![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Peter was the Fab Four’s personal assistant from the band’s inception to dissolution, a connection to pop royalty that qualifies me as a world authority on all matters melodic, obviously. Shall we get the no-brainer reason why Liverpool should host the Eurovision Song Contest out of the way? Something to do with three incredibly talented young men and their friend Ringo, one shrewd manager and my second cousin, Peter Brown. The area is still worth visiting, however, thanks to newer developments such as the bar-and-entertainment space Barras Art and Design and the West Brewery, on the edge of Glasgow Green. Eurovision would be outrageous fun here, but sadly it doesn’t have the capacity. The legendary Barras Market - Billy Connolly bought his first banjo there - is still just about on the go at weekends, while the Barrowland Ballroom is indisputably still the city’s finest music venue. Merchant City isn’t short of great restaurants either – the evergreen Gandolfi still serves one of the best lunches in the city (mains from £13), while Singl-end offers arguably Glasgow’s finest brunches (mains from £6).Ĭontinue east and you’ll get to the Gallowgate area, which is nowhere near as gentrified as, say, Finnieston, but a raw neighbourhood slowly coming up nonetheless. ![]() While not all its venues survived the pandemic, stalwarts including the Polo Lounge and the Underground are still going strong. The city’s first star was awarded to Cail Bruich, also in the West End, in 2021 (eight courses from £125).īack in the centre of Glasgow, Merchant City was once the domain of cotton and tobacco barons, but has long since been adopted as the heart of the local LGBT community. A short walk from there is Unalome by Graeme Cheevers, the chef’s slick new restaurant, which recently received the city’s second Michelin star (three courses from £38). Restaurants such as the Gannet have developed loyal fanbases of people keen to try Scottish produce free from deep-fried Mars Bar slanders and clichés (two courses from £30). The OVO Hydro stands on the storied banks of the River Clyde, and has its own train station for anyone travelling from outside the area, but perhaps more importantly it is only a short walk from the city’s Finnieston neighbourhood - once easily bypassed, it has grown in the past decade into the trendiest region not just in Glasgow, but all of Scotland. Plus, fresh from hosting the UN Climate Change Conference last year (whatever you think of the politicians’ competence that’s not the city’s fault), Glasgow feels uncommonly refreshed, with a slew of new hotels, restaurants and tried-and-tested infrastructure all ready to go. The funniest city in Britain is an obvious choice for Eurovision, a competition that somehow pulls off never taking itself too seriously. Three years later it has a chance to repeat the trick - this time for real. Well, sort of - in the ultra-daft Will Ferrell film Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, for which the city’s OVO Hydro arena was drafted in to play a venue that Edinburgh doesn’t have. We have form: Glasgow hosted Eurovision in 2020. Thursday September 29 2022, 5.00pm, The Sunday Times The Glaswegian’s view ![]()
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