The Big Steppers World Tour will see the rapper in Leeds later this year.
Kendrick Lamar has confirmed that he will be performing across the world as part of his Big Steppers World Tour, and Leeds is lucky enough to be one of the seven stops across the UK involved.
The rapper has just released a new album. / Image: Kendrick Lamar / Spotify
Taking over the First Direct Arena on Thursday 3 November 2022, this is going to be the biggest performance in Leeds since that Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe performance at Leeds Fest 2018.
Tickets are due to go on general sale from Friday 20 May 2022 but if you're an O2 user or have access to the Live Nation presale, you can get in a full 24 hours ahead of the crowd.
Presale begins Thursday 19 May 2022 at 10am and closes an hour before general sale begins.
Ticketmaster has noted a limit of six tickets per customer and per credit card, so if you're planning on going with a large group of like-minded fans, make sure to split the responsibility of bagging tickets.
The worldwide artist is expected to see the best of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers on the evening, including the artist's latest hit N95, which has received a whopping 15 milllion streams on Spotify alone since its release. Classic tunes that saw the rapper shoot to mainstream success like HUMBLE., M.A.A.D City and ADHD.
Kendrick Lamar performing in Amsterdam in 2013. / Image: Merlijn Hoek
In the meantime, there's plenty of other live music to get us through to the winter months- especially now that festivals have been given the green light this year without any extra pandemic-related provisions.
This month, catch the likes of Novo Amor and Marina (as in Marina and the Diamonds) at City Varieties and The Refectory respectively this Saturday or next week there's some incredible talent coming from four-time BRIT award winner Emeli Sande and everyone's favourite singer about bad relationshiop, Kate Nash will be joining The Wardrobe towards the end of the month too.
The full set of UK tour dates for the Big Steppers World Tour are as follows:
Wednesday 2 November– Glasgow, UK – OVO Hydro Thursday 3 November – Leeds, UK – First Direct Arena Friday 4 November – Newcastle, UK – Utilita Arena Saturday 5 November – Birmingham, UK – Utilita Arena Monday 7 November – London, UK – The O2 Tuesday 8 November– London, UK – The O2 Wednesday 16 November- Manchester, UK – AO Arena
She's big, she's green and she's ready to ruin your figure.
A lot of you will have seen the viral ‘Bertha’ cake by Leeds born beloved sweet treat specialists Get Baked.
They recently opened another site in Manchester's Northern Quarter, where queues literally formed round the block of hungry punters wanting to get their hands on the infamous sugary treats.
And now it's going to happen all over again, as they've recently unveiled their newest flavour which is sure to go down a storm.
We’ll give you a hint: it’s a current food and drink trend that’s about as big as Bertha herself – it’s not matcha, it’s not hot honey (duh), and it’s not Guinness…
Images: Get Baked
Yes—scratch that; HELL YES!Get Baked is set to welcome Bertha’s equally beautiful twin sister, and she’s officially a pistachio girlie.
Having started out life simply as ‘Bruce’, after taking inspiration from the iconic scene from Matilda, this thing has become a phenomenon in its own right, and who doesn’t like more flavours of a good thing?
Probably one of the biggest foodie crazes going at the minute, thanks to the popularity of pistachio cream, cookies, lattes and the similar social media sensation that is the ‘Dubai Pistachio Bar' people are rather fittingly going nuts for this particular flavour of almost absolutely anything.
With that in mind, the Leeds-born bakery and dessert shop – founded by Rich Myers over in Headingley back in 2011 – have shown no hesitation in hopping on the bandwagon and creating a new twist on their own viral menu item.
Teasing the full details in a post on their Instagram this week, they wrote: “What’s big, green, and is going to destroy your life in a couple of weeks’ time? Pistachio Bertha. Strictly limited to 5,000 slices. Coming oh so soon. GB.”
In case you were wondering just how mad those with a sweet tooth could possibly go for a slice of cake, just look at the recent queues when they finally launched in Manchester city centre:
Speaking on the grand opening here on our turf and his partner Amy’s hometown, Myers said simply: “Manchester, what a launch. Thanks for much for the warm welcome. Stay baked.”
Leeds Tattoo Expo to return to the First Direct Arena for 10th anniversary
Clementine Hall
The tenth annual Leeds Tattoo Expo will showcase some of the best in tattooing both local and internationally.
If you fancy getting yourself a fancy new bit of ink, then look no further than the iconic Leeds Tattoo Expo that will be returning to the First Direct Arena this June.
Taking place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 June 2025, over 200 tattooists and 70 traders will be flocking to the city to show off their skills.
And not only that, but there’ll also be a whole host of market traders for you to browse as well as live music to have a boogie to.
The artists will be tattooing with options for both pre-booked appointments and walk ups available throughout the weekend.
Image: Leeds Tattoo Expo
There will also be a piercer, tooth gems and a henna artist ready to adorn your body.
Alongside getting tattooed, there’s plenty to do and to see over the whole weekend; there'll be an alternative drawing class, an illustrators market with kids’ workshops provided by Art Gecko, an art fusion event on the main stage, burlesque performances and competitions, a small vintage clothing pop-up, fire breathing and break dancing demonstrations in the square outside the arena.
The annual tattoo competitions will also be taking place each evening, where tattooists showcase their work to a panel of judges, sponsored by Killer Ink!
To celebrate Leeds Tattoo Expo's tenth anniversary, they'll be hosting a Pre-Party at Belgrave Music Hall on Thursday 5 June which is a completely free entry event complete with live music and free pizza.
You can find out more about the event and book your tickets here via the First Direct Arena's website.
Sophie Smith -
16th May 2022 
