AN iconic Scottish music venue has been chosen as the best in the UK – by acts who have played in almost all of those that made the list.
Time Out released a list of the top places to see gigs, from Stirling to Cardiff to London.
At the top of the list was Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom, which was chosen by Phil Cunningham of New Order as well as Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai and Leftfield’s Neil Barnes.
It beat London’s Palladium and Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff to the top spot, with the top five rounded off by London’s O2 Brixton Academy.
The only other Scottish venue to appear on the list was The Albert Halls in Stirling.
Time Out’s UK editor Huw Oliver said: “We like to think of ourselves as experts here at Time Out, but who really knows our music venues better than the people who have been up there on stage, night in, night out, singing and stage-diving and striding on for encores?
“We asked dozens of legendary British artists to name their favourite stages to come up with a spectacular snapshot of the rich and varied musical landscape in the UK today.
“Because at a time when many grassroots venues are threatened by closure, it’s well worth reminding ourselves every once in a while of just how brilliant they are.
“These are venues that are authentic, that are committed to promoting properly good music and emerging acts, venues that have energetic crowds and excellent sound quality.
“There are huge production-heavy concert halls, tiny stages hidden under record stores and even some places we didn’t even know existed before now.
“They’re all special in their own, unique way – and they’ve seen their fair share of mosh pits.”
The list also included O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and Third Man Records Blue Basement in London, as well as The Golden Lion in West Yorkshire.
