The Hour

February 2010 saw King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut celebrating its 20th year as one of Glasgow’s leading music venues. It is known throughout Scotland, and the rest of the UK, as the venue responsible for giving many of Britain’s biggest bands their first break.

They will be celebrating with a month of intimate gigs featuring some of the biggest artists around including Manic Street Preachers, Paulo Nutini, Twin Atlantic, Spoon, Fionn Regan and The Undertones.

Not only a live music venue, King Tut’s is also a well loved pub and restaurant and is frequented at lunchtime by people in Glasgow looking for their fill of food, drink and music. They even have their own beer, the ‘King Tut’s Lager’.

One fan of the venue is Scottish musician Paulo Nutini. He thinks “it gives you a place to come, as soon as you walk in and get your drink… you get in the mood… you are at a proper gig.”

The venue is owned and managed by Scotland's foremost music promoters DF Concerts and has played host to bands such as Radiohead, Swede, The Whitestripes, Kings of Leon and the Verve before they reached the heights of music superstardom. It also hosted the first Scottish gigs for Beck, Crowded House and The Strokes, and was the place where Oasis were first noticed and signed to a record label in 1993.

Geoff Ellis, the head of DF concerts, commented: “I think King Tut’s has been very supportive of the Scottish music scene. Quite a lot of artists say once you’ve got a gig in King Tuts you know you are on the road to making it.”

King Tut’s first opened in 1990 when former DF concert boss Stuart Clumpas was unable to find a suitable venue in Glasgow to promote up and coming bands so decided to start one himself. The result was King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, a name inspired by a venue in New York, located in a basement building's basement on St Vincent’s Street in Glasgow. This paved the way for many unsigned bands to come and play at the venue that was open seven nights a week.

The venue quickly became the place for music lovers and bands to hang out as the promoter made it the place to see the next big thing. This was more than evident when Oasis, Radiohead and The Verve all played in 1993 with in two weeks of each other.

Dave McGeachan, a promoter for DF concerts, said: “Its great and we’re very honoured that King Tut’s has such a big influence in Scottish music, and global music I think now [too].”

DF concerts continues to try to break new ground with the venue as they have been holding monthly comedy nights since 1999, where rising young Scottish comics can perform along side comedy greats such as Phil Kay and Lynn Ferguson.

The pub has won various awards through out its 20 year history including Licensed Music Pub of the Year by the Scottish licensing Trade News. Radio one also picked up on the fact that King Tut’s was getting in on the ground floor with so many great acts. They awarded them Best Launch Pad Venue 2000 and the UK’s Best Live Venue in 2002.

For more info on King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut.