Jim Diamond

Glasgow, 1953, he Scottish singer/songwriter, Jim Diamond was born.  His career in music began early at the young age of 15 when he was a member of his own band, The Method and also lead in another Glasgow based band Jade.  But it was not until 1982, after being part of several different bands, that Diamond had his 'big-break.' 

It was in this year that Diamond for the group Ph.D. (Phillips, Hymas and Diamond), Tony Hymas being the keyboard/piano player and Simon Phillip being the drummer.  The band was singed to the label WEA Records and released the song "I Won't Let You Down," the song was a hit and sold millions of records.  Unfortunately the band went their own ways when Diamond was diagnosed with hepatitis. 

However this was to favour Diamond, he was singed to the record label A&M as a solo artist.  The first song he released, "I Should Have Known Better" went straight to number one here in the UK and in Latin America.  Another hit was then achieved, with the Theme tune from Boon, "Hi Ho Silver" which reached number 5. 

Diamonds career continued with more song releases and television appearances and he is still around today.  He has now partnered up with a saxophonist Chris "Snake" Davis and released his first album of 11 years in 2005, Souled and Healed. 

Jim recently played a gig here in Glasgow, in City Hall, and is playing three in June with "Snake" Davis, check out the gig section on his official website for more details and the chance to purchase a ticket. 



Franz Ferdinand

As well as top-notch music venues Glasgow has produced some major stars.  To name a few are Franz Ferdinand and Jim Diamond

Franz Ferdinand came together back in 2002 after meeting through various bands they were part of at the time such as The Karelia and Embryo.  The members, Alex Kapranos (lead singer & guitar), Bob Hardy (bass guitar), Nick McCarthy (rhythm guitar, keyboard & backing singer) and Paul Thomson (drummer, percussion, guitar & backing singer) singed to the label Domino Records in 2003 who they released their first record, ‘Darts of Pleasure’, with.  The song made it to number 43 in the UK chart and the band then won the “Philip Hall Radar Award” at the 2004 NME awards. 

Since then the band have had went on to have a huge worldwide success.  Probably their most well-known song is “Take me out”, which was released in 2004 and reached number 3 in the UK charts.  To follow their first album was released under the name of “Franz Ferdinand” and done reasonably well around the world selling well over a million records in the States alone.  Their success has since grown further, reaching a high in 2005 when they won not one but TWO Brit Awards, Best British Group and Best British Rock Act and their second album, “You could have it so much better,” going platinum here in the UK and gold in the US. 

The band are one of few British bands to have ever been voted for a Grammy award and by 2009 had sold over 4 million albums worldwide between all 3 they have released. 

The group are yet to announce any tour dates for the near future but keep your eyes peeled, well worth a viewing :). 

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, the Glasgow international Concert hall before it received its royal status, is situated at the join of Buchanan Street and Sauchiehall Street.  In April 1988 was when the first stone of this building was laid and it was not until late 1990s that the building was officially opened by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal.  First to perform in the building were The Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the first non-classical band to perform was the Blue Nile.  The building is made up of several rooms, the main auditorium, with a capacity of 2475, the Strathclyde suite, which seats 500, the exhibition hall and the Buchanan suite and has even been installed with a rubber membrane in the floor to try and block out the sound of the subway beneath.

The venue is the main one for the Celtic Connections Festival and throughout the year hosts a variety of performances of a variety of different genres, such as classical, opera, rock and pop.  As well as musical events, the near by Glasgow Caledonian University, WOOO, uses the venue for such things as graduation ceremonies and theatre and ballet often appear. 

Notable acts who have performed here over the years are Will Young and Shirley Bassey.  If your looking for something away from the club nights and rock ‘n’ roll gigs the Royal Concert Hall is a better option. 

The Arches

It’s a bar, an arts venue, a theatre, a live music venue and a nightclub all in one.  The Arches, located in the centre of Glasgow beneath Central Station and the West Coast Main Line in the brick ‘arches’ of the viaduct that goes into the station, first opened its doors in 1991 after Andy Arnold obtained the area, which had been previously used to hold the Glasgow’s Glasgow exhibition while Glasgow was the European City of Culture.

His aim was to create a theatre on the premises, to provide money for this venture, various club nights were held and this became more popular than ever thought with the arches being voted the 12th best club in the world at the beginning of 2007 and many DJ’s saying it was their personal favourite club, such as Carol Cox.  Jackie Wylie has taken over from Arnold and the venue is still a major success. 

The style of the arches means anything from small intimate gigs to huge international ones can take place, also no genre is excluded here.  Bands from every genre, country, jazz, metal, indie, they have all played a gig in the arches.  So if you want to check out some new talent or view an international hit, head down to the arches.

As well as gigs the venue is well known for its club nights, holding a variety of nights on a regular basis such as Pressure the last Friday of every month which attracts big names such as Boys noize and Carol Cox.  

                “There is only one place for me to really shine … and that’s the Arches.”- Carol Cox.

Among other nights are Death Disco and a big student night Octopussy, which is a favourite night of mine :). 

Some truly memorable nights have taken place at the arches and if you haven’t had one there yet, get yourself there… 

http://www.thearches.co.uk/

The SECC

The largest exhibition centre in Scotland, located on the north bank of the River Clyde, is the Scottish Exhibition Conference Centre, commonly known as the SECC.   

Construction of the main building begun in 1983 and was finished two years later in 1985.  To open the building a concert by the Royal Scottish National Opera took place in the first hall and many other large events followed such the venue being one of the ‘hubs’ for Glasgow’s year as European City of Culture, where Bryan Adams and many others performed. 

Ten years later, in 1995, a new building was built as part of the SECC.  It was designed by a top architect Sir Norman Foster and called the Clyde Auditorium, known as the ‘armadillo’ by those in Glasgow.  This new building had a capacity of 3,000 and was opened to the public in 1997. 

Years later in 2004 the main owners of the SECC paid for a £562 million regeneration of the Queen’s Dock area.  It will have a capacity of 12,500 and is due to be finished in two years’ time, 2013. 

Today every other night concerts take place in Hall 4 and Hall 3.  Hall 3 has a capacity of around 5000 and hall 4 of 12,500. As I am writing this Kylie Minogue is performing in the SECC and the Irish band the Script played there last Monday. 

This is the place to catch top acts from all around the globe, to catch one soon click HERE !!



King Tut's Wah Wah Hut

“Quite possibly the finest small venue in the world,” YES, it’s King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut !

In 1990 was when this legendary venue was created by previous boss of DF concerts Stuart Clumpas.  His vision was to promote bands at club level, where they could play gigs every day of the week in Glasgow.  No venue gave Clumpas what he was looking for so into a basement area on St Vincent Street King Tut’s was born, the name taken from a NYC club.  The doors opened in February of 1990 and quickly its reputation was built for ‘showcasing new talent and hosting many well-known bands’ first Scottish appearances.’  DF had an eye for spotting the up and coming talent before many so many huge bands graced the stage at King Tut’s many years ago.  ‘Glass Onion’, today known as Travis, played on numerous occasions as well as Oasis round about the time they were signed. 

Still owned and managed by DF concerts (Gig Promoters) the venue is unique in that it holds a 1AM license, meaning gigs can carry on much later than in other venues. With its small capacity of just 300 it can provide that intimate atmosphere that many crave, and it is due to this that the venue has won a host of awards such as “Best Live Venue” in the UK in 2002 from Radio 1.  As well as gigs, comedy nights are held or you can even go along just to get a bite to eat.

Click  ... TUT's

O2 Academy

The second O2 venue in Glasgow is the O2 Academy. 

The former New Bedford Cinema went under a £3 million pound refurbishment to transform it into a music venue to hold 2.500 people, which opened it’s doors to us in 2003 with a one off performance from Deacon Blue. 

Before November 2008 the venue was part of the carling academy family, on the 6th of November Telefonica Europe, who own O2 mobile network in the UK, announced that they were now the sponsor of all the academy venues, renaming them O2 Academy’s. 

The venue hosts a variety of events in its top of the range front-of-house and backstage facilities from rock, pop and dance concerts to comedy events and brilliant club nights.  Notable acts to have graced the stage are The Killers who played in 2006, where the tickets sold out in a phenomenal 3 minutes and comedians, during the Glasgow Comedy Festival, such as Russell Brand and Frankie Boyle. 

Official website - VISIT IT

O2 ABC

O2 ABC, a brilliant nightclub (especially on a Thursday, JELLYBABY!!) and music venue on Sauchiehall Street, was first built in 1875, it then became one of the first buildings in Glasgow to have electricity fitted in 1888.  In May 1896 the building held Glasgow’s first public film showing, and this was just the beginning of the going’s on at the O2 ABC.  Next, the building was converted to the Hippodrome and then played host to Hengler’s Circus from 1904-1927, where films were showed out of season.  A rebuild took place and another name change, to Waldorf Palais Dance Hall, occurred.  Which was to change AGAIN, in 1929, when the building now became known as the regal.  Several more ownership and name changes took place before the building was named the ABC.  The cinema closed down in 1999 and it was not until June 2005 that the building was transformed into what it is today, by Regular Music, when it went under a massive 2 million pound conversion and reopened with a concert from Roddy Frame and The Trashcan Sinatras. 

The final name change took place in 2009 when the Academy Music Group took a majority stake in the venue and renamed the venue the O2 ABC.  (More of a name extension)

Today the building is made up of two venues, ABC1 and ABC2, as well as 5 bars.  ABC1, ABC2, The Polar Bar, The Red Room and The Pod Bar. 

 

ABC1 is the main venue with a capacity of 1250 and is located on the second floor of the building. As well as regular performances from big stars like Tinie Tempah and Adele, there are the regular club nights, Jellybaby on a Thursday, propaganda on a Friday and regular DJ, Gerry Lyons, takes over on a Saturday.

 ABC2 is much smaller than ABC1 with a capacity of 350.  This venue suits bands doing more ‘cosy’ intimate performances.  ABC2 has several club nights, Rubbermensch is held on a Thursday with resident DJ Andy Wilson and then on Saturday it all goes Electro & House with DJ David Sinclair.

All in all it's an awesome venue, I have yet to attend a gig there but have been to several club nights and would highly recommend them., so check out the official O2 ABC website and get yourself some tickets for a gig, club night or both. :)

Tinie Tempah at ABC1, :D

Barrowlands

The Barrowlands, named after the "Barras" street market, formally known as Glasgow Barrowland market, was originally built in 1934.  When the venue first opened its main offering was dancehall and was the leading dancehall in Scotland.  *RANDOM FACT* - Supposedly the serial killer Bible John found his victims in the dancehall.

In 1958 a fire destroyed most of the ballroom and the building was completely rebuilt, re opening on Christmas Eve 1960.  Dancehall declined and pop and rock concerts became much more the 'in thing' so the barrowlands followed and became a popular music venue, as it is today. Performers who have graced the stage at barrowlands over the years have ranged from Run DMC to Marlyn Manson to the Arctic Monkeys and DJ Deadmau5 in recent years. The Barrowland also played host to the NME Awards in 2010, which I personally attended.  It was my first time at the Barrowlands and I loved it.   Not the biggest of venues, with a capacity of 1,900 people standing, it is definately still one of the best.  It has been voted the second best small venue in Europe and in a Radio 1 poll of over 60 bands it was voted the best in Britain.

I would totally recommend attending a gig here if you haven't already done so.  Check out the official barrowlands website HERE

WELCOME !

Welcome to my blog all about Glasgow's awesome music scene.

Glasgow has a huge variety of music venues who have played  host to some huge stars in recent years.  The Dance music scene in Glasgow is massive with clubs like The Arches attracting DJs from all around the globe.  Glasgow does not just cater for the younger generation, venues like the Royal Concert Hall provide for those with a more 'refined' taste.  The Glasgow music scene is huge and very diverse and last year in 2010, Glasgow was voted the fourth 'most musical' city by PRS for Music in the UK. 

I'm going to cover the most popular music venues in Glasgow and some amazing artists who have been born out of the city....

ENJOY :)