--- glasgow ----

Bands do indeed play at Nice'n'Sleazys. I have seen many an excellent band there.

I think it goes Rooftops (now called something else), then QM, then Barrowlands, then SECC.

Barrowlands is somewhere in the region of 1500-2000, I believe.

There's always the Cathouse!

i thought mono had some interesting ppl play there every now and then, sorry to hear it's a shithole

i have enjoyed many of the subcurrent performances at the CCA - again, gd sound, nice and loud - but the venue itself gives off the same snooty vibe as london's ica.

a few doors before the cca there was another venue - seemed to have a sort've middling range of acts - janis ian was playing there when i was in glasgow earlier this year - what's that?

i went for a drink in king tut's on the same visit. didn't seem to be anybody of any note on their gig flyer, but enjoyed the stude/crusty/saxondale vibe as I had nice cool beer, after walking the entire fucking length of argyle st looking for volcanic tongue

there seems to be an interesting venue in edinburgh, some sort of cellar bar?? that has some noize gigs i shall prob go to (also finally a chance to see Dick Gaughan, in September, in Edinburgh)

moving to glasgow on the 12th, just need to get a van sorted, excited

it's not a shithole it's a pretty good place. it's just bad for gigs because it's not set up properly and it's amateurish (not charming, sorry) also bar staff can be slighly cuntish? it has an excellent record shop that might be up your street, ward.

did you find Volcanic tongue? i've never been.

the place near the CCA is the ABC. the CCA has zero atmosphere but the sound can be good, yes.

the ABC is the one near the CCA

you should have been to king tut's before it was totally "gentrified" which it has been (I feel), as opposed to mostly "gentrified"

etc

crosspost

well, acts i've seen there include grace jones, public enemy, hawkwind, the cocteau twins, ministry, sonic youth, kraftwerk etc. i think i might possibly also hold the dubious distinction of having performed there more than any other living person. maybe i'll get a plaque one day.

x post

The ABC (and ABC2) may be soulless (actually, I don't think they are, but I've only ever seen acts I really like in both of them, so haven't had a shitey experience there yet), but they also have the most fantastically well-stocked bar of any gig venue I've seen. And, as Madchen pointed out, a HUGE glitterball. We spent some of a gig once watching the crowd reflected in the mirrorball. It was kind of cool.

The Arches was a good venue when I was last there in about 1995.

i don't think it's cuntish so much as spectacularly stupid - in a couple of cases at least. i do love the place dearly, but the simple act of buying a couple of pints can be unnecessarily difficult, yes.

Spear of Destiny

I don't know why I went.

To hand out flyers though.

I got to see them "psyching themselves up" to go on stage. Not a pretty sight.

I wish there were more places with chairs and high ceilings and good bands playing quietly in the corner.

-- Alba (albab...), July 19th, 2006 1:55 AM. (Alba) (later) (link)

Random bands I have seen at the Barrowlands: The Wonder Stuff, The Levellers, Big Country. It does get better than this, honest. Do I out-embarrass PJ Miller? I do hope so.

I'm not a great fan of Tut's. It fine for touring bands, but I don't like DF Concert's practice of making local support acts sell tickets in order to get paid. In order to get higher on the bill, some bands will buy a load of tickets themselves, which means they're losing money to get paid. Very often the local acts it chooses suck too. The band they've signed to their new label, The Dykeenies, are sub-Killers NME fodder. Tut's also goes on at tedious length about Oasis being "discovered" there, right down to calling the urinal the "Wonderwall". Despite its claims, it's not really an integral part of the music scene. Mono/Stereo, Sleazys and the 13th Note are far more significant.

I also went to see Big Audio Dynamite there, but I could pretend it was to see Schoolly D, who was one of the many support acts.

I also tried to get in free to see Fine Young Cannibals, and was turned away by the firendly security staff. Good Thing.

I am quite embarrassed about going to see The Pogues there, but only because of all the scarf waving IRA tripe.

I saw Lloyd Cole at the Barrowlands, 2 years ago I think. Somehow he seemed not have aged in the preceding 20.

I like how Peter thinks I would have been three in 1989. Such youthful good looks I must have! I was actually 17.

I once went to see the Pogues at the Barrowlands on St Patrick's Day. It was 1991. Celtic had just knocked Rangers out of the Scottish Cup. It was top fun. I ignored all the IRA shite.

Here are some more bands I have seen at the Barrowlands:

Oasis
My Bloody Valentine
The Orb
Bis (OK, they were supporting Garbage)
Radiohead

I'm not sure I have seen Carter USM and/or the Manics there. I have seen them both lots of places, but I have no clear memory of a Barrowlands gig from either. I must have done, though. I should go and look through my ticket stubs, though being a ligger-tastic student newspaper type, I didn't pay into lots of gigs, therefore have no stubs to remember these things by.

I once saw Blur and Radiohead on the same bill, doing some Radio One gig that was being recorded for Japanese telly. This was the most exciting thing I'd ever seen in 1994, I thought I might explode with Britpop-centric joy.

I haven't been to the Barrowlands since that two-night Belle and Sebastian extravaganza. I need to rectify this.

Jesus and Mary Chain w/ The Vaselines (!)
Cocteau Twins
Echo and the Bunnymen post-hiatus w/The Primitives (!)
Aztec Camera (!)
Happy Mondays
De La Soul

downsatirs:

Dinosaur Jr
Frank Sidebottom
The Real Sounds of Africa (!)

I'm sure there are others. They will come to me. I hope. I think I used to think bands were "too big" by the time they reached Barrowlands level.

I think my favourite venue was the Art School:

The Sugarcubes (!)

Followed by Rooftops:

Sonic Youth (!)
The Stone Roses (!)