About Glasvegas
Glasvegas are a Scottish indie rock band from Glasgow. The band consists of James Allan , Rab Allan and Paul Donoghue , with Swedish drummer Jonna Löfgren joining the group in 2010 until her departure in 2020. Their platinum-selling debut album Glasvegas released in September 2008 was well received by critics and reached No. 2 in the UK Albums Chart. It was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize in September 2009. The album went on to enjoy further critical and commercial success in North America and in Sweden . On 1 December 2008, less than three months after the release of their debut album the band released the mini-album, A Snowflake Fell , a 6 track Christmas E.P, which was recorded in Transylvania.
On 4 April 2011 the band released their second album Euphoric Heartbreak, which was recorded in a beach house in Santa Monica. The album reached No. 10 in the UK and No. 1 in Sweden. The album received mixed reviews and was not as commercially successful as the band's debut album. Several months later the band and their major label, Sony parted company. In June 2013, the band announced that they had signed a major record deal with BMG. The band released their third album Later...When the TV Turns to Static in September 2013. It received generally favourable reviews from critics but failed to match the commercial success of previous albums.
In 2018, the band announced a UK tour celebrating the ten-year anniversary of their self titled platinum-selling debut album. The album was also reissued with new artwork in gold. On 14 August 2020, Glasvegas released their first single in seven years, "Keep Me a Space". The single is taken from their fourth album Godspeed, which was released in April 2021 by the band's own label Go Wow Records.
The band was formed by cousins James Allan and Rab Allan in the summer of 2003 with Paul Donoghue and Ryan Ross on drums completing the line-up soon after. Local gigs in and around Glasgow were frequent and in May 2004 the band released a self-financed limited edition double A-side single, "I'm Gonna Get Stabbed"/"Ina Lvs Rab" on CD. The single gained an early and positive review for Glasvegas from Rick Fulton of the Daily Record on 24 December 2004. The single gained radio airplay and favourable feedback from Jim Gellatly on his radio show 'Beatbreakers' in January 2005, which was broadcast on the now defunct Beat106FM. Although many make the obvious observation that the band name is a mix of Glasgow and Las Vegas , the band have made it clear many times that this was never the reason why the band called themselves Glasvegas. According to James Allan he liked the name Glasvegas as it rolled sweetly off the tongue. It is a possibility that it is the combination of the Gaelic 'Glas' with the Spanish 'vegas' . Another common mistake is that the band name is split into two words "Glas Vegas" which is incorrect.
When Ryan Ross left in late 2004, the band went on a very brief hiatus until Caroline McKay was asked to join the group in early 2005. Although having never played drums before James asked her to be the drummer because she looked "cool". The band played most of their gigs in and around Scotland through 2005 and 2006 with Caroline performing basic drumming while the more intricate drum parts were taken care of by a drum sample machine on stage operated by Rab. As they played more and more gigs Caroline's skill level increased and the band became increasingly less reliant on the sample machine. It was 3 Feb 2006 when the band first came to the attention of Alan McGee who saw them play third on the bill at the iconic Glasgow venue King Tuts Wah Wah Hut. McGee was also accompanied that night by ex-Libertine Carl Barât who, on the strength of their performance, offered Glasvegas several support slots with his band Dirty Pretty Things throughout 2006.
In October 2006, the band released a self-financed limited edition 7" vinyl single, "Go Square Go!/Legs'n' Show" on a small independent record label called WaKS Records followed by a digital release two weeks later. This limited edition vinyl single of 500 pressings sold out within days and has since become a collectors item with the single exchanging hands for a three figure sum on eBay. On 4 November 2006, the band their launch night gig for "Go Square Go!/Legs'n' Show" held at the Glasgow Art School. In mid-December 2006, the band played a special gig in Polmont Young Offenders Institute which was also a pivotal moment for the band musically; as it was during this gig that they made the decision to move away from their reliance on drum samples. The close of 2006 saw the band play their first European gig at La Flèche d'Or in Paris on 28 December 2006. The band then rounded off 2006 with a gig at the Proud Galleries in Camden on New Year's Eve.
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