Fish out of water

Glasgow Barfly closed in February - we were supposed to be playing at the end of the month but heard some rumours and sure enough, it was toast. Place had many problems - location being one of them. You don't really want to be down that part of town at night. There's also a glut of venues (the new Stereo, Captain's Rest etc) that have opened recently in more convenient locations so the club nights as well as the gigs had suffered as a result.

"HEY! D'you mind?" The man was a first class tot.

Henry J's...fucking hell. Didn't go in often, spent most of my time in the Drummonds/Wild Boar/Ma Camerons Triangle, but when I did, I rarely left as the same person that went in. Slightly related but not - Charlie's American Bar - is that still on the go? There was a dreadful advert on Grampian for a few years with the guy who i think owned it. The advert was enough to put me right off the place. And there was a club next to a restaurant called Owlies in the mid 90's on Littlejohn St. Anyone remember what it was called? And is it still on the go?

...and now I think about it, Greenblade I remember as a name, definitely remember Atom Flask though. Singer's bird at the time was mates with my bird at the time.

Oh, I wouldn't say that. I can't speak for the rest of the bands but to me, playing an instrument and being in a band was the only way for me to get out of Aberdeen - I'm fairly shit at most other things. Don't worry, I don't hate Aberdeen, I've made my peace with the city a long time now, fucking hated it in my younger years though.

I really have to take issue with this - it was Ronnie Wood, not noel fucking fielding. Actually she used to be in El Presidente, who were frankly shite. Her presenting skills aren't a huge improvement really

I was kicking about this scene for the last three or four years of your time frame. Band names that come to mind are: The Lorelei, The Dreaming (later known as Tinderbox), One God Universe, Men Lie, Coast, Phonefreak, MG25, Inertia, The Unflavoured (later The High Sounds), Verge, Taste, Modern Uses for Velcro. Coast were a Britpop band that got signed to an indie and re-located to Camden. They put out a couple of singles and an album then disappeared. Bits of Verge, Inertia, and the Unflavoured became Driveblind, signed to A&M/Geffen, lived the dream, moved to LA, released an album, got fucked about by the label and eventually parted ways with them. This is the best my memory can do with six cans of Duke St's Finest Cooking Lager in it.

Agreed. At MTV she had a well fit body. However, notwithstanding the fact that after three bairns she'll have a fanny like a wizard's sleeve, she would also be one of these women that talks so much that she would try to engage you in conversation whilst having sex. Fearne Cotton also falls into this category. Therefore, she's probably best left as fodder for the wank bank.

Kingmaker, second proper gig I ever went to. 1st was, er, Kingmaker supported by Radiohead at the Edinburgh Venue too many fucking years ago. Whiteout Neds Atomic Dustbin Eugenius Lorelei Dawntreaders Loveless (well, the 90'sincarnation of APB) Also saw numerous performances of a Newburgh band (Unflavoured) there, numerous Aberdeen bands (Phonefreak, One God Universe, etc), and I'm pretty sure I supported Tinderbox (who were they before? buggered if I can remember) there when I was in an Ellon band called Verge sometime in the mid 90's. I'll genuinely miss the place. It was...comfy.

At the risk of being pedantic, I think it's called "The 78" as every so often on weekday evenings a guy turns up and plays 78's on one of those old gramophones with the large trumpet for a speaker (I am not making this up). Service is pretty inconsistent, as in the staff are pretty clueless sometimes, but the place does have that peaty smell coming the the open fire (always handy on a cold night) and the organic wheat beer is pretty damn good.

Barrymore? Awight? Good lord no. Imagine the pronunciation to be like that spoken by a drunken shellsuited ned who's standing outside Haddows when he's asking you nicely to buy him a bottle of a certain brand of tonic wine. Jensen Interceptor has sadly gone to the crusher's but I replaced it with a Ford Focus. Doesn't really go with the tash though...

The girls at Strung Out are excellent - they took my bass with a banana shaped neck and made it good as new. I concur with Deisel - Merchant City music are cheap but good. Guitar Guitar's a bit pricey and Sound Control have two branches and have most sorts of stuff at reasonable prices (but you'll get strings cheaper elsewhere). I'd also chip in with McCormacks on Bath St, they're not bad either. 13th Note is probably best for putting your own gigs own. Brendan hires it out for 80 quid I think, whereas Sleazy's will cost you 200. Avoid Fury Murray's at all costs. And arguably Rockers too. For watching local gigs - Box on Sauchiehall St is free and has 4 band bills - mixed bag from a mixed venue but there's usually at least something worth watching. Same goes for Capitol.

Hello, new here so just saying hi.