From the city's post-punk scene emerged a number of darker groups, who would come to define the sound of gothic rock, beginning in the 1980s. The scene was primarily based around the F Club, which on Karl and Beverley Spracklen's book "The Evolution of Goth Culture" was described as the space "where gothic rock was born in the form it is now". The founding members of the Sisters of Mercy first met at the venue in 1980, playing their debut performance there. Through the decade, the band proved massively influential to the development of the genre, eventually becoming, as described by Metal Hammer writer Dave Everley, one of the closest things to a godfather of the gothic rock genre. Bradford goth band the March Violets, relocated to Leeds early on, due to its members' fascinations with groups like Gang of Four and the Mekons. While attending the University of Leeds, the band's vocalist Simon Denbigh, founded the "Music for the Masses Society", beginning to book concerts and club nights throughout the city. Other groups like Southern Death Cult, The Danse Society, Salvation and Skeletal Family also formed in the area during this period.