The stand has a great mix of comedians every night. The prize draw they do is fantastic! Pints are…read morepretty standard price, especially for a Saturday. I was lucky enough to get a seat in the second row which meant not only was I able to rest my legs, but I also avoided sitting in the dreaded front row! However, if I had turned up at 8pm I wouldn't have been so lucky, if you want a seat show up at half seven for the doors opening, otherwise you'll have to stand for the entirety of the night! Otherwise, fantastic venue and great acts.

Saturday night at The Stand: As the compère surveys the room…read morefor all the nationalities... Compère: Are there any Americans in the crowd?! Me: Woohoo! And that was the lone hooting of the only proud American sitting in the far back corner of the The Stand Comedy Club. After bringing attention to myself, for a split-second I asked myself, "What the hell was that?! You know they're going to pick on you now!" But I took the ensuing jokes with a G&T induced smile. Note to self: stop being a masochist! Susan Morrison was the compère of the evening, and she. was. hilarious! Foul-mouthed and energetic... I like her style. The Saturday Show is the Stand's flagship weekly event, and most expensive. However, it's totally worth the £13. Apparently it's been sold out every week for the last 5 years, and I can most definitely see why! The Saturday Show was hilarious with 4 acts, and 2 intervals for toilets and drinks (not both at the same time!). With most comedy venues, you're an automatic victim if you sit close to stage... or in my case, respond to a question from the stage. The Stand is a fine basement gem in the West End; serving up laughs and booze for 10 years now. It's easy to book tickets online, even on the day of the show. There are gigs every night of the week. For a great deal, you could go for Red Raw Tuesdays for 2 quid. Even better is you can use your Red Raw email confirmation for an awesome deal at the Big Blue (just a quick walk away) for 2-4-1 pizzas/pastas. Bottom line: great night out in Glasgow filled with banter, and the potential of pissing your pants as you laugh. Arrive early before the show starts to ensure you have a seat, and not close to the stage if you don't want to be verbally assaulted.

Shake off your January blues by checking out the always excellent line-up of comedians coming to…read moreGlasgow in March, which this year runs from the 11th to 28th. It's not only a good way to see your favourite comedians, but to find new venues you might not know about with some of the lesser known acts playing small venues at a modest price. It comes on the back of the Glasgow Film Festival in February and helps me laugh my way out of the winter and into the spring. So far this year I am going to Jim Jeffries, Jerry Sadowitz and Stewart Lee, all across different venues, and will no doubt go to some other gigs on a random prowl around town. A great opportunity to discover new venues in Glasgow, and of course, to have a good laugh!

The Glasgow Comedy Festival features a range of comedians from the unknown to the superstars, like…read moreFrankie Boyle. There are performances in venues all over the city, from the arenas to the tiny pubs. Anything that puts Glasgow on the map and gets people out and enjoying the city gets a thumbs up from me.

'Let's go to the pub, let's go to the pub, let's go to the pub'…read more It's a phrase I respond positively to. After a wee band practice down the road at Creation Studios, I was enticed to go here. It was really busy. Pricy at the bar, as has been mentioned elsewhere, but I was on the soft stuff after band practice, really thirsty. Quite a nice warm interior, really trendy, with a good mix of people in there. They have a promiment advertisement for a 2 course lunch just now priced at £6.95 which I might consider, going during the day when it's presumably nowhere near as busy. A popular place with alot of stuff coming up including live music that I might or might not go to if money allows. A nice place.

This self-styled indie/rock bar is a relative newcomer to Trongate, and hopefully a sign of the…read moreregeneration here. We dropped by one Tuesday night and ordered a double Southern Comfort and coke and a bottle of Kopparberg. This came to £9.10, which was waaaay more than we had expected. We took a seat in front of the giant football screen to recover from the shock. Up to the minute rock music plays in here, at a comfortable level to talk over. On nice afternoons, the big windows slide open to let the air circulate and provide a nice atmosphere, linking the indoor seating to the outdoor. Live bands play on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The cocktail menu is quite extensive and cocktails are named after rock classics like Purple Haze and Desperado (gotta love The Eagles!!) At £5.95 for the least expensive though, they don't come cheap. The stripped floorboards and warehouse setting further lend to the rocky atmosphere. A small selection of bar bites is available, most intriguingly the "Good Olives" at £1.95 and the "Even Better Olives" also priced at £1.95. Hmmm...what?

Glasgay! is one of Glasgow's great festivals. It takes up most of October and November, features…read morefilms, drama, dance, night clubs and visual arts and has cultivated the local scene, bringing in big names and first time performers. Since it has become part of the city's calendar, it has managed to become both part of the establishment and kick up the odd fuss: this year, pickets protested an exhibition and one stage show. The film programme starts things off: it is not the Festival's best programme, but is comprehensive and uncovers a few idiosyncratic classics. The theatre programme is stunning. In past years, it has taken in Tennessee Williams, Louise Welch and inhabits every venue from the Theatre Royal to the Arches. The breadth of events is stunning. My personal favourites have included Martin O'Connor's monologues- usually on the theme of masculinity- a singalong Hairspray and, for a more difficult choice, Memory Cells, whch looked at the relationship between abducted captive and her guard. The only problem is trying to catch everything: many shows overlap. By having a vague enough theme, it manages to have something for everyone: the Ma Broon Monologues reinvented a Scottish institution, while the edgier work covered the problems of gay parenting, red hair and even the true meaning of Christianity. Lively and provocation, Glasgay! can satisfy both the radical queer and the general punter.

This event is held in October/ November and is basically to celebrate the LGBT community in…read moreGlasgow. There are special club nights, art events, theatre, comedy and cinema - something for everyone (if you're gay!)

The West End Festival is one of my favourite events of the year in Glasgow. The parade is a mix of…read morecolour and music as the people in it dance down the streets of the West End. Mouths won't go hungry as local businesses set up stalls and seats outside. Burgers, pizza, chips, cakes and pastries: there's lots to fill you up whilst you're entertained by the parade. Outside Hillhead Bookclub is the over 18s area which is a good escape from the pushy prams. You just need to make sure you get a good spot or you might not get to see a lot!

Did anyone make their way to Glasgow Mela last weekend? Cause I thought it was FAB! Lucky enough…read morethat the weather was on our side last weekend too. The festival had so many things and I'm glad that it was free too seeing as it was in Kelvingrove Park! The atmosphere of family, children and friends of different cultures (many Indian folk, locals and a bunch of other random nationalities including myself :D) came by to chill out at the park. Whether it was to play with outdoor installations or at the fun fair, or listen to music with a pint under the sun, or watch silly performances by street artists (and magicians) or even dance along with the amazing traditional performers (and also Irish line dancers) the day was just great! My partner and I explored everything! We were down at the smaller stage listening to Indian music with toddlers dancing everywhere. And then we watched as a parade of what seemed to be circus performers walked by. We slept on the grass while having Pimm's cocktails and listening to some dj sets. And then watched the amazing performers by so many tradition local clubs! If you haven't been before, you should really consider going in the next years to come :) Update: also, went to Chop Pop's exhibition of her Love Letters to Glasgow in the Hillhead Library and it was wonderful! Her artwork is amazing and meticulous! She's also a friendly wee lady and I love her. Check out her facebook if you didn't manage to catch her!

Distinctive meeting and events venue in Glasgow, on the north bank of the Clyde river…read more Visited this week during the 2026 All Energy conference. The Armadillo and Ovo are architectural standouts on the Scottish Event Campus, but the main conference was held in the cavernous "train station like" building adjacent to them. This building was large enough to hold two giant exhibition halls on the ground level and many small meeting rooms on level 1. It was also conveniently connected by a covered tunnel to the local train station across the motorway, so local visitors and commuters could stay dry while walking over. Food options were plentiful (venison burgers, pork hot dogs, chicken gyros, etc.) and there were many establishments serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Looking forward to visiting again.

The SECC (strictly speaking, the SE&CC if you want to be pedantic as I like to throw out there from…read moretime to time) is a Glasgow institution. Once upon a time known as The Big Red Shed because it was... well, big and red, it's now a very bland shade of grey these days. Quite fitting, as there are newer, shinier, bigger and better venues not a stone's throw from it's well used doors. That's not to say it's a bad thing. The SECC still sees plenty of action in it's varied halls. You can find comic conventions, stand up comedy, gigs and even the odd bout of wrestling and boxing under the SECC roof at various times. There's plenty of options inside for drink and food, and yeah, you'll find it's a slightly over priced as you'd expect for big corporate venue, but not too much like some places *coughAcademycough* The staff are generally helpful and know what they're doing by now. I was there on Sunday and they managed to funnel 4000 people into Hall 3 in less than half an hour with little problems. The problem with the SECC isn't one of it's own doing... it's been replaced or superseded by it's near neighbours The Hydro and The Armadillo. It's not going anywhere soon, but you get the feeling it maybe needs a bit of an upgrade to stay relevant over the next few years, especially sitting in the Hydro's shadow.

A nice theatre just round the corner from The Kings Theatre…read more Been here a few times for different events including pantomime and stand up comedy and always had a good night. It's got a lot of character and the staff are polite and helpful. It's not huge, but that's an old trick to sell the place out! On topic, the seats are comfy enough which made a difference when I saw Dave Gorman in here last year as it was a good 3 hours long! A good venue where ticket prices for events are noticable cheaper than some other similar theatres though it could of course just be a coincidence.

The Pavillion has been in business for 105 years now, and just keeps going from strength to…read morestrength. The other night we went to see comedian Dave Gorman (who I highly recommend!) and the theatre was packed to its 1500 capacity. It appeared that my (faux) fur coat was unnecessary, as everyone else just wore jeans and t-shirts. Never mind. Some of the fittings are showing their age a little, and the whole thing could do with a lick or ten of paint, but I suppose this all adds to the character. I suppose people will have been a lot skinnier 105 years ago, but I found the seats a bit cramped, and I'm not exactly a heavyweight. At half-time (or whatever) I got a Magnum off the wee lady, which I thought was pretty good. I was expecting the prices to be as ker-ayzee as in the cinema. I had a good time there, and it's a nice theatre with some traditional theatre character.

My guy and I came here to see The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses - Master Quest. Total…read moredorks night out we were surrounded by loads of gamers and people in fancy dress. I had originally bought us nose bleed seats figuring it was an orchestra, so there wasn't really anything we needed to see and the tickets were super expensive- even the nose bleed seats. When we got there, the doors hadn't opened so we were all gathered outside waiting. When the doors opened, instead of opening the big doors to let us flood in at once (or at least queue to have our tickets checked) they opened one turnstile door and we all squished ourselves through the door in an annoyingly slow fashion. The number of times the door jammed is more than I can count on my hands, but we finally made it in and b-lined it for the food. My guy and I are really good at eating before hand when we know there won't be much food on had where we're going, but this time, we didn't have time, so we figured we could get something here. The only thing they had on offer were £5 hot dogs and £3 bags of crisps. Whoa. So for the amount we would have paid for a nice night out, we got two hot dogs, a bag of crisps and two drinks. Not our finest moment ever. Hot dogs in hand, we headed up to check out our seats. When we got up to the top, ha, we were greeted by a lady saying that tickets hadn't sold out so we should make our way back downstairs to get our tickets exchanged. By the time we got back down stairs, there was a queue of just about everyone who purchased tickets that wrapped around and around and around the ground floor. There were loads of unhappy links and zeldas running around. We finally got our tickets exchanged and were surprised that we go ground floor stall tickets. Not too shabby. I felt bad, however, for the people who paid full price for the seats around us. They were not cheap at all. The actual event was really cool. I've managed to score us some tickets to some cool orchestra concerts and this one was at the top. The orchestra played songs from all the Zelda games and there was a screen above that showed all sorts of live action shots of the games. There were also clips from the creators of Zelda talking about how the music is very much a part of playing the games for emotional reasons. It really made the experience so much more personal. There was in intermission which was nice, and they played a 30 minute encore! The night out was great because of who I was with and what we had experienced, but the whole door issue and ticket experience was in complete shambles.

I've previously been here for a gig (Flight of the Conchords! Amazing!) and visited on Friday for…read morethe Commonwealth Games weightlifting. I really wasn't sure how it would translate to a sports venue but it ended up being perfect. The downside of the Armadillo is the location - I just think it's a little inaccessible (made worse by the Games restrictions of having one main entrance to the SECC precinct from Finnieston Street rather than being able to use the bridge from the Exhibition Centre station over). The venue is a strange shape - I mean, just look at it) but it works well as the pointy end (the head) is the entrance, and the stage area is nuzzled in the Armadillo's bottom area (ahem). You can get to the seats down either side and there are 4 levels of seating - if you're on level 3 or 4 you might prefer to get the lift rather than take the stairs. Depends on how lazy you're feeling! We were seated on level 3 and the view to the stage area was great, unobstructed by heads in front of us and a good view of screens either side on the walls and the stage. I didn't buy any food or drinks while we were here but I believe there was a shop open (although the one I walked past was closed). The toilets are back on level one which could be a little inconvenient to go during a show as it was a little bit of a treck. Other than that, the Armadillo is a great venue for music or sport, and I would definitely head back for a gig without hesitation.