Things to do in Glasgow

We got a great turn out for our first Merchant City Festival tour on Sunday. It was a pretty varied group in terms of musical interests but with content ranging from music hall acts to Glasgow’s post-punk scene via the classical conductor with the world’s longest name, we had stories for everyone. UK’s oldest music…

Our Merchant City Festival tours kick off this Sunday, each ending with a free gig in Mono. We’ve decided to take the opportunity to try and raise some funds for the excellent Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy in Scotland. We have some lovely donations for a raffle — a selection pictured below — from our friends and musical partners in the…

A big shout out to Paul English who came on tour with us and then wrote a great piece in The Daily Record. It was a fun day out swapping stories and his article really captures what we are trying to do with the tours. It’s all coming together nicely in time for our official launch. Remember,…

One of the most fascinating features of setting up Glasgow Music City Tours has been tracing the way that the city’s entertainment venues have changed over the years. Venues which now host big name rock acts have previous lives which may seem highly unlikely in the 21st century. The Barrowland was a roller skating rink…

Next week from the 13th -17th July, Girls Rock Glasgow holds its brilliant Rock’n’Roll Summer School for Girls; a week long music programme aimed at girls aged 8 to 16. You can donate to the summer school here.  Alisa Wylie, who writes the music blog Ambivalent Peaks, is volunteering at GRG and we asked her to share her reasons for…

We keep on hearing good things about Dukes Bar on Old Dumbarton Road in Glasgow. Handy for Kelvingrove Museum and Gallery, it has been through several incarnations since first opening way back in 1877. Having recently come under new management (check the piano and disco ball), it’s developing a neat reputation for its avant-garde music events. Kate…

This weekend Mogwai celebrate twenty years of dynamic noisemongering with two sold out hometown shows at Barrowland. They have asked fans to bring along donations for local food banks – more information on that here. We will be taking our dried/tinned goods and ear plugs along just like everyone else but, in the meantime, let’s take…

The 2015 Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award shortlist was announced last night and, in a heartbeat, twenty long listed albums became ten. Paolo Nutini’s Caustic Love won the public vote, automatically ensuring a coveted place on the shortlist. Elsewhere, the Award retained its capacity to surprise, not so much for who was selected but for…

Welcome to the blog for Glasgow Music City Tours. Our guided tours will tell the story of Glasgow’s music scene through its brilliant venues. In conjunction with the Merchant City Festival, we will launch our exciting, new walking tours by running four very special tours of the Merchant City starting on Sunday 26th July. Tickets for these will…