Category: Glasgow

Glasgow Venue 11 – Bellahouston Park

Glasgow Bellahouston Park (Pairc Bhaile Uisdean in Gaelic) is a public park in the Southern quarter of Glasgow and encompasses a tidy area of 180 acres, it first opened its doors to the public in 1896. There were additions to the site over the next few years including a municipal golf course being located there.

Between May and December 1938, the Empire Exhibition was held in the park and the opening ceremony which took place in nearby Glasgow Rangers Ibrox stadium attracted a crowd of 146,000. Despite it being an exceptionally soggy summer, the Exhibition attracted an astounding 12,800,000 visitors and it wasn’t even open on a Sunday! I know it is a long time ago as that is the year my beloved Preston North End last won the FA Cup.

A flyer advertising the 1938 Exhibition. Image Credit barnebys.co.uk

The most striking exhibit was Tait Tower (the Tower of Empire) which rose to 300 feet in height. There is an urban myth, though hotly denied, that its subsequent demolition the following summer was due to concerns around it being cited as a geographical reference for German bombers.  Regretfully of the 200 artefacts built for the exhibition, only the Palace of Art remains and even that is now a Sports Excellence Centre!

The site is a perfect backdrop for large public events. It has hosted the 1978 World Cross Country Championships, a gathering for the evangelist Billy Graham and two papal visits, the first in 1982 by John Paul II attracted a crowd of approximately 250,000. On the musical front, there have been Scottish pipe band competitions and Coldplay and Snow Patrol have also performed there.

Due to its inherent suitability, resembling a mega size version of Avenham Park in Preston, they began in August 2013 to stage three-day Glasgow summer sessions events there with Kings of Leon, Avicii and Eminem being the original cast of headliners. In 2019 Mogwai announced they were to play but in a slightly unusual twist via being in a support role to the Cure. Upon hearing this fine news, tickets and trains were purchased with Uncle George and Andy Berry escorting me on this particular jaunt.

Bellahouston Park. Image Credit Ents24.

I undertook the now extra leg from Manchester to Preston where I met the other chaps, and we jumped on to the next Avanti going North. After we grabbed our digs for the night, we had a couple of cold ones in a local bar which preceded a fish and chip tea. We then travelled on the Paisley Canal line from Glasgow Central to the station at Dumbreck, which is located 250 yards away from the park.  

There was a pleasant treelined avenue en route before landing at the security gates. Inside we met up with Marcus and his then current girlfriend Sarah who were also in attendance. The weather was unfortunately a bit tempestuous, and the ground was a tad muddy as a result. First up were the ever noisy Twilight Sad who now reside on Mogwai’s Rock Action label, and I was witnessing them for the fifth time in total.

Mogwai played under the worst of the weather and after so many years of watching them it felt hugely odd that they were not the headliners, but they were clearly honoured to be asked to play on the bill by one of their favourite bands. Their shortened set still contained the highlights of ‘Ithica’ and ‘Mogwai Fear Satan’.

Before the main act we decided to refuel with some more overpriced ale and trogged up to the hill to the main beer tent. Upon arrival, the people waiting kept snaking outwards and it wasn’t immediately evident where was the end point of what must have been the longest beer queue in the whole of Christendom! One upside was that we had a clear view of the stage, but the Cure were already performing by the time we finally reached the front.

Somewhat surprisingly, and not least to myself, I had never managed to catch the Cure live, the nearest I had come previously was at the Manchester Move Festival, but a decision was made to catch the reformed Pixies who played the night after. I had heard reports from my peers that they could sometimes be a tad ‘Neil Young contrary’ by playing a set of album tracks but on the counterpoint of that others had said they were compelling in a live setting.

The Cure on stage on the night. Image Credit youtube.com

Thankfully on the night I witnessed them, they fell into the second category. They were one of the tightest bands I have ever witnessed, bringing to minds other such accomplished bands on first sightings such as Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Wolf Alice, Electric 6 and Fontaines DC.

They were also mesmerizingly uncompromising with the refreshing attitude of if you don’t like it, move on, I have so much respect for bands like that! They performed a 27-song set with an epic seven track encore and despite tough competition, my favourite was ‘A Forest’ as I have always adored that tune.                          

On the return journey home the next day, we encountered a very strange scenario. The train ground to a halt at Lancaster station with no discernible sign of onward traction, it transpired that our forward engine was broken. Thus, the ask was for us to walk over the bridge to the other platform and swap places onto the original northbound Glasgow train, which would then retrace its route back to Preston. 

This necessitated ten full carriages of punters swapping from one train to another, including the young, old and infirm and as I am sure you can appreciate it was a fair period of time before we on our way again!  

Glasgow Venue 10 – The Hydro

In my 25 years of Mogwai watching, I always thoroughly enjoy when I can catch them in their home city of Glasgow, the three times I have witnessed them at Barrowland have been particular special nights. Thus, in December 2017 another Avanti express was boarded for their latest Glasgow date and I was accompanied by the three Dewhurst boys, Uncle George and a rare appearance from the inimitable Ian McIver.  I had very recently relocated to Manchester and was in an initial marginal homesick phase, so the timing was opportune to have a communal gather incorporating obligatory noisy music.

Glasgow Hydro. Image Credit blogspot.com

Our initial port of call was booking into our rooms at the hotel where we encountered some shenanigans confirming our reservation but that was smoothed out eventually. In a public house directly opposite the digs, I reverted into my traditional ‘sherpa’ mode to glean information on the area around our venue that evening at Glasgow Hydro. There was an impressively helpful bar chap who provided lots of local gen on the Anderston area of town.

It was a fair trek on the next leg as we navigated a footbridge over the M8 motorway. Our destination of Anderston was the birthplace of Thomas Lipton, Sir Billy Connolly and Eddi Reader of Fairground Attraction fame.

There were a plethora of pubs, some of which were the busiest I have seen in years. It sparked recollections of the golden age of alehouses in the 1980’s/90’s when as a scrawny scamp I visited Wall Street and the Grey Horse (turned into Yates Wine House in 1988) on the old main drag of Church Street in Preston town centre on many Friday and Saturday nights out.

Yates Wine Lodge in Preston. Image Credit lep.co.uk

The venues were so busy back in the day you had to plan a loo visit by mapping the quickest optimum route, potentially after drinking Bluebols or the cheap but vile house wine in Yates which was called Volari. The slightly surreal tag line on their advertising at the time was ‘Volari, the wine where the fun begins (backwards)!

Back in 2017, in the second hostelry we visited I was astonished to see Mr ‘helpful bar chap’ who had finished his earlier shift and was now on his own night out, so I managed to purchase him a cold beverage.   

The Hydro has had several names, the latest reflecting the current sponsors as OVO Hydro. It is a large multi-purpose indoor venue with a futuristic design including outer pneumatic translucent cushions. It was built at a cost of £125m and the capacity is between 12306 and 14500 dependent on seating/standing ratios which makes it the fifth largest in the UK. It opened on schedule on 30th September 2013 despite having a roof fire three months earlier, the opening act was Rod Stewart.

It has hosted boxing, wrestling, UFC and Commonwealth games events alongside having the kudos of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year being staged there in 2014. During the Independence referendum period, it hosted Scotland’s largest ever televised debate and has also staged the MTV Europe Music Awards.  Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Nine Inch Nails and Nile Rodgers and Chic amongst others have played there.

After following Mogwai for 20 years and seeing them in some tiny venues back in the day it was gratifying to see them gaining the acclaim they had always deserved and performing to their largest ever audience. However, the corresponding downside to that in my view was that the place was cavernous and impersonal. The band were introduced by their long-time pal, Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat who was decked out in Santa Claus garb!

Mogwai on stage at the Hydro. Image Credit theskinny.co.uk

They as ever were in fine form with the set list commencing with ‘Hunted By a Freak’ and ending with ‘We’re No Here’.  The night curtailed with a reverse laborious trog back to the hotel where we were very glad to able to rest our heads after another Mogwai adventure!