Tag: Eminem

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!  

Manchester Venues 65 to 67

Continuing the circular route of the Sounds from the other City Festival brings us to the historic Kings Arms on Bloom Street. It is situated deep in the old industrial quarter of Salford, and it is an easy five-minute jaunt from Salford Central train station. The pub was first licensed in 1807 and the original building initially resided on the other side of the street.

Lucy Davis was a landlady there in the 19th century and after throwing her husband out for being a drunken lout, she created a profitable dance hall and den of ill repute upstairs! It has been the base for many interesting clubs, namely the North of England Irish Terrier Club, the Knitting Club and the Salford Friendly Anglers Society, the world’s oldest angling club and a sign of the final listed club is still visible on the gable end of the pub.

Many pubs fell by the wayside in this area, but the Kings continued to flourish being famously taken over in 2011 by Zena Barrie and Paul Heaton of Housemartin’s and Beautiful South fame. They embellished the artistic undertakings and a pot pourri of arts exhibitions, vaudeville, comedy, poetry nights and gigs took place under their tutelage. They were also apparently regularly heard rehearsing in the upstairs function room.

Paul Heaton. Image Credit Hull Daily Mail.

The pub has also been used as a location for music videos and TV shows like Cracker, Fresh Meat and the Hairy Bikers and was always a good gathering point to commune with like-minded souls on the SFTOC monorail, much like the other central hubs of the festival such as Islington Mill and the Old Pint Pot.

It is an olde world pub with a large main bar room area downstairs with seats dotted around the perimeter. At one of the festivals, I saw a Chinese dragon parade the room, it is that kind of quirky place. They are a renowned real ale venue and have been in the Good Beer Guide for the last decade and are a keen supporter of small local breweries. There is also a small beer garden accessed from the back of the pub.

Stairs led you up the Manchester Kings Arms Events Space.  It is a theatre style space and has a standing capacity of 120 and seating capacity of 50.  The venue even holds a wedding licence.

My first visit there was on 06/05/12 was to see Meddicine from London. An appropriate act considering the industrial history of the area as he resembled a lo-fi Death in Vegas though a single released last year sounded more like Eminem.   The other act that day was a good fun two-piece local scuzzy garage rock band called Brown Brogues. 

Five years later I witnessed Manchester electronic artist Vacuumorph and in 2018 I saw AYA, a Manchester rapper and producer who formerly recorded under the moniker LOFT.

Kings Arms. Image Credit kingsarmssalford.com

In a room adjacent to the main bar was Manchester Kings Arms Downstairs Stage where acoustic gigs occasionally took place. In 2012 an act called Yule FM played there and six years later in 2018 a local chap with the vaguely unpleasant moniker of DJ Acid Rephlux performed on that stage.

At the 2017 festival they excelled themselves by creating a third stage putting them on a par with Chorlton Irish Club and the Adelphi in Preston as the only other venues where I have attended three stages.

The only issue was that nobody could find the third stage, before we eventually realised, we had to traverse down the stairs past the kitchen and into the beer cellar. Thus, Manchester Kings Arms Basement became and remains the smallest venue I have ever attended, with about 10 people crammed in and myself outside with my head craned around the entrance peering into the dark interior. The band on the tiny stage was an act called Maeve Rendles 9 Victims, and despite an extensive search I can find no back story behind their mysterious and sinister name! 

The continuing joy for me of these festivals is the chance to visit these types of different venues that in any other context you would not normally attend.