WIZZ MAGAZINE
/
59
G L A S GOW
n 2008, Glasgow was chosen
by UNESCO to become the
UK’s first – and still only – City
of Music. It was international recognition
that Scotland’s biggest city has a unique
relationship with song, from traditional
ballads to thumping dance music. It’s a
place with a rich, almost symphonic history
of music spanning different genres, with
venues that became famous worldwide.
The Glasgow Apollo was totemic in the late
1970
s and early 1980s, a slightly scuzzy
converted cinema where bands like Status
Quo and AC/DC recorded popular live
albums. These days, the site of the Apollo
is home to the tallest cinema in Europe, but
its spirit lives on in venues throughout the
city, notably the Barrowland, an ageing but
glamorous ballroom in the east end, where
My Bloody Valentine played in March.
The diversity of Glasgow’s music scene
can be experienced by walking along
I
Sauchiehall Street, the city’s most famous
boulevard. At one end, there’s the Royal
Concert Hall, home to classical concerts
and the annual Celtic Connections
roots festival. Further down, there’s the
high-ceilinged ABC, where acts as varied
as The Script, Europe and Bat For Lashes
have played in the past year. And as you
approach Charing Cross, there’s a trio
of independent music bars: the notorious
Nice N’Sleazy, famous for its eclectic
jukebox; the ice-cool Broadcast, which
books international cutting-edge acts; and
raucous The Box, where energetic young
bands with names like Gordon’s Alive!
take their musical baby steps.
“
SAUCHIEHALL
STREET IS HOME
TO THE ROYAL
CONCERT HALL
AND NICE
N’SLEAZY”
PREVIOUS PAGE
AND HERE:
KING
TUT’S PIONEERS
NEW MUSIC AND
IS REGULARLY
VOTED THE UK’S
NUMBER ONE
MUSIC VENUE.
BELOW:
THE
ROYAL CONCERT
HALL ON
SAUCHIEHALL
STREET
PHOTO BY ALAMY
