How a Glasgow rooftop bar captured the imagination of some of the World's biggest DJs

Despite now seeing its dancefloors regularly packed out and briefs for its shows on the ninth floor of the Radisson RED hotel in Finnieston, it started life very differently according to Sky Bar curator Graham Chalmers.

Graham explains: “When everything shut down, we started doing live streams to raise money for charity. We had Irvine Welsh do DJ sets, we had local DJs who we work regularly with like John Mancini and Michael Kilke. Michael Kilkie was the resident in the Tunnel in Glasgow, John Mancini from Colours and Street Rave. We also had different people from the international scene around the world that would link into our streaming

“Then we came out of lockdown and people we like ‘that was amazing’. They would sit on a Saturday afternoon and evening at home when they were locked up, and they would all be commenting with a social media platform and Facebook to talk to one another, and connect.

“And then when we came out of lockdown, and then when every other business it felt like had shut down, we still had an identity, and were very much in the spotlight, with all the celebrity DJs playing.”

The Sky Bar was able to bring that digital experience into the real world, whilst ensuring that they stayed true to their roots with acts like Michael Kilkie continuing to perform sets at the rooftop terrace. That experiment in lockdown completely changed how the bar was able to see itself.

Graham explained: “Before lockdown we had local DJs and we tried a couple of events, but we didn't really have the opportunity to take off. But the lockdown gave us the platform and gave us a spotlight to start making the Sky Bar not a cocktail bar, but a destination events bar, basically.

“I call it a five star nightclub, to a degree on event days. You've got that inside with the outside. You've got food service and because we're a hotel, which is a very unique proposition, you can get food until 10pm at night. You're not in a basement, you're not a warehouse, you're in a really high end venue.”

It has all translated into success for the Sky Bar. In recent years its picked up national and international awards - including being named on the list of the World’s Top 50 Rooftop Bars for each of the last four years.

Graham said: “I don't think there's any that's got the view or the terrace area that we've got, which is what makes us stand out. We've been listed as one of the top 50 rooftop bars for the last three or four years.

“That's been consistent every year, which we're obviously very proud of when you're competing against places in London, New York and Dubai and all these kinds of places as well.”

But that focus on creating a high-end environment didn’t just stop at the decor or drinks offerings or even relying on views of the Clyde. Graham was keen to ensure that the Sky Bar could perform with the best of them when it came to their sound system - investing heavily into a top of the line system, which has garnered plaudits from performers.

Graham said: “We have the same sound system that they have at DC10, Void Acoustics. I have had in many times where international DJ said, ‘My God, but you got a better sound system than half the nightclubs we play!’”

That focus on quality has ensured that top acts now actively want to play at the Sky Bar. Including those international DJs, with word clearly travelling far and wide.

Graham explained: “I’ve got one particular DJ called Hernán Cattáneo from Argentina, and in the genre of music that I'm talking about for Skyline [the bar’s Progressive House event], he's probably the biggest. He's playing next Sunday and it is his fourth show in 18 months. And basically there's more demand for him than his days.

“He is a funny story. 18 months we chased him and chased him and chased him. He came out of his car the very first time, which was a year ago, in October. And then I said, ‘Hernan, thank you so much for coming to play’. He said, ‘No, no, thank you. I had to come and find out. Everywhere I go, I hear the Skyline. This guy, Graham, this bar.’

“Usually when this guy plays it is to 20,000 people, but to 20,000 people, he plays people regularly. He did a show in Argentina where, I think it was two days or three days to 20,000 per day and then he came to play to 250 people at the Sky Bar.

“I was a bit nervous, but now he's on show four. He's got a show pending by his own request, and he famously put it on his Instagram, content of him playing at Skyline and the Sky Bar. And the caption was, ‘the best Sundays are in Glasgow.’”