Barrowland

We’d like to thank the Fans of Barrowland Park who gave the park a spring clean last weekend. With the help of a dedicated band of volunteers and the great team from Glasgow City Council, they sowed wild flowers, dug over the tree pits, topping with them up with mulch, and edged the grass borders….

It may have come to your attention that the mighty Franz Ferdinand are poised to return with a new line-up. The band’s latest configuration features Julian Corrie, aka synth pop maestro Miaoux Miaoux, on keyboards and vocals and Dino Bardot, once of glam indie pop trio 1990s, on guitar. They also have a brand spanking new…

Our friends, Fans of Barrowland Park, conducted a much-needed Clean Up at Glasgow’s Album Pathway on Saturday. The volunteers spent the morning brushing away layers of dirt from the coloured album ‘spines’ that make up the artwork. Thanks to their TLC, it quickly became easier to identify the named Barrowland performers on the 103-metre long display. Turner prize…

The Album Pathway, created by Glasgow artist Jim Lambie, pays homage to the iconic Barrowland Ballroom and its role in Glasgow’s musical history. Arranged like the spines of records on a shelf, the Pathway lists the names and dates of bands who played Barrowland from 1983 until the Pathway was installed for the Commonwealth Games…

What joy it is to report that our favourite noise/melody-mongering veterans the Jesus & Mary Chain are back, back, back with a new single, Amputation, and album, Damage and Joy, which has been produced by our favourite visor-sporting hippy goth bassist Youth. Photo by Steve Gullick Of course, technically the Mary Chain have been back since reforming in…

Cult heroes Arab Strap have reformed ten years after they first split in order to celebrate their 20th birthday. An eponymous compilation of their singles, plus “secret hits and rarities” is out now on Chemikal UndergroundRecords, the esteemed Glasgow label who signed them in 1996 on the strength of a demo tape. The duo – Aidan Moffat on vocals and…

It’s a year since we embarked on our first walking tours, and we’d like to thank everyone who has helped make them possible including; The Britannia Panopticon, CCA, The Clutha & Victoria Bar, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, King Tut’s, Mono, Nice’N’Sleazy, The Scotia Bar and The Scottish Music Centre. Thanks to everyone who has guest-blogged for us, the musicians who agreed to be filmed for…

A man whose accomplishments are too many to list here, it’s an honour to have the great Scottish singer-songwriter Rab Noakes taking the time to pen a brilliant guest blog for us. Here he recalls some memorable experiences of gig-going in Glasgow in the 60s, including tales of Little Richard, The Rolling Stones, Bo Diddley…

No celebration of Glasgow’s music scene would be complete without mention of Barrowland, the city’s best loved gig venue. Only last week, Ian Astbury of The Cult was singing the east end ballroom’s praises from its stage, and he’s not alone in saluting its unique appeal – both Oasis and Metallica have cited Barrowland as…

Glasgow Music City Tours founder and guide Fiona Shepherd is the subject of one of the twelve beautifully-shot, documentary-style online films which capture the spirit of Scotland through the eyes of those who live and work here. Images of Glasgow will be beamed worldwide as part of the new VisitScotland cinematic TV advert set to be shown…