THE SHOW MUST GO ON A
lthough it has taken on many different forms over the years, the moniker of “The Bungalow” is ubiquitous with music in Paisley. First heralded as the safe haven for trailblazing punk bands of the 70s and 80s after the genre was heavy-handedly outcasted from Glasgow, the original Renfrew Road location played host to scores of illustrious names. Operated by local music luminaries Alan McEwan and Tommy McGrory, the new owners of its Shuttle Street incarnation are understandably proud to take stewardship of that storied legacy, but rest assured, their eyes are fixed firmly on the future. “The roots of The Bungalow are still there, but music’s changed 50 MILL
When live music was placed on pause, The Bungalow underwent a quiet but immensely valuable transformation. Now, Paisley’s preeminent venue is ready to reclaim its prominent place in our cultural landscape.
and so has the venue,” Tommy told us. There’s a wider range of talent than ever, so The Bungalow does everything from big band and jazz through to acoustic nights, indie rock, metal and electronica. When we set out, it was our goal to make it suitable for everyone and I think we’re achieving that. Since Alan and I took it on, It’s been all about improvement. “We’ve already seen people travelling from all over, we even had one woman that came all the way from San Francisco to see [Love and Money’s] James Grant. Then, just before we had to shut, [former David Bowie and John Lennon guitarist] Earl Slick, who’s performed everywhere from Wembley on down, played here with
Glen Matlock and said ‘now, this is a real venue’. That’s exactly the sort of endorsement we love to hear!” “We’ve invested a lot of money in the venue. Even though we can’t have artists in for a while yet, anything we got from Creative Scotland in terms of a Covid grant supplemented the work that we’re doing,” Alan stated. “We’ve put in a new heating system that’s benefited our green footprint, improved the sound insulation, revamped the bar area and that’s before you even get to the lighting system and all of that. We didn’t just lock up and sit in the garden for a year, there’s been a lot going on.” Devised as a community interest company, any profits that The Bungalow makes after costs are
