Barrowland Ballroom — Glasgow's Legendary Music Venue

The Barrowland Ballroom at 244 Gallowgate in Glasgow is consistently voted the best live music venue in Britain by both artists and audiences. Built in 1934 as a dance hall above the Barras market, the Barrowland's sprung wooden floor, art deco neon sign, and capacity of around 1,900 make it an atmospheric and physically thrilling place to see live music. The venue's reputation rests on its audience — Glasgow crowds are among the most passionate and knowledgeable in the world — and on the room's acoustics, which seem to amplify the energy between stage and floor.

Virtually every significant rock, indie, and alternative act of the last 40 years has played the Barrowland, and many cite it as their favourite venue. David Bowie, Blur, Oasis, Radiohead, the White Stripes, Arctic Monkeys, and LCD Soundsystem have all performed landmark shows there. The venue is particularly associated with the Scottish indie scene — Primal Scream, Belle and Sebastian, Franz Ferdinand, and Mogwai have all played career-defining shows in the room. The neon Barrowland sign on the building's facade is one of the most photographed landmarks in Glasgow.

The Barrowland Ballroom continues to host concerts regularly. The sprung floor — originally designed for dancing — gives the room a physical bounce that amplifies the crowd's movement, and the relatively low ceiling creates an intimacy unusual for a venue of its size. It is a Grade A listed building and is universally regarded as one of the great music venues in the world.