Always enjoyed the old Leeds Queens Hall, what a barn of a place that used to be!
Accoustically I suppose it wasn't the best venue, concrete floor walls and ceiling but early eighties groups such as Black Sabbath, Whitesnake, Kiss, Saxon, Motorhead etc weren't exactly looking for subtlety, volume, volume and more volume, yes please.
Sheffield city hall was the alternative locally, in comparison a soft furnishings extravaganza
, saw Thin Lizzy, Iron Maidan, Judas Priest there and very nice venue and an even better bar, what more could you ask for?
Sheffield Arena has taken over the mantle from City Hall for the major groups visiting our area, only seen Sting there and I didn't like it much, I was sat up in the gods and the sound was very echo y very indistinct it would have sounded markedly different on the ground I suppose.
The ultimate for me has to be Birmingham NEC, but it needs to be full to capacity, as with the old Leeds Queens Hall its not much more than a concrete barn but fill it with 10,000 people and I grin from ear to ear