Last weekend, Tide Lines played three sold out shows in the Glasgow Barrowlands that I will never forget.
Each night, the crowd just seemed to get wilder and wilder. To top it all off, we had the absolutely incredible (and totally unexpected!) honour of being inducted into the Barrowlands Hall of Fame.
To get a sense of just how amazing that feels, I’m going to share some of the phenomenal history of “the Barras” as told to me by two separate people in the venue last weekend.
In the early part of last century, the Barras market was owned by a lady called Margaret McIvor. Initially, people would pay for the privilege of taking their wheelbarrow down and setting up a stall selling from the barrow – hence the name of the market.
Eventually, Margaret (obviously a shrewd business woman) started selling wheelbarrows which increased her profit greatly.
Her entrepreneurial spirit was also in evidence when, correctly reading the geopolitical situation of the time, she predicted the outbreak of the First World War and started to buy horses: sending them out to the islands to breed and, subsequently, ending up with numerous sellable assets when the government came calling to buy horses for the war effort.
Back at the Barras market, each year, she would book a Christmas night out for all the stall holders as a thank you for their custom. It was always such a rowdy night that, one by one, the various Burgh Halls of the city refused to book them.
Determined not to give in to the council, Margaret McIvor built her own dance hall directly above the market place in order that the nights out could continue. Thus, the Barrowland Ballroom was born.
Its heyday, of course, was after Margaret’s time: the swinging sixties. By 1968, however, the venue (and, indeed, Glasgow as a whole) entered a dark period as notorious serial killer, Bible John, used it as something of a hunting ground for his victims.
Three women, that we know of, were brutally murdered by the mystery killer who was never found. The market continued but the dance hall above lay empty and disused for the duration of the 1970s. It looked like its glory days were over for good.
That is until Glasgow band Simple Minds were looking for a location for a music video in the early 80s. Their record label had scoped out venues on the Thames; but the proud Glaswegians were determined the Clyde was the setting for them.
The Barrowland was reopened for their video shoot and resultant show. It has never looked back.
In the decades that followed, the famous stage was graced by the likes of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, The Ramones, Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Runrig, and many more – all of whom feature in the famous Hall of Fame. To think that Tide Lines have become a small part of that rich history is absolutely mind blowing.
Thanks to everyone who supported the three shows – you’ve made four lads from the highlands very happy!
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