Summer nights in the city of music

A place known for its musical prowess, you don’t have to go far in search of good tunes in Glasgow.

And with the 90-year-old, newly refurbished bandstand sparkling in the summer sunshine over at Kelvingrove Park, it seems the ideal time for some al fresco performances.

The people at Magners clearly think so too, hence their Summer Nights programme, kicked off last week with shows from Steve Earle, The Waterboys and Alison Moyet.

There are more big hitters this weekend, including folk stalwarts Capercaillie and new wave legends Squeeze — not to mention a homecoming gig for Glasgow’s own Teenage Fanclub.

The Summer Nights fest is held up as a chance to showcase the renovated venue and its rather stunning surroundings — and with the promise of a cider garden and fancy food stalls to boot, we can only hope that the weather plays its part too.

Mark Mackie, of promoter Regular Music, commented: “Creating and booking this series of shows was very easy. All we had to do was send photographs of the bandstand its beautiful surroundings and the artistes we invited to play said ‘yes please’.”

The amphitheatre has a capacity of 2,500, making this a relatively intimate outdoor gig — and one Glasgow music fans are bound to take to, regardless of the weather.

Still, the al fresco concerts don’t stop there as, over in the southside, another series of gigs returns to Bellahouston Park.

An altogether larger-scale affair, the Glasgow Summer Sessions had a successful run last year with crowd-pleasing headliners like Kings of Leon, Avicii and Eminem.

This year’s line-up is another list of big hitters, kicking off with dance guru David Guetta on Saturday (August 16), with support from Steve Angello and Oliver Heldens.

Fast forward to Tuesday and noughties chart heroes The Killers take to the park stage, with support from The Courteeners and Miles Kane.

As with any outdoor event in Scotland, pray for sunshine but prepare for rain — those wellies probably won’t go amiss, for starters.

For more info on the Kelvingrove gigs, visit www.ticketmaster.co.uk/Magners-Summer-Nights-tickets/artist/1992315. For more on the Bellahouston events, see glasgowsummersessions.com.