Glasgow Letter
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back: The Glasgow Letter!
Eighteen months ago, as the country was plunged into lockdown and every event in the city was cancelled or postponed, it would have been impossible to continue with the same style of Glasgow Letter that has existed for generations. There was simply nothing to report on or even look forward to.
For 72 weeks, therefore, the column morphed into Robert in Lockdown which dealt with literally any nonsense that had happened to me throughout the week. And that turned out to be quite a lot of nonsense.
Now that one of the strangest years in history has passed, I am delighted to return this column to a (slightly!) more factual and informative column which will aim, as ever, to keep the good people of Glasgow and the West Coast up to date with all the goings on in the city.
It is a particularly exciting time down here – with the whole place awakening from a long hibernation and events (both new and old) finally getting confirmed in people’s diaries. On a large scale, TRNSMT is set to go ahead in Glasgow
Green from September 10-12, with massive acts such as Liam Gallagher, Snow Patrol, and The Courteeners taking to the stage. One of my own favourite bands, Keane, are playing on the Saturday. Tide Lines are playing in Orkney that night so I’ll unfortunately miss them. The Thursday before TRNSMT, Biffy Clyro are doing a gig on the same stage.
On a slightly smaller scale, things like The Riverside Festival are once again being advertised all round the city and will take place the first weekend in September. On a smaller scale still, although possibly of more interest to Glasgow Letter readers: all our favourite West Highland bands will be gigging in Glasgow over the coming months.
Trail West have their postponed 10th anniversary concert coming up in the Barrowlands on Saturday September 18. Nothing like a 10-year anniversary concert taking place 11 years after you started!
Peat and Diesel return to the same venue on October 7 and 8 and Skipinnish do the same on October 15. Just as well there is no such thing as too many shows in the Barrowlands! Especially after a year and a half without live music. I dare say there will be people who head along to the famous venue for all four of these gigs!
On October 8, my own band (Tide Lines) play a show in the Kelvingrove Bandstand which I will write more about nearer the time. As this is an outdoor venue, I’m just hoping the Scottish autumn weather behaves itself.
As well as these events, I imagine most of the island association gatherings can now go ahead and I know live music is returning to the famous pubs of the Teuchter Triangle very soon.
The Glasgow we all knew and loved before coronavirus is coming back! And, right on cue, so is the Glasgow Letter!