Live at Kirkstall Abbey: The Streets

One of the UK's most important and influential hip hop, rap and garage acts, The Streets have announced a huge show next summer as part of the return of live music to Leeds’ history Kirkstall Abbey.

Inimitable frontman Mike Skinner and his band will be performing their seminal second album A Grand Don’t Come for Free in full for the first time ever on Friday 24 July as part of the second Live at Kirkstall Abbey concert series.

Originally released in 2004, A Grand Don’t Come For Free remains one of the most important and influential British albums of the 21st century. Entering the UK charts at No.1, the record went multi-platinum and delivered era-defining singles including ‘Fit But You Know It’, ‘Blinded By The Lights’ and ‘Dry Your Eyes’ which won Skinner a prestigious Ivor Novello award. The album cemented Skinner as one of the UK’s most original and vital voices, 
capturing the humour, heartbreak and unfiltered emotion of day to day life with rare poetic clarity. 

Performing the album in its entirety, The Streets are giving fans a chance to experience the full story exactly as it was intended: a cinematic journey through love, loss, chaos, heartbreak and hope, delivered with Skinner’s trademark raw honesty and wit.  

The Streets broke through in 2002 with the Mercury Prize-nominated Original Pirate Material – widely regarded as one of the most influential British albums of recent times, whose impact on culture and UK music can still be felt to this day. A Grand Don’t Come For Free followed soon after and since then, The Streets have released four further albums: The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (2006), Everything Is Borrowed (2008), Computer and Blues 
(2011) and last year’s The Darker The Shadow, The Brighter The Light whilst Skinner has collaborated with a host of British musical royalty including Kano, Fred Again, Greentea Peng and house DJ legend Chris Lorenzo and championed breaking British music through his Mike Skinner LTD label.

Ever the innovator, Skinner’s latest project, The Darker The Shadow, The Brighter The Light, melds his signature spoken word storytelling with a self-directed film of the same name; weaving a noir-inspired narrative through gritty garage beats and tales of everyday survival. Still commanding the stage and gripping audiences with his quintessentially British tongue-in-cheek attitude, his latest material and this very special live performance is all testament to the impact Skinner and The Streets have had, and continue to have across generations of musicians and fans alike.