Blues Brothers
Glasgow – The Original No Mean City Blues
Eight establishments that feature live blues in Glasgow, Scotland.
Glasgow and the blues … If you’re a sports fan, you might think first of the Rangers, Glasgow’s beloved, blue-clad football club. For those with some knowledge of British history, the poverty, disease and harsh labour conditions endured by Victorian Glasgow’s working class comes to mind. Blues indeed. Today’s Glasgow is very different – a cultured and affluent city. Perhaps not surprisingly, it is also home to the blues.
So where do we look for the blues in Glasgow?
Start downtown at 148 Holland Street, where you’ll find The State Bar, in business for 35 years, and known for blues, including regular jam sessions with its respected house band, The Statesboro Blues Band. It also offers comedy acts, Scottish ale selection and a great menu. For acoustic music, including some blues, and a real taste of Scottish history in the decor and memorabilia, try The Clutha Vaults, a traditional Clydeside pub on Stockwell Street. Have a pint in another traditional pub, the Scotia, serving the city for two hundred years, where you’ll often find the blues in Glasgow on a Saturday night.
The Arches is a bar, arts venue, theatre, live music venue and nightclub in Glasgow, where blues artists are sometimes featured. It first opened in 1991 and is situated in the City Centre under Glasgow Central station. King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, which has been described as quite possibly the finest small venue in the world, is another very popular spot. It wouldn’t be described as a blues club, being quite eclectic in its bookings, but the blues does make an appearance from time to time, and the place is legendary for launching the careers of future music stars, so worth experiencing.
Downtown Glasgow is also known for cutting-edge fashion, and is considered the best shopping destination in the UK, outside of London, especially Buchanan and Sauchiehall Streets, as well as Princes Square.
Beyond the city centre, try one of Glasgow’s former churches now turned into pubs, like ÒranMór, at the top of Byres Road, in Glasgow’s trendy and cosmopolitan West End. In the same general area you’ll find Gallus*, at 80 Dumbarton Road, near Glasgow University. Its live music schedule includes weekly blues jam sessions, with quality performers. The Ferry, (formerly Renfrew Ferry), a floating club situated on the River Clyde to the west of Glasgow at Anderston Quay, is one of the city’s most popular venues, and features blues, jazz or rock acts almost every night. The former river ferry, built in 1952, was the last vessel to carry passengers across the Clyde at Renfrew, where there had been a ferry service since the 17th century. Shows feature new talent, as well as legends like Peter Green and Mick Taylor.
Glasgow’s present-day blues stars include the highly regarded Alan and Stevie Nimmo, of The Nimmo Brothers. You might be lucky enough to catch one or both of them in Glasgow, at a pub jam, although they are usually on the road, doing shows all over Europe.
Glasgow’s other attractions include its architecture - grand artistic statements from the Victorian era. The buildings and interiors by Charles Rennie Mackintosh are reason enough to visit the city, but don’t overlook medieval Glasgow Cathedral.
Some of Britain’s best museums and art galleries are in Glasgow. The Burrell Collection and the stunning Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (be sure to see Dali’s Crucifixion) are not to be missed. For local history, visit The People’s Palace. Later, rest or stroll through Glasgow Green on the Clyde, one of Glasgow’s many parks – more per square mile than any other city in Europe.
A short drive or bus trip will take you north to the Trossachs hills and Loch Lomond, east to Stirling Castle, west to the coast and islands, or south to Ayrshire, home of the poet, Robert Burns. And Edinburgh is just 45 minutes away, by train.
A common adjective used to describe Glasgwegians is *gallus. “It means cheeky and jaunty and mouthy and profoundly unimpressed by rank. In Glasgow you can aspire to be absolutely anything. Except a social mountaineer.” (Ruth Wishart TheGlasgowStory)
Glasgow and the blues ….. I can’t think of a better fit.
About the Author
Janet Menzies is a teacher and is associated with Bluestourism a travel site with a live music focus, and The Electric Guitar Store, an online source of musical instruments.
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love – The Blues Brothers
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