St George's Hall is making a fresh bid to become West Yorkshire's premier rock music venue.

It has landed a hat-trick of high-profile concerts following the sudden closure of the Town and Country Club in Leeds.

Spice Girl Melanie C has switched her planned solo date to Bradford from Leeds and veteran performer Van Morrison has also been booked at St George's Hall.

And now Bradford chart stars Embrace have announced they will be playing in the city for the first time in November.

The Town and Country Club has hogged the lion's share of major rock gigs over the past five years, with acts such as Paul Weller, The Pretenders and the Manic Street Preachers performing there.

But now St George's hopes to re-establish itself as the region's number one venue after the rival Leeds club shut earlier this summer.

John Botteley, general manager of Bradford Theatres, said: "With the closure of the Town and Country Club, we want to make St George's Hall the top music venue in the region.

"We have already taken some of the shows that were heading for the Town and Country, and we're working hard to encourage promoters to choose us as their venue in this region."

Limited numbers of tickets are available for Van Morrison on September 15 and for Melanie C on September 17.

Tickets for the Embrace gig on November 7 will go on sale tomorrow. They cost £11.50 plus a £1 booking fee.

The band were formed in Wyke by brothers Richard and Danny McNamara but this is their first gig in Bradford.

Lead singer Danny is really looking forward to the Bradford gig. And on Sunday Embrace will be headlining the Radio 1 Evening Session Stage at the Carling Weekend Leeds Festival.

"The bill is really good," he said.

"Primal Scream are playing, Oasis, Badly Drawn Boy and the Doves. There's at least 20 bands I'd like to see."

l Ring (01274) 752000 for more details on any gig at St George's Hall.