25TH BIRTHDAY
KING TUT’S WAH WAH HUT S ince it first opened its doors in February 1990, King Tut’s has been a central pillar of the Scottish (and British) music scene. Aside from being the well-documented spot where Alan McGee first saw Oasis, and winning accolades from national musical institutions such as NME and Radio 1, it has spawned the
King Tut’s Recordings record label, the Your Sound unsigned network and its own tent at T in the Park.
L–R: Biffy Clyro; Stereophonics; Manic Street Preachers.
DAVE MCGEACHAN The manager of King Tut’s remembers his favourite gigs from 20 years of the venue’s history
When King Tut’s first opened in 1990 I was there maybe three times in the first fortnight. I saw The Charlatans, Pale Saints and Chapterhouse. I remember seeing Manic Street Preachers in ’91 and Blur and Radiohead in ’92. Radiohead were incredible – ‘Creep’ had just come out as a single and I was standing at the front to see how Johnny Greenwood made that kind of gun noise with his pedals. There were maybe only 100 people watching. Oasis drove their way up in 1993 for their famous gig and forced their way onto the bill. Alan McGee was there of course. He also turned up with Carl Barat to see Glasvegas at King Tut’s about three or four years ago. That was a period when in the same month we had The White Stripes, The Strokes and The Hives all playing.
The way it was in the early 90s, often you would have bands like Supergrass supporting Shed 7 or Oasis supporting 18 Wheeler. Coldplay and Terrace once played as a double headliner. Terrace were on the front page of the NME at the time. Coldplay were on before them but you could just tell the difference; Coldplay were very polished, and unfortunately Terrace disappeared without a trace. What makes King Tut’s stand out is that everyone loves working there, with the vibe of all the bands coming through. They can come down and have a drink, play some pool or make something to eat. I think if you were building as near a perfect venue as you could, it would be King Tut’s. It’s small and intimate and you can’t really beat the atmosphere. Soulwax once dedicated a song to the mushroom soup! (As told to Ewen Hosie)
16 THE LIST 23 Sep–7 Oct 2010
P H O T O
: J U L A N C O L L E
I I
I WAS THERE!
Glasvegas play the final date of their 2008 album tour at Glasgow Barrowlands, 16 Dec 2008. By Mark Mackie, director of Regular Music and promoter of the event
It was just a celebration of everything that had happened that year – that rollercoaster year for Glasvegas. To be honest, the first time a lot of bands play the Barrowlands is quite a stunning moment in their career. Over the years I’ve seen many amazing shows at the venue, REM I remember for example. You always remember the first night they play the Barras, it’s a sort-of coming-of-age thing, and that night Glasvegas really came of age. That was it – they showed that they were here to stay. The crowd’s reaction was fantastic. There was a great buzz for them; great anticipation. It was a celebration for everybody that followed the band as well – they were having as much of a party as the band were. It wasn’t like we planned Glasvegas to play Barrowlands eight months before they did it, these were last-minute bookings. It was like ‘Let’s do this – oh, that went well, let’s do this!’ There was no telling where we were going. It was very exciting to be part of that very organic process. (As told to Ewen Hosie)
‘It’s a sort of coming- of-age thing. And that
night
Glasvegas really came of age.’