Best Music Venue In Glasgow (King Tut's Wah Wah Hut)

Member Name: madgoose10

Product:	King Tut's Wah Wah Hut
Date:	17/10/08 (224 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: intimate atmosphere, music, crowd, sound

Disadvantages: none

King Tut's Wah Wah Hut is the best music venue in Glasgow. This landmark has been around for 15 years and hosted some of the world's most influential bands to date.

--History:--

King Tut's was the brainchild of Stuart Clumpas who opened the venue in 1990. As soon as this Glasgow venue opened its doors, it quickly established itself as the place to discover the next up and coming music artists and bands. For example in May 1993, during a one-week period at the venue Oasis, Radiohead, The Verve, and Travis took over the stage.

--A bit of interesting trivia:--

The date in May 1993 that Oasis played at the venue is actually the gig where they were first discovered and signed. Also, the communal men's urinal in King Tut's is called "Wonderwall," sound familiar?

This venue is definitely the place to see a band when they're first starting out and within the next couple of months they will be known worldwide. Other notable artists that have played their first Scottish gigs at King Tut's have been The Strokes and Beck.

The venue has been named "Licensed Music Pub of the Year" and "UK's Best Live Venue." It has even been named by New York Magazine "In the worlds top ten of must see clubs" and "On a par with the best in New York."

--Tut's Bar:--

King Tut's is located in the basement off St. Vincent's Street near Charing Cross in Glasgow. As you descend the steps into the basement, you first walk into Tut's Bar, which is the pub bit of the place. Here there are tables and a bar with plenty of space to sit or stand about. Most people hang out down in the pub before a gig begins. As you make your way to the back of the bar you will see a staircase, which leads up to the venue.

--The Venue:--

The venue itself is pretty small; I would venture to say it's no bigger than 25x25 feet. There is also another small bar on the right side of the venue for those who find themselves parched during the gig.

The small, intimate atmosphere of this place makes the music that much better. Since the venue is so small I feel that bands put twice the amount of effort into their shows. Bands can see every face in the crowd here and their reactions, rather than being on a big stage playing to a crowd of faceless ants. Plus, playing in Glasgow bands know if they put on a rubbish show they will be heckled by the crowd standing about a foot away from the stage. Bands always seem more relaxed when they play this venue because there is much more band to crowd interaction, which makes for a great gig.

This venue is obviously my favorite place in Glasgow to attend a gig. The main reason for this is, since the venue is so small every spot in the place is a prime spot for watching the band. Also, the sound in the place is amazing because of the venue size.

There are seats around the back of the venue as well as in front of the soundboard. Being a bit of a nerd I would advise getting to any gig a bit early to make sure you can get one of the coveted seats in the space near the stage. However, there is a method to my madness. If you get a seat on the bench in front of the soundboard, when the 7 foot tall person comes to stand in front of you, you can stand on the bench and make yourself the jolly green giant without blocking anyone's view.

Unlike other places I have been, everyone that attends a gig at King Tut's is respectful of the place and isn't intending on throwing half full pints into the crowd or anything like that, which makes the night that much more enjoyable.

I highly recommend checking out their website and checking out the upcoming gigs. http://www.kingtuts.co.uk/

(also posted on trustedplaces.com)

Summary: Best place to see the next up and coming band