Glasgow Nighttime Behavior
Glasgow isn't all about culture, it also has its fair share of live music, dance clubs and traditional Scottish bars to check out. The nightlife scene is lively enough to suit pretty much everyone's taste. This is particularly so in the case of bars and clubs offering live music, whether you like country, R&B, rock, blues or jazz, check out the big-name acts and local bands listed to play.
Pubs in Glasgow generally stay open until midnight, and bars often have a later license. Clubs stay open until 3 or 4am. With over 800 pubs and bars in the city, not even counting the nightclubs, Glasgow can easily cater to everyones taste. Here is a quick guide to the hottest Glasgow clubs and bars as well as the tiny hole-in-the-wall clubs.
Blackfriar's is a traditional pub in the hub of Glasgow's Merchant City, popular with beer lovers as there are over 60 European beers on sale and, if that isn't enough, you get to listen to live jazz with blues and rock on certain nights. Every Sunday in the basement is comedy night, the students love it for its good food, cheap beer and relaxing atmosphere. The Basement at Blackfriars also hosts regular weekend club nights, live comedy and you can even learn to dance the tango here.
A popular choice is the Scotia Bar for its traditional Scottish folk chill out sessions. Claiming to be Glasgow's oldest pub, it has been around since 1792. They have Celtic folk evenings, live bands most nights and a sing-along night, they even have guitars on hand if you fancy getting up yourself and joining in. This place is popular with arty types who like its low ceilings, wooden beams and historic photographs of the city and especially the draft beers.
McChuill's is a trendy High Street pub and a popular venue for starting off the nights activities. There's normally a live band featured playing anything from jazz, blues or punk and album covers coat the bars walls. Wednesday's see a younger crowd for hip-hop but other nights they have live music, club and acoustic nights where the crowd is more mixed.
King Tut's Wah Wah Hut is a live music venue with something new appearing nearly every day of the week. Downstairs you will find the décor American-style with pool tables and a jukebox, whilst upstairs is where the local bands perform. Apparently this was the place where Oasis was discovered.
The club scene in Glasgow is diverse and sizzling. The city's clubs bunch around the West End and Ashton Lane, the city centre and the sophisticated Merchant City. The Cathouse either features live bands or a DJ playing a mix of hard rock and disco, it's a popular place to come for a night of pure dancing and the kind of people who hang out here lead a rock and alternative lifestyle. Amongst some of the top acts that have appeared here are Pearl Jam, Oasis and Fall Out Boy. 2006 saw the club scoop SLTN's 'Night Club of the Year'.
Every month The Tunnel features a celebrity DJ as well as the regular in-house DJ's. This place is pretty trendy with smart youngsters coming to dance to the latest music and weekly student nights. The longest running club in the city, The Tunnel has had some of the worlds top DJs play here including Danny Tenaglia, Dave Pierce, Simon Foy, John '00' Flemming, Judge Jules, Pete Tong and Fat Man Scoop.
Claiming to be Scotland's biggest nightclub, The Garage attracts students from local schools who enjoy all kinds of music, be it hip-hop, Indie, Rock, R'n'B, Chart, or 80's. They have local DJ's and sometimes a live local band. Saturday is Graduate Club Night when the city's graduates come out.
If you prefer something a little more cultural, then Scotland's National Opera Company is based in Glasgow at the Theatre Royal. There are 2 symphony orchestras, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is Scotland's leading symphony orchestra that hosts fashionable Proms concerts at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, and The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. For other cultural activities there is the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama put on a series of performing arts productions.
For tradition, then the annual Celtic Connections festival features folk music draws in crowds of over 100,000 in January, The Riverside Club hosts ceilidh dances every weekend, and Molly Malone's has live Irish music most nights. Park Bar on Argyle Street is a good place for Highland sounds and Clutha Vaults is a great pub with authentic folk music.
There are currently 5 Glasgow casinos throughout the city and plans for further casino developments are in progress including the first destination resort casino in the UK which will feature a 5 star luxury hotel, shopping, business, restaurant, health and leisure services. 4 of the casinos are operated by Gala Casino's, Merchant City is located on Glassford Street, Princes on Sauchiehall Street, Gala Rotunda Casino on Tunnel Street and Gala's Riverboat Casino sits on the banks of the River Clyde. Glasgow's Mint is a modern casino owned by the Stanley Group and also based on Sauchiehall Street. Most casinos play buy-in Texas Hold Em' Tournaments throughout the weekend.
