Ashton Lane in Glasgow
They say that if you can't have a good time in **Glasgow,** you can't have a good time anywhere. And we couldn't agree more! Get ready to enjoy the most rogue city in scotland discovering his most alternative side.
glasgow, that little Scottish corner in which the beer shooters refill pints incessantly while the most varied musical chords are responsible for putting on the soundtrack, It is the Scotland that we like.
So we come ready to we throw into the street . Until the body endures, as they say. That Glasgow is one of those cities that are not what they seem. One of those places that are fireproof and always give much more than you expect. He is that typical friend with whom you know what time you go out, but never when you will return home.
Hello Glaswegian!
And we start our route entering its music side l. Because yes, it turns out that we owe this city many of the great bands of the pop and rock that have put –and continue to put- rhythm in our lives.
Starting by AC DC -the brothers Malcolm and Angus Young were born around here-, passing through Franz Ferdinand or Travis, Mark Knopfler, Teenage Fanclub and ending, for example, with Belle and Sebastian or Simple Minds. And it's not that we want to dedicate this entire article to naming the country's musicians one by one, but we can't help but add to Primal Scream, The Jesus & Mary Chain or Mogwai, for instance.
So, leaving aside the extensive list of bands glasguians , we put ourselves in the hands of Alison, one of the founders of ** Glasgow Music City Tours **, a company that organizes tours of the city to discover the essence and the origin, past and present of music in Glasgow.
And it is that the rhythm and the melodies are to this city what the ruins are to Rome: they are everywhere, although not always in an obvious way. So the first stop is in front of one of the most important municipal buildings, the city halls , which at first glance, would seem like another construction in the city.
A couple of jokes with the concierge open the doors to its interior, and that is when we discover it: the Old Fruit Market , a mid-nineteenth-century market , keeps its structure intact in the heart of the building.
The iron and wood that support the signs of old stalls remain as they are, as if anchored in the past, although the fruits that were the protagonists of that time have given way today to an open space. In the background, a stage: concerts of all styles are currently held here and we cannot think of a more charming enclave . Or if?
A walk down the avenue Gallowgate leads us to meet Barrowlands Path –a park with a path marked by the recreation of vinyl spines where the most relevant concerts that have passed through are registered barrowland , the most important room in the city.
A few meters further on, the huge letters highlighted on the front of the building reveal that it is the room itself that makes its appearance. An advice? Take a look at your programming , you may be in for a pleasant surprise.
Two Simple Minds fans at the gates of Barrowland in the year 87
allison keeps revealing curiosities: any corner, any place, any corner, had to do with the art world in the past. And enraptured by the information received, we planted ourselves at the back door of any building on any street in the center of the city. Once inside, some old stairs that look like they need urgent reform welcome us. On the first floor, the star dish of the day: Britannia Panopticon , the oldest active theater in the world.
Is mid 19th century relic it opened its doors to offer distraction to the lower classes of the industrial society of the time. Women, men and children flocked and crowded into its stands to watch the performers perform. comedians, dancers and singers.
From their upper seats they hurled screws, horse droppings, and even rotten food at the performers if they weren't satisfied with the number. They even urinated on stage if they wanted to – something that, by the way, saved the theater from a fire on occasion.
Today, much of the theater remains almost intact thanks to The Friends of Birtannia Panopticon Music Hall Trust, an association that fights to keep this mythical Glasguian space alive and that offers the most complete explanations about the place in exchange for a donation.
Britannia Panopticon
And with so much musical history, it will be that we have become hungry. So off we go at 12 King Street, where is it located Bow . We travel to the present and it is the new trends that are gaining strength this time: a vegan restaurant -considered the best in the whole UK in 2014 -, which in turn is vinyl shop, craft brewery and in which concerts are also performed daily.
A seitan burger with sweet potato fries and a milkshake they will make us recover the energy to continue with the route through Glasgow. Although before, it is worth taking a look at their records. It will be difficult not to bite and return home with one.
Just two steps from Mono we came across **The 13th note**, a vegetarian business from alex capranos , singer and guitarist for Franz Ferdinand, where new groups are given the opportunity to play their first gigs.
Together with him, Street Level Photoworks , the only art gallery in the city dedicated 100% to photography. It was founded in Glasgow in 1989 and since then it has exhibited collections that include local and international artists in an attempt to bring photographic culture to the widest possible public. Visits, by the way, are free.
And we continue our alternative route giving way to art in another of its variants: the one that turns walls and walls into an explosion of colors. For some years now, Glasgow has made a strong commitment to the urban art and has transformed, with the help of local artists, numerous streets in the city center into an authentic Outdoor museum.
So we stop for a second, download the guide from the Glasgow City Center Mural Trail and we get to work.
The streets of Glasgow are full of Street Art
Empty lots, bland walls of tall buildings, walls by the River Clyde… any place is a perfect canvas to let inspiration do its work.
One of the most beautiful murals on the route can be found on the High Street , very close to the city's cathedral, and is known as 'St Mungo's Miracle' . The author is the street artist smug , one of the most productive within this route. Another of his amusing works is 'Honey, I shrunk the kids' , which occupies the entire side wall of a building in the Mitchell Street.
St Mungo's Miracle
Precisely just a few meters away, two other works, this time by the artist Rogue-One. At the beginning of the street, ' The World´s most economical taxi ', a classic British black taxi that flies thanks to dozens of colored balloons. Also 'Windpower' , which celebrates sustainable energy production with a young woman blowing on a dandelion flower.
and the art of Rogue One not for: in John Street are the 'Hip Hop Marionettes ', some nice puppets who are protagonists of an immense brick wall that brighten up one of the streets in the heart of the city. Not far away, the public car park of Ingram Street It has been guarded for years by a whole group of native animals that Smug was in charge of recreating. But, for animals, the 'Glasgow's Tiger' , who fiercely defends the banks of the Clyde.
So we could continue until we go through the 22 murals that make up the route , a number that grows every day with new contributions.
Prepare your neck and your camera: the facades of Glasgow are full of Street Art
But… we feel like tea , What is your opinion? That British punctuality is important and tea at 5, even more so. To do it in the most original way, we signed up for the Red Bus Bistro , a curious initiative with which to tour the entire city for two hours while enjoying an exquisite afternoon tea. Scones, cupcakes, macarons, sandwiches and all kinds of gastronomic delights accompany a glass of champagne, a tasty tea or, why not, an exotic cocktail –they also have a version with gourmet hamburgers-. A perfect plan to gather strength for the night...
Tea bus interior
And the night comes, of course. And the whole city takes to the streets, fills the pubs, dances and sings to the top of her voice without shame . Although we have it clear: we are going to a church. And no, we haven't gone crazy… our destination is St. Luke's.
There we are received by Michael, the person responsible for having carried out one of the most unexpected transformations that could take place in this space. What since 1836 –and until 2012- f It was an active church, today it is an amazing concert hall with the best sound and lighting equipment you can imagine.
So we go first into The Winged Ox Bar & Kitchen for a snack before crossing the aisle to the main hall of the church. Every night a new show, whether rock, pop, electronic or any of the many musical variants that exist, makes the delicate 19th century stained glass that decorate the walls.
And there, with a pint in hand and giving it our all with the concert that night… we say goodbye to Glasgow until next time. Because yes, although it may not seem like it... we still have many more things to discover. Cheers Glasgow!
Buchanan Street, Glasgow