Hi-Fi Club, Central Road: soul on Wednesdays, comedy on Saturdays

Hi-Fi Club is a basement nightclub and live music venue at 2 Central Road, Leeds LS1 6DE, in the City Centre. It does a few things and does them on set nights, so the trick is picking the right one. Wear shoes you can stand in.

What it is

One open-plan room with a central dancefloor, exposed brick, a fixed bar and a proper sound system. Listings put capacity at about 400 standing or 165 seated. One listing notes that some guests find the sound very loud, so earplugs are not a daft idea. Visit Leeds names soul, funk, jazz, indie, rock and hip hop as the sounds, plus comedy.

The club says it has won both Best Nightclub and Best Live Music Venue three times at the Leeds Bar & Club Awards. Take that as the club's own word, though Visit Leeds repeats it.

A bit of history

The club's own history page says it opened around 2000, after the closure of the much-loved city-centre venue The Underground (Skiddle gives 2001). Promoters Ed Mason, John Morelli and Steven Allison took over the basement, bringing across staff and plenty of popular club nights, some of which still run.

The name comes from the Leeds Central Soul Club, which the club calls its bedrock. The club says it has run for 46 years and is held on selected Sundays. The Comedy Club dates from 2001, and the alumni list on the club's site includes Alan Carr, John Bishop, Sarah Millican, Jason Manford and Joe Lycett. Past live acts listed by Visit Leeds include SBTRKT, Aloe Blacc, Michael Kiwanuka and Corinne Bailey Rae.

What to go for

• Wednesday, MoveOnUp: sixties soul, Tamla Motown, Northern Soul, Hammond funk and Sixties Beat, with DJ Matt Bolton as the long-serving resident. The club calls it the UK's longest-running weekly soul night.
• Tuesday, Mixtape: the student night, in term time.
• Saturday, Comedy Club: four stand-up acts per show, first act on at 6.45pm, doors around 5.30pm and a finish around 9pm. Tickets are for the show, not individual comedians. It is 18+.
• Monthly nights: Clarks (bashment, soca and dancehall) on the fourth Thursday, FSN on the first Friday, So Fresh So Clean (90s and 00s hip-hop and R&B) on a monthly Saturday, plus Gin & Juice for hip-hop and Gold Teeth for themed pop-star nights.

For late DJ nights, listings show guest bookings such as Crazy P and Ralph Lawson in September and Panteros666 in October.

When to go

Visit Leeds lists it as closed Monday, open 11pm to 4am Tuesday to Friday, and 6.30pm to 4am on Saturday. Saturday is the only early evening opening, which suits the comedy. Sunday is listed as closed, though the club's own pages talk about a Sunday night, so check the calendar before you set off.

The comedy calendar lists Saturdays through the year, with Patrick Monahan and Paul Thorne among the acts on 16, 23 and 30 May. Go before 9pm for the laughs, on a Wednesday for soul, or late at the weekend for guest DJs.

Tickets and prices

The club links to Fatsoma for tickets, and Skiddle and Songkick also list events. An older Fatsoma page showed comedy tickets at £19.80 to £20.90, so recheck before buying. Club night prices are not something to guess at: look at the listing for your night. For the comedy, same-sex groups of five or more may be asked for a £10 per person behavioural bond, and big groups should email info@thehificlub.co.uk. Phone is 0113 242 7353. Cvent lists the venue as wheelchair accessible, but ask the club first.

As for what to order, the club's own line is beers and cocktails at the bar, and no menu or prices have been published that we can point to. Treat the ticket as the main purchase.

More detail: club nights, Comedy Club, Visit Leeds.