being kicked out by the building owners next year through calling for a suspension of a section of the Landlord and Tenant Act.

The petition is seeking for the suspension to result in stopping tenant evictions until an already announced Government review of the full Act has finished. If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures, a Parliamentary debate on the issue will be considered.

The current management revealed earlier this year they are due to be kicked out in March 2023 - a move they say will spell the end of The Leadmill.

The owners of the building, a London company called Electric Group, have denied the management change would result in the venue closing and said they intended to invest in the facility. Electric Group’s website describes the company as a joint venture between chief executive Dominic Madden and Jake Lewis, whose family own the River Island retail chain.

The company said it had purchased The Leadmill freehold in 2017, making it the landlord for leaseholder Phil Mills.

Mr Madden said earlier this year he had taken legal advice on retaining the existing name which he said he hoped to keep as the Leadmill is a “music institution”.

But the club’s management have said they own the Leadmill name and brand and “without us there is no Leadmill”.

On February 3 this year, Music Venues Limited, which has Mr Madden as a director and operates from the same building as the Electric Group, filed a trademark request for the name Electric Sheffield.Other trademarks registered to Music Venues Ltd include Electric Brixton, the company’s existing venue in London, and NX, the name of the new venue it plans to open in Newcastle on the site of the former O2 Academy venue in the city.

Companies House accounts show Music Venues Ltd became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Electric Group Holdings Ltd in June 2020, having previously been a subsidiary of Electric Group Ltd.