Best Glasgow Venue?

With so many great venues across Glasgow, a question that always comes up is... which one is best?  Is it the small bar style venue like King Tut's Wah Wah Hut or the huge arena that is the SECC? I'll run through a few of them in reverse order and give you my opinion at the end.

Proclaimers crowd in Hall 4 at the SECC.

Fifth: the SECC.  It has hosted many great artists across it's 5 halls since it opened in 1985 from Oasis to Lady Gaga to Dolly Parton and Whitney Houston and is the go to venue for hugely popular artists since it is the biggest venue Glasgow has to offer at present with a maximum capacity of 12,500.  But big doesn't mean better as the SECC is essentially just a big tin shed which provides no atmosphere itself - but the crowds tend to create their own atmosphere and the shows are often big and eccentric meaning you still know you're getting a good show if you're going to the SECC.

Fourth: the ABC.  The ABC, despite being a very old building, is a fairly new venue to the city as it only opened in 2005 after being used as a cinema since 1929.  The venue was taken over by AMG in 2009 and was re branded as the O2 ABC and since then has become one of Glasgow's most popular venues with artists such as Florence + the Machine, Tinie Tempah, Paolo Nutini and Example taking to the stage.  The venue has a capacity of 1362 and is a much loved venue due to it's large stage yet small building, overlooking balcony and without a doubt the biggest disco ball that ever existed.

Third: the Barrowland Ballroom.  Located in a not so nice area of Glasgow with a notably tacky exterior, the Barra's as it's called is surprisingly a favourite amongst the Glaswegians.  It is situated amongst the famous street market also known as 'the Barra's' and even although I've never been, I've heard its got character with it's starry ceiling, mirrored walls and bouncy floor.  It is one of the longest, if not the longest, running venue in Glasgow and began as a dancehall in 1934.  It has hosted a lot of great tours from a lot of great artists including Biffy Clyro, Katy Perry and Ocean Colour Scene and will continue to do so with Ed Sheeran playing three consecutive sold out shows in November.  After Metallica played the venue back in 1996, they said that because of the size and nature of the venue, it made it the best gig they had ever played.  The Barrowlands is arguably the best venue in Glasgow as it appears to be a favourite amongst both attendees and bands themselves, but since I've yet to go, it isn't mine.

Second: King Tut's Wah Wah Hut.  Possibly the most famous venue in Glasgow which was titled 'Best Live Venue in the UK' by Radio 1 in 2002 and has been responsible for the fame of many of the great bands which we know of today.  Impressively, Oasis gained their first record deal after playing here in 1993 and went on to sell 70 million records worldwide.  With a tiny capacity of 300, King Tut's has a lot of character in a really small space making it very intimate and is a top contender for the best venue in Glasgow.  

Finally, and most importantly our winner: O2 Academy Glasgow.  This is without a doubt my personal favourite Glasgow venue.  It also began as a cinema until its £3million renovation in 2003 when it opened as a 2500 capacity music venue.  Being the second biggest venue in Glasgow, it does host a lot of popular artists such as The Killers in 2006 whose gig sold out in a record 3 minutes.  It has a lot of character inside and still has the cinema theatre style interior it once had. But at the same time it is very intimate yet has a large stage with excellent lighting, several bars and a large balcony.  

This is just personal opinion, and you might have another favourite yourself, but if you do please vote on the poll below or post a comment and we can argue it out!

Which of the 5 venues do you think is best?

Give A Big Scottish Welcome To... Gavin DeGraw!

For the first time ever, American singer songwriter Gavin DeGraw took a visit to Glasgow on his recent European tour.  It's no surprise that the gig at the O2 ABC was a sell out as not only is he incredibly talented, but he is a fantastic performer!  Since I follow Gavin on Twitter, I felt like I'd been following the tour from the beginning as he had been tweeting about the other dates which built up an excitement for the event as it got closer and closer.  I even flew into Sweden on the same day as he was flying in to play the first show of the tour there. Unfortunately we never crossed paths as we were flying to different airports.

But back to the Glasgow show, after a short acoustic set from the Spanish support Juan Zelada, Gavin took to the stage and had the crowd roaring from the moment they caught the first glimpse of him.  He opened the show with my personal favourite, 'Candy', and already his talent and character were evident as he saluted the audience and then soulfully sang and played piano accompanied by his band.  What I love about seeing artists and bands live is that they never sound the same as they do on the album and there is always improvisation and Gavin was no exception.

He then moved on to one of his most popular classics: the title track from his first album, 'Chariot'.  It without a doubt gained the best response from the audience as people danced and sang their hearts out and some people even pretended to play piano along with him.  The crowd banter was also very amusing as he joked around and at one point even invited a couple to come on stage to get engaged.

He played many other much loved classics from across all 4 of his albums as well as a cover of Maroon 5's 'Moves Like Jagger', combined with his attempt at Mick Jagger's moves, and then the band left the stage and he sang a few songs alone at his piano.  The atmosphere was incredible and he also explained the meaning behind the songs which is always great to hear from an artist themselves.

One of Gavin's most famous songs is 'I Don't Wanna Be' which is the theme tune to the popular American TV Drama 'One Tree Hill'.  Gavin also appeared on the show in the first series performing his song 'Chariot' in Karen's Cafe.  I took a recording of 'I Don't Wanna Be' at the show which you can see below:

After performing 'I Don't Wanna Be', he left the stage only to be called back for an encore by 1400 Scots who couldn't get enough.  He returned and performed another two songs: 'Radiation' and his most recent single 'Not Over You'.  This was followed by him climbing onto his piano and attempting to back flip off of it like a true rock star... even although it failed but I'll give him respect for attempting!  All in all it was a fantastic gig and I'd recommend that if he returns, which he promised he would, that you go along and see him for yourself.

Here is the full set list from the show:

1.   Candy
2.   Chariot
3.   Sweeter
4.   I Have You To Thank
5.   Soldier
6.   In Love With A Girl
7.   Where You Are
8.   Follow Through
9.   Chemical Party
10. Moves Like Jagger
11. More Than Anyone
12. You Know Where I'm At
13. Let's Get It On
14. Run Everytime
15. I Don't Wanna Be

Encore
16. Radiation

17. Not Over You