Glasgow institution Nice ‘N’ Sleazy is celebrating 20 Years of Sleaze this month and seeing as the place has been a major part of my social life for about half of that time, it seems only right that I should devote a post to it.

To my oldest friends, Sleazy’s is warmly referred to as The Pub, which is quite apt as I’ve always preferred it more for its qualities as a drinking den (bottles of Kronenbourg have cost less than £2 for as long as I can remember) than as a place to seek out live music. If I’m being brutally honest, the downstairs room wouldn’t even make my top 10 of Glasgow gig venues due to its mediocre sound system and mixture of tables, chairs and standing space which complicate things when it’s close to capacity.

In saying that, I’ve still witnessed a few momentous shows there. On April 25, 2003, a month before they signed to Domino, the hottest ticket in town was Franz Ferdinand at Sleazy’s, which I had to beg to get let into but it was well worth it. If memory serves me right, they played Matinée for the first time, Jacqueline was still called Better On Holiday and drummer Paul Thomson was partial to going on stage dressed as a chef.

On October 12, 2008, Mumford & Sons played an absolute blinder and got such an ecstatic reception from the crowd that they had little to choice but to do their first ever encore as a band.

However, the majority of the time I’ve spent at 421 Sauchiehall Street has been at ground level and the familiarity breeds content: the satisfying squall of Debaser will inevitably come blaring out the speakers; elbow room will be shared with at least one stranger from a Scottish band; the surface of your table will disappear under a blizzard of flyers by midnight; the bar staff and bouncers don’t behave like dicks.

Its greatest attraction, though, is the clientele. Eccentrics, outsiders and freaks are the norm so people-watching is an absolute treat – you can’t help but smirk when a glammed-up posse of Saturday night girls walk in then do a swift U-turn upon realising that the chartless racket of the Sleazy’s jukebox isn’t quite the pre-club hangout they had in mind.

Right, I’ve rambled on long enough, here’s a list of the gigs Nice ‘n’ Sleazy have lined up for the month of November to mark their 20th birthday:

3rd: Theme Park (tickets)
4th: St Deluxe + PAWS + Edinburgh School For The Deaf (tickets)
5th: Gummy Stumps + North American War + The Rosy Crucifixion (tickets)
6th: Woodlands Creatures:  Honey And The Herbs + Safetynett + Mike Hastings
7th: Acoustic Open Mic Night with Gerry Lyons (free)
9th: Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO + Vars of Litchi (tickets)
10th: Meursault + Foxface + Silver Caves (tickets)
11th: We Are The Physics + Otherpeople + Galoshins (tickets)
12th: United Fruit + Hey Enemy + Salo (tickets)
13th: Haight Ashbury + Adam Stearns (tickets)
14th: Acoustic Open Mic Night with Gerry Lyons (free)
16th: Croc party
17th: William Harness** (free)
18th: The Twilight Sad (sold out)
19th: The John Knox Sex Club + Olympic Swimmers + Kathryn Sawyers (tickets)
20th: Wake The President + Schnapps + Aggi Doom (tickets)
21st: Acoustic Open Mic Night with Gerry Lyons (free)
22nd: MakethisRelate (tickets)
23rd: Sparrow And The Workshop + Martin John Henry (tickets)
24th: Dutch Uncles (tickets)
26th: Django Django + Robert Redford* + She’s Hit + Killer Street (tickets)
28th: Acoustic Open Mic Night with Gerry Lyons (free)
30th: FOUND + Over The Wall + French Wives (tickets)

*Robert Redford is one of The Phantom Band’s former names, nudge-nudge-wink-wink.
**This is also a pseudonym… you’ll have to figure it out for for yourself.

I have one more Nice ‘n’ Sleazy anecdote, please indulge me. In 2001, I was commissioned by The Fly to interview several members of The Reindeer Section at T in the Park, including Aidan Moffat. When the conversation turned to Sleazy’s, regular frequenter Moffat described the quality of the Becks served in the pub as “pish” compared to West End bar Brel. This didn’t go down well with Sleazy’s, given that they stock the magazine, and I heard that Moffat got temporarily barred as a result. If you read the published interview (click on the image left to enlarge), you’ll see that Sleazy’s got off pretty lightly compared to Starsailor, The Strokes, Sharleen Spiteri and Jeepster.

Pixies – Debaser

Franz Ferdinand – Jacqueline (live)

The Skinny have put together a great feature on 20 Years of Sleaze, check it out here.