People Make Glasgow

by Erin Graham

As a West Coaster born and raised, I consider Glasgow to be my city and I defend it with (probably too much) honour. The people of Glasgow have a sense of community like no other, coming together in the best and the worst of times to celebrate and support one another. Like any city, there are people that certainly don’t fit into the mould of a hearty Glaswegian, but the majority of us gie it enough laldy (give it our all) for the slackers twice over.

A lot of people think Glaswegians are England’s big scary cousins, but that could not be further from the case; once you get to know us you’ll realise that we are so passionate about our city that it hurts, in a good way. The official slogan for our city has been ‘People Make Glasgow’ since 2013 – chosen from over 1500 ideas suggested by 42 countries across the world. Politician Gordon Matheson said that the slogan ‘reflects the Glaswegian character’ and that the spirit of the city lies in the people who inhabit it. He’s got that right. People make Glasgow in several ways but all of the events I have witnessed provoke the same emotion: pride. Every citizen is proud to live here and every one of them wears it on their chest.

Glasgow has an impressive list of born performers and artists up its sleeve: Billy Connelly, Gerrard Butler, Primal Scream, and Kevin Bridges among a few have shaped the city and its culture for decades. So much so that in 1990 Glasgow was crowned the city of culture. The ever-evolving, ever-accepting culture of Glasgow makes it a hub for live music of all genres; one of the best examples I can think of to demonstrate this ‘People Make Glasgow’ moment people speak of and reflect this sense of identity and pride is be live music events – a Glasgow crowd is simply unmatched.

Artists such as Billie Eilish and Harry Styles have recently said to the BBC that there is simply nothing like a rowdy Glasgow crowd. I myself am an avid concert goer and get pretty emotional around the same time at every single gig: the encore. The ‘Here we, here we, here we f*****g go’ chant that I hope you will get to know well if you don’t already, erupts from the arena while we beg the artist to come back for one last song. So much so that my English boyfriend almost had a heart attack when we went to Kasabian in 2018 and he was immediately outed as a non-native due to his response to 20,000 thick, echoing Scottish accents chanting in unison. Never have I been at a concert in Glasgow where my videos haven’t been destroyed by the crowd singing louder than the artist themselves, and I don’t mind at all. It’s one of my favourite places to be and it really personifies ‘People Make Glasgow’. We chant and we chant to get that last song and savour the moment and the sense of community we feel when an artist expresses their gratitude for our humble but crazy city.

Another striking example of the size of the Glaswegian heart is how we act in moments of crisis. On Friday the 29th of October 2013, a police helicopter left base in Glasgow on a routine surveillance flight – 100 minutes into the flight, the helicopter crashed into the roof of the Clutha pub in Glasgow, and 10 people were killed. The entire city was shocked and mourned the 10 victims, and the 199-year-old pub at the side of the iconic River Clyde. It was considered a loss to the city as well. In true Glaswegian style, every person in the city wore the ‘People Make Glasgow’ badge like they never had before. The Glasgow Taxi firm provided free transport for victims’ families to and from hospitals and funerals, a benefit weekend of music was organised in a matter of days in order to raise money for those affected, and local breweries offered financial support and advice to the Clutha after the tragedy. People were taping flowers and offerings to the lampposts at the crash site and around the city, and there is not a person who walks past the pub today without a deep sense of loss in their heart. This overwhelming response to a tragedy is probably the most important example of the People Make Glasgow spirit, and the personification of the slogan.

These events only give you a glimpse into life in Glasgow, but it’s who we really are underneath the hard exterior. We are caring, kind, and courageous and we will never apologise for it. If you are new to Glasgow or have been here since birth, we consider you Glaswegian and hope you uphold the values, welcome home.