The Barrowland Ballroom

The dancehall built atop a market where you can get anything from furniture to shoes to stolen cigarettes.

The venue that eclipses any other in Scotland, maybe the world.

THE place to see bands.

The bastion of music and dance in Glasgow’s east end. The timeless “Weegie” institution with low ceilings and ancient steps trodden for over a hundred years.

The echoes of the past and the feet to have hit the floor. The ghosts of Saturday nights spent “up the dancin’”.

The bouncing dance floor reverberating with the moshing crowd.

The ceiling that drips sweat on only the best of nights.

The bar set up behind an old school table selling cans of Tennent’s and cider.

The archaic toilets with endless urinals which have seen the Clyde pass through their drains via Wellpark Brewery and return again the following night.

The sprinkle of indistinct liquid when you’re deep in the crowd that you hope was the last of a pint.

The small stage that’s almost always within touching distance, even from the bar.

The early gigs of tomorrow’s superstars and the latter gigs of yesterday’s.

The one-man bands, the eight-piece punk rockers, the not-for-the-radio fan’s favourites, the youthful Mancunian superstars, the ageing 80’s superstars and the sons and daughters of Glasgow and the West.

All have come and rocked. All have bounced and cajoled and hollered for encore after encore.

And the sing-alongs…

The sing-alongs that leave voices hoarse in both crowd and tour bus. The sing-alongs that raise the temperature to melting point before the cold, damp nights are forced back upon you by the main lights.

The slow trudge homewards after a final glance back towards the flickering sign with its shooting stars.

This was written with inspiration from the app What3Words. The geo-mapping app grids the world in 2x2 metre squares and bestows each block with a unique three-word reference. The three words designated to that metre square on the globe are specific to there and there alone.

I picked a random spot in my hometown with words that inspired me that morning and wrote this piece.

Give it a go yourself…

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