Glasgow Music Venues

Unlikely as it seems, there is a corner of Glasgow that will be forever Nashville. The Grand Ole Opry in Govan may be 5,000 miles from its better known Tennessee namesake, but the former cinema on Govan Road boasts more rhinestone than Reno and has a love affair with Country & Western that is as deep as…

On Wednesday this week the 9th Glasgow Americana Festival kicks off in venues across the city. We managed to catch up with the Festival Director, Kevin Morris, for a few words on this year’s highlights. Over to Kevin… At Glasgow Americana we’re gearing up for our 9th Festival and we can’t wait to welcome music lovers to…

At Glasgow Music City Tours we’re always proud to highlight what our musical partners in the city are up to, and we’re delighted welcome to our guest bloggers this week, Tenement TV. This weekend will mark the third consecutive Tenement Trail Festival. Created by and for the music fans in Scotland, Tenement Trail is a unique,…

As far as Glasgow Music City Tours is concerned, The Primevals are right up there in the pantheon of all-time great Glasgow bands. We still remember the frisson of first seeing them in the mid-1980s at this recording of the brilliant Scottish music show, FSD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPXY6oF_PCs Singer Michael Rooney exuded that potent combination of mean attitude and…

It’s a good week to be in Glasgow: John Lydon and Public Image Ltd are coming to town. When the writer Damien Love recently caught Mr Lydon for an interview,  he managed to ask him for us about some of his memories of playing in venues in the city over the years, among other things……

We found Dave Pollock’s Guardian piece about the ‘slow death of music venues’ thought-provoking and a lot of research has gone into it. We’re less convinced that it told the whole story about Glasgow. A number of us at Glasgow Music City Tours have or still do work as music journalists. We understand that an article has to fit the brief, make clear points and not muddy the waters but Glasgow’s live music scene appears to be in rude health rather than facing a slow death. We wrote a reply on the article’s comments page: ‘As a former music journalist who wrote about many of the same Glasgow and Edinburgh venues as David Pollock, I appreciate the power of a punchy headline. However, this article greatly exaggerates the slow death of live music in Glasgow. While the closure of The Arches was indeed a…

Linden is the latest musical project from songwriter, singer and ex Superstar, Joe McAlinden. This Thursday 27th August, Linden return to play The Poetry Club for the first time since the release of the critically acclaimed, and very lovely, Rest And be Thankful. Superstar were originally signed to Creation Records by Alan McGee in 1992 and, up until 2000,…

On each of our Glasgow Music City Tours, there are places that evoke particularly strong memories. The site of the late, lamented Apollo, which features on our Music Mile Tour, is a favourite, where people pause and sigh at the memory of what used to be. Such is the fondness in which its memory is…

The 2015 Glasgow Jazz Festival ended on a high note with a 20% increase on ticket sales. Far from resting on their weary laurels, planning has already begun for 2016 when the festival celebrates its 30th edition. We grabbed a quick natter with the festival’s indefatigable director, Jill Rodger, about how she came to be…

To end our third walking tour for the Merchant City Festival, Breakfast Muff play a free set in Mono today at around 4.30pm. You can read more about them here. On Sunday we’re delighted that the rather wonderful Sound of Yell will be performing. Piloted by Stevie Jones, Sound of Yell are based in Glasgow and can number as many…