Glasgow west end fixture Left Bank has been relaunched under new ownership — as the city’s first late-night vinyl listening bar.
Left Bank first opened on Gibson St twenty years ago, in a former Clydesdale Bank corner unit sitting high on the west bank of the River Kelvin, operating as a bohemian neighbourhood bar with an all-day kitchen.
New owners Jim McLaughlin and David Low, both locals, aim to continue Left Bank as an independent business, with the bar now operating seven days a week until 1am, with a drinks-led programme and a full kitchen.
“This Left Bank has been on Gibson Street for twenty years — it’s a West End institution,” said McLaughlin.
“We want to build on that, and importantly keep the bar independent. We’ve lost some great bars to pubcos,” he said.
“Glasgow doesn’t have anything quite like this. We’ve built this around sound — you can feel it the moment you walk in. Music first, atmosphere first. The rest follows.”
Left Bank’s interior has had an update and refresh, with new lighting fitted throughout. At its centre is a new sound system – a vintage Bose setup installed in the main bar area and the Listening bar, fed by two Technics turntables and a rotary mixer.
Programming is vinyl-first, the system built on Amar Bose’s psychoacoustic principle that immersion comes from indirect sound spread across a whole space.
The result, say the new owners, is ‘a room you feel as much as hear’.
Last Wednesday’s opening night at the new look venue saw local popstar Bobby Bluebell behind the decks, joined in the room by his Bluebell’s colleague Ken McCluskey, actor Tony Curran, Turner Prize-nominated artist Jim Lambie, and actor Colin McCredie.
Mark Robb played Friday, and McLaughlin — who has DJ’d in Glasgow for over two decades under the name Jim Da Best — rounded out launch week with a Saturday selector set with friends.
Left Bank’s DJ programme will now run every Friday and Saturday. May continues with Malcolm McKenzie of Glasgow funk-and-soul duo Hustlin’, vinyl selectors Wee G and Si Cheeba, and Made In Glasgow label head Gary Lawson, before a Saturday-night set on May 30 from Yogi Haughton — widely credited with bringing house and techno to Scotland, and a first-wave resident at Glasgow’s legendary Sub Club.
