How to get involved with Glasgow's live music scene!

So, you're new to the Glasgow live music scene and you want to get involved, but you don't know how to get your foot in the door? Here is a quick list of events that you should know about to help you get started with your journey into Live music in Glasgow! 

Step 1: Get to know your Venues 

It's obvious that Live music venues in Glasgow are the core of the city's live music scene. However, it's important to know which venues are creating the most buzz around the scene, whilst large scale venues such as the OVO Hydro, The Barrowlands and King Tuts may be what you see the most of online, Glasgow has a fantastic range of small scale venues to check out for your live music fix! 

This is especially important info when getting involved with the local music scene yourself! If you wanna find out more about some small venues that you should be checking out in Glasgow, we have the post for you!

Here are 3 venues that will show you the true live music scene in Glasgow. 

Step 2: Getting to know the events that you should be attending! 

It's important to understand that getting involved with live music is more than just going to gigs! There are a number of organisations that are hosting networking events that will help you meet other newcomers and aspiring people looking to get involved with their scene! Below I've listed two active organisations that are running networking events for Glasgow's music scene, aimed at grassroots participants! 

Sunken Sofa 

Sunken Sofa is a DIY Live Music Promoter that has been running since 2018, hosting gigs, live music sessions over lockdown and more recently, a DIY networking night based around Glasgow's alternative Music scene! 

This networking night is aimed at getting newcomers to the Glasgow music scene involved with starting their own projects! With their first successful networking night hosted on the 13th of March 2022, Sunken Sofa provided a space to meet new and likeminded people, learn from DIY practitioners via their hosted panel, and take in some of the best live music that the Glasgow alternative scene has to offer! They have plans to continue this in the coming months at a larger scale, so keep an eye open! 

Girls Just Wanna 

Girls Just Wanna is a Networking Night directed towards women within the Glasgow Music scene (However, it is open to all genders!), their first event in March showcased some fantastic artists and is a fantastic opportunity to meet new people and get involved and learn about the music industry in a more general way (as Sunken Sofa's networking nights are aimed towards DIY and Alternative Music, Girls Just Wanna is aimed towards the music scene as a whole with women's empowerment being a key theme! 

Resonate 

If you're feeling a bit more confident with getting involved in the music industry, Resonate (ran by local publishing company, 23rd Precinct) is a fantastic organisation to follow! Whilst Resonate Music Conference is a larger scale event aimed at music industry professionals, a great place to begin your journey into the music scene is by attending Resonate's monthly networking nights, which aim to get people chatting about the music industry, have a drink and listen to some fantastic live music through their DJ sets and open mics! 

Step 3: Why not put on your first DIY gig? 

Next week we're going to be talking about some of the essentials of putting on your first gig as a promoter in Glasgow! keep an eye open and we'll make sure you're well prepared for your first event within the live music scene! 

3 venues that will show you the true Glasgow music scene in 2022!

Welcome to SceneRadar, where we discuss the many great features of Glasgow's music scene, today we are going to be looking at three iconic venues that are ideal for someone looking to experience the true Glasgow music scene. 

This post is ideal for those travelling to Glasgow and looking to just see what Glasgow nightlife has to offer, or even those who may have just moved to the city and want to get their foot in the door in regards of where to look to find some really great artists and nightlife! 

Here are our top picks for venue's that will show you what the Glasgow Music Scene is really like! 

Bloc+ 

Bloc+ is a fantastic example of a Live music pub in Glasgow that caters to a younger generation of music fanatics. The small restaurant provides a fantastic range of beer and has a dedicated fanbase for their comfort food dishes that cater to both meat lovers and the Glasgow vegan food scene. Bloc+ is also known for their free-entry gigs from 9pm, which are a must see for anyone trying to get a real look at the Glasgow live music scene. 

 

The venue space itself provides a small area next to the restaurant that has become a home for live music promoters and record labels to host the best artists from Glasgow’s music scene and has become a staple of Glasgow nightlife with its regular club nights running from 11pm to 3am! 

 

Get a glimpse of an average gig at Bloc+ below:  

Teose - Live at Bloc+ 

 

The Hug and Pint  

For fans of Scottish music trivia, the iconic ‘Hug and Pint’ named after Arab Strap’s 2003 album “Monday at the hug and pint” is the place for you, however this venue is far from being stuck in the past. 

 

The Hug and Pint, owned by one of Scotland’s largest promoters 432 Events, is one of Glasgow’s most active small venues. Hosting live music from Glasgow’s live music scene all the way to giving touring artists from the USA a place to grow their Scottish fanbase, The Hug and Pint creates a friendly atmosphere in it’s venue space located in the basement of their restaurant that provides small dishes that cater best to the Glasgow vegan food lover (but delicious enough to be loved by all) looking for a light scran before a good mosh downstairs! 

 

Get a Glimpse of live music at The Hug and Pint here! 

BLEAKS [Full Set] Live at The Hug & Pint

 

 

 

The Flying Duck 

 

My final entry is for those in dire need of a dance and a good meal. The Flying Duck provides both as one of the most iconic vegan restaurants in Glasgow, whilst also operating as a nightclub/music venue after hours. This venue caters to lovers of the Glasgow Hardcore scene as well as the Glasgow Nightlife scene, which despite being at two very different ends of the music spectrum, shows that this venue is far from being uniform in the audience it caters to. 

 

For those interested in exploring the Glasgow clublife scene, Proxima Glasgow, described as “a brand new Glasgow club night specializing in Funk, Disco and House Music”, is the organisation to look out for, with their next club night at the Flying Duck being the 20th of May 2022! 

 

And for those interested in kicking it in the moshpit, the most active organisation in Glasgow’s hardcore music scene Northern Unrest can be found hosting shows at the Flying duck from time to time, so definitely keep an eye out! 

Get a Glimpse of a night out experiencing Glasgow's Hardcore scene at the Flying Duck here!

Mortality Rate (Canada) - Live at the Flying Duck 

Thanks for taking the time to read through our top picks for live music venues that will get you loving the Glasgow music scene as much as we do! 

We've got another exciting post coming up very soon so keep an eye out!