IVW 2022: 5 Of Our Favourite Small Scottish Music Venues

We list some of our favourite Scottish venues for Independent Venue Week 2022

Mon 31st Jan – Sun 6th Feb

Independent Venue Week is a nationwide celebration of all things live music and is dedicated to the people helping to preserve the spirit of live music in the United Kingdom. It's a loving appreciation of everyone working, organising, performing and attending small, local venues around the country and aims to help spread awareness and keep the culture alive.

We love an intimate gig here at The Head Scratcher so in support of IVW 2022, here are five of our favourite small Scottish venues.

For the official list of venues and events happening for IVW 2022, head to the link here: https://www.independentvenueweek.com/uk/tickets-info/

#IVW22

Sneaky Pete’s (Edinburgh)

Edinburgh's Cowgate is known as one of the very best areas to enjoy live music in the Scottish capital and the compact nightclub and bar, Sneaky Pete's, is located right at its heart. It's a long and narrow venue, flanked on one side by a well-stocked bar, with a small stage, tucked away at the extreme end of the room. With space for only 100 people, it's a tight squeeze and supporting columns restrict the view in places, so if you want to see every band member on stage, you'll want to be right at the front.

Sneaky Pete's is small but mighty. As a proud Grassroots Music Venue and an active member of the Music Venue Alliance, not only has it welcomed some of our favourite acts including Armand Hammer, Gender Roles and Cultdreams, but in 2021 it joined several other venues in hosting Edinburgh's first Stag and Dagger Festival – a highlight of our year. Keep an eye out for the multi-venue festival’s return in April 2022.

Pro tip: If you're getting old like me and the music at the front gets too loud for you, head for the back of the room and off to the right-hand side. The extra distance softens those harsher edges but the sound carries well and from there you can still see some of the stage.

Head over to www.sneakypetes.co.uk to find out what's on for Independent Venue Week 2022 and beyond.

The Caves (Edinburgh)

Hidden away in Edinburgh's vaults in the sub-structure of the 18th Century South Bridge, The Caves is one of the most beautiful and unique settings for live music (and loads of other events) in the capital. Walk in and you'll be transported back to a different age as every inch of original stone has been painstakingly restored and lovingly displayed under soft, warm, lighting.

The main room is reasonably small but it's quite open, giving fantastic views of the stage from pretty much any angle and allowing performers to easily fill the room with sound from the stage. Off to one side, through an ancient passageway, there's a stunning bar and the staging area for the artists which looks like somewhere you'd make sacrificial offerings to the Gods...

At the end of 2019, we saw Ithaca opening for Jamie Lenman and it was absolutely incredible, the venue providing the perfect backdrop for both Ithaca's brutal, punishing sound and Lenman's intimate sing-a-long bangers.

Pro tip: If you do feel claustrophobic near the back, try to get forward, and out from under the arch of the balcony, where it's much more open.

See what's on at The Caves at https://unusualvenuesedinburgh.com/whats-on

Saint Luke’s & The Winged Ox (Glasgow)

Another stunning venue, this time located in Glasgow’s East End. Saint Luke’s is a beautifully restored 19th-century church, with a trendy dog-friendly gastro-pub, The Winged Ox, bolted on to one side. There’s a lively, welcoming atmosphere in The Winged Ox that’ll get you pumped for the main event next door but with an extensive range of beers, over 100 spirits on the bar and a menu that caters for just about anyone, you just might not want to leave.

You’d be missing out though. Saint Luke’s is an absolutely gorgeous venue that retains some of the former church’s original fixtures and fittings, including the minister’s pulpit and a working organ flanked by two massive stained glass windows that sit proudly behind the stage. Balcony areas on either side of the stage boost the venue’s capacity to around 700, so when it’s full the atmosphere is absolutely buzzing.

We were lucky enough to see several fantastic bands and artists at the 2019 mini-festival “Road to Lenmania” curated by Jamie Lenman and featuring False Advertising, Frauds and Orchards. Even from right near the back there was a good view of the stage and the sound was excellent throughout.

Pro tip: Keep an eye on your watch in The Winged Ox! We were enjoying the bar so much that we missed the start of the concert… sorry Jamie!

Find out what’s on at Saint Luke’s at http://www.stlukesglasgow.com/whats-on/

Broadcast (Glasgow)

Since opening in 2012 on Glasgow’s bustling Sauchiehall Street - home to several other excellent small venues - Broadcast has cemented itself as one of the best bars and forums on the scene. On street level, there’s a rustic spacious bar, with great food and a decent selection of drinks on offer and should you require it, the bar is open to 3am every single night of the week.

Down a set of sobriety challenging stairs lies the basement stage. It’s a fairly small room at around 180 capacity, with low ceilings and several supporting columns that can obscure your view of the stage, but it’s this closely packed environment that creates the venues unique vibe and atmosphere. For such an enclosed space, the sound is astonishingly good and there’s a cheeky wee bar crammed into one corner if you get thirsty or can’t make it up the stairs...

We’ve had the pleasure of seeing both Aussie emo-punk rockers Press Club and Belgian shoegaze/rock/metal/punks Brutus in this wonderful little venue.

Pro tip: If you’re in the upstairs bar, finish your drinks before you head down to the basement… you might not have a drink left by the time you reach the bottom.

Check out what’s happening at Broadcast here: http://www.broadcastglasgow.com/

The Tunnels (Aberdeen)

As you may have already guessed from the name, The Tunnels, on Aberdeen’s Carnegie’s Brae is a subterranean bar and nightclub in a tunnel, providing a unique location and hotspot for late-night entertainment in the Granite City. Just getting to the venue feels like an adventure in itself as you descend into the bowels of the city.

The venue itself is long and narrow with a concave ceiling - it is a tunnel after all - and offers a mixture of live entertainment from full bands (of all genres) to DJs to acoustic singer-songwriters. It’s a chameleonic setting that depending on what you’re there to see can feel calm and intimate, thrilling and lively and dark and apocalyptic - the sign of a great venue.

There is of course a well-stocked bar at the back, the sound quality is excellent and it has hosted some incredible bands including Every Time I Die, Gallows, 36 Crazyfists, Funeral For A Friend, Skindred, The Bronx and The Vaselines…

Pro tip: The Tunnels itself is a safe space but it is open at night in a tunnel at the end of another tunnel so… just be extra careful if you’re heading to or leaving the venue on your own.

Check what’s on at The Tunnels on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/tunnelsaberdeen/events/?ref=page_internal

Now that you know some of our favourite Scottish venues, why not get out there and support them during Independent Venue Week 2022! Let us know your own favourite venues in the comments too.