If your teen self, like mine, rejected football, Top of the Pops and other mainstream culture there were places in your city where you could hang about with other like-minded misfits.
This was in the 1990s when barely anyone had the internet so if you wanted to discuss the latest Green Day album or catch up on gossip you had to meet in person.
Space is always political and if you were the type who cared more about guitars than Gary Speed, you weren't going to hang out outside JD Sport or the local cinema where the local scallies would give you a kicking.
You'd pick places like the Corn Exchange where other 'moshers' – a slightly derogatory term for fans of heavy, guitar-based music – would hang around alternative shops and not spend any money.
So here's a list of places you'd have probably haunted if you had a Soundgarden T-shirt or a Korn hoodie in the 1990s.
The Cockpit
This live music venue, where superstar bands like The Killers played in their early days, also ran The Garage on Saturday nights which was where you and buddies could slam dance to a playlist of grunge, alternative and metal.
The Cockpit, under the railway bridge on Swinegate, closed in 2014 after 20 years.
Corn Exchange
This Victorian Corn Exchange reopened in 2008 as an arcade for smart, independent boutiques selling fashion, homewares and falafel.
But in the late 1990s, it was a scruffier place where you could buy unofficial band T-shirts, goth jewellery and hair dyes in a variety of unashamedly unnatural colours.
Duchess of York
Before The Cockpit this unassuming pub of Vicar Lane was the place to catch huge bands on the ascent. Blur played there to promote their debut album 'Leisure' in 1990. Radiohead played there two years later. A then little known pop-punk band called Green Day played the Duchess in 1993 followed by Oasis the following year. Coldplay and Muse also performed at The Duchess in their early days.
The Duchess closed in 2000. A Hugo Boss store stands there today which would be anathema to any self-respecting 90s rock fan.
Granary Wharf
This is now the redeveloped Granary Wharf, packed with swish bars and places to eat. Known as 'The Dark Arches' back in the 90s, it was a less glamorous affair and the location of an alternative market.
It had some awesome hippy stores where you could buy tie-dyed everything, leather bracelets and mood rings. Naturally, the whole place smelled strongly of patchouli and incense.
Pig and Whistle
This former pub in the Merrion Centre was popular with the rock and goth crowd. It was, to quote a friend, 'a s***hole' and replaced by a Fab Cafe sci-fi and kitsch themed bar in the late 1990s which is now also defunct.
It's now the site of Leeds City Council offices.
Victoria Square
The ledges and steps of this plaza in the heart of Leeds city centre made it a popular spot for skateboarders in the 1990s. While skateboarders and 'moshers' are different tribes they share a similar disinterest to mainstream culture and would often congregate in the same places on weekends, sometimes to the irritation of the skaters.
Thanks to Tiff Rudman for her help in researching this article.
