Alanis Morissette 2026, Summer Sessions, Bellahouston Park, Glasgow. Tuesday 30th June, 2026

We arrived just after 5 pm and still managed to snag a brilliant parking space on Corkerhill Road. By the time we'd walked to Bellahouston Park and gone through security, the first band, Lucia & the Best Boys, was already on stage. We listened as we wandered along past the food vendors in search of dinner. My sweet and sour chicken with noodles was vile, the watery sauce more akin to a soup.

Lucia and the Best Boys were down four members, playing acoustic as a duo, having been offered the opportunity to join the bill less than twenty-four hours earlier. Their songs sounded okay. No setlist listed on Setlist.fm.

Skunk Anansie were my main draw to this gig. The Gold Circle wasn't packed, so I had plenty of room to watch them. Skin is a force of nature, a creature of venom and honey. Her speaking voice can be shrill, but when she sings, the music penetrates my psyche and lifts my soul. I could listen to her all day. Today, she's dressed for summer in an outfit akin to that of a radical, old-school teacher, wearing a multi-layered black cape, cycling shorts and knee-length fluorescent pink socks. She's come to teach love and rage, and we are all her pupils. 

Excuse the verbiage. The music was good. The music was loud. I was in my element: heavy rock. 

Skunk Anansie Setlist:

Charlie Big Potato

Because of You

An Artist Is an Artist

God Loves Only You

Hedonism (Just Because You Feel Good)

Weak

Twisted (Everyday Hurts)

Lost and Found

I Can Dream

Tear the Place Up

Weak

I Can Dream

Wet Leg are a band I'd never seen live before. I like their offbeat music, with its striking riffs and stylised vocals. Singer Rhian Teadsale is one sexy frontwoman. Today, she's wearing glasses, shorts, a sheer top and a sweet smile. I have to remind myself there are other members in this band. It's difficult to take your eyes off her as she prowls the stage. The only thing more powerful than her is the drumkit's bass drum, which thumps the beat into my chest and vibrates my arm hairs. The band love their smoke machine, so the view is hazy but magnificent when the stage lights blast in full. The performance gets a thumbs up from me.

Wet Leg Setlist:

catch these fists

Oh No

Wet Dream

liquidize

jennifer's body

pond song

Being in Love

Ur Mum

davina mccall

pillow talk

Too Late Now

Angelica

Chaise Longue

CPR

mangetout

catch these fists

Angelica

Alanis Morissette is an unusual performer. Blessed with a strong voice, iconic songs, and a timeless look, she often races back and forth across the stage, rarely looking at or engaging with the audience. At times, my camera struggles to keep up with her because she was moving so fast. It's as if she's afraid to interact with us in case it disrupts the flow of the concert. This leaves the show slick, well-performed and beautifully sung, looking great on the screens, but, to me, it feels like she can't wait to wave goodbye and run offstage.

This lack of engagement leads some in the crowd to believe that it's chatty time - the "We'll get back to you when you sing something we recognise" mentality. And, boy, did they need to chat loudly to be heard over the band. I was in Scowlsville. 

(That said, reviewing my photos, Alanis did sing many of the songs centre stage, anchored to a mic stand, so I'm not sure why my lasting impression is of her racing from side to side - maybe it was because she didn't talk to us very much, except to introduce her band at the designated times)

My phone died before the end of the concert, probably due to poor reception. Surprisingly, the rain stayed away, despite heavy, grey clouds overhead. 

Overall, I enjoyed the gig. Alanis's hits are still bangers. Maybe next time, I'd enjoy it more if she sang all the songs towards the crowd, not the wings, and talked to us a bit more.  

Alanis Morissette Setlist:

Hand in My Pocket

Right Through You

Reasons I Drink

A Man (segue)

Hands Clean

Can't Not (segue)

Lens

Sorry to Myself (segue)

Head Over Feet

Everything (segue)

You Learn

Would Not Come (segue)

Smiling

Rest

Mary Jane

Perfect

Ironic

Are You Still Mad (segue)

All I Really Want

Sympathetic Character (segue)

You Oughta Know

Encore:

Uninvited

Thank U

Hand in My Pocket

Ticket Price (presale): Gold Circle £95.00 x2 + Fees £28.92 + Handling Fee £3.25
Total £222.17 from Ticketmaster

 

Early set for SA, so not a packed crowd

Billy Sloan on photography duty

Breaking The News, BBC Scotland Recording, Drygate, Glasgow. Thursday 25th June, 2026.

Host: Des Clarke

Panellists:

Elaine Malcolmson

Scott Agnew

Sam Lake

Jo Caulfield 

Scorching day, so for only the second time in the show's history, Des has his 'jaiket aff'. 

Round One: The Broken News Round.
Sir Keir Starmer's resignation & Scotland's World Cup situation.

Round Two:
Only 5% of Highland communities support a cashless society, due to internet connectivity issues and poor mobile phone signals.

Nicola Benedetti has decided that the Edinburgh International Festival will be a phone-free zone.

Round Three: Who is this in the news?
Answer - Peter Murrell, who this week was handed a sentence of 5 years and 3 months for embezzling £400k from the SNP.

Answer - Serena Williams, who is going to be "doing the Wimbledon".

Final Round: 56% of us say what makes someone more attractive?

Answer: being a good cook.

Klaxon voice: Phil Goodlad

 

Ticket Price: Free from BBC Tours and Shows.

Citizens Theatre Heritage Building Tour, 11 am, Wednesday 24th June, 2026.

Publicity shot - Not our tour

I was meant to attend this tour back in January, but a clash with a funeral meant I had to reschedule. Stupidly, I entered the new date incorrectly in my diary, thinking it was on Friday. Fortunately, I spotted the notification on my phone early enough for us to get there on time.

Our group of mostly retirees gathered in the cafe. I overheard one elderly man discussing how he'd first attended a show here back in 1973. His friend replied that he'd still been in nursery at the time. 

The tour started promptly at 11 am. We had two hosts: Patricia and Neil. Patricia was a volunteer who provided us with most of the information - the dates and details; Neil has worked in the Theatre for over twenty-five years, and he added the anecdotal garnish, with tales of productions and performers. The combination worked well.

As a working theatre, some areas were off-limits to our tour. We were also told we were forbidden from taking photos of any of the staff.   

Black Box Theatre

We began the tour at the Black Box Theatre. It has direct street access (which is unusual for a theatre), seats 152, and can be converted into a rehearsal space by pushing the seating back. One remarkable fact is that the seats here share the same density as a human, so the acoustics remain perfect even if the seat is empty. 

The ceiling has a grill, enabling technicians to walk across it without fear of falling (except it's high up and feels like being on a trampoline, so perhaps not entirely scare-free). 

From there, we were led to the stalls of the renovated main theatre. Previously, the space had been dark and cramped, with black walls and poor lighting, and a capacity of approximately 1,000. Now, the 650 seats (in total) are plush and comfortable, with air conditioning installed beneath the ones here in the stalls. Unfortunately, no one told this to the kids who attended the Pantomime, some of whom thought the plates were drains for their beverages.

The Citizens has its own in-house costume, set and prop departments, a rare asset in today's theatre world. They created the painting of The Searchers, which was used as a backdrop in the recent production of The Long Drop. It was painted directly onto the rough brickwork and, under certain lighting conditions, could be made to disappear. While the sets have been retained, as there is talk of a return of the successful production, the painting will, unfortunately, be returned to black before the next show.

Sustainability is a huge deal for the Theatre, so nearly all sets and costumes are recycled or repurposed. We weren't allowed into those departments because teams were hard at work. The show must go on, as they say. No time to allow visitors a swatch. 

Originally, the theatre sat beside The Palace Theatre, with a third one in between, at the end of the connecting close. It was, not surprisingly, known as The Close Theatre. It also had the nickname "The Blood and Glitter Theatre" due to its outlandish productions. A production of Shakespeare would not be as tame as what you'd get in London's more traditional West End. As such, it attracted outrage in the press and, accordingly, regularly sold out. The theatre, unfortunately, burned down in 1973.

The Palace Theatre went on to become a cinema, then a bingo hall, then a derelict, before being purchased by the City Council, who left it to rot further. A storm brought the roof down, so they decided to demolish it. With only twenty-four hours' notice, a few civic-minded individuals rescued as much of the interior as they could. It had been designed around an Indian colonial theme, so that's where the elephant statues seen in the Citizens corridor came from. Other items are in storage, pending display.

 

Next, we were taken down to the Understage. The lower area is not in use now, but it was preserved during the renovation so people can see how the staging operated before the theatre had electricity, using ropes, pulleys, and counterweights. The ghost trap got removed in the 1950s after an actor became injured when it suddenly dropped. We were also informed about the Citizens Corsican Trap, which allowed actors to rise vertically, appearing to float. Its construction was a trade secret, known only to the original builders.

The rake of the old stage was steeper than in other theatres, which was a problem for touring productions because their sets would roll downstage towards the audience. The new stage has a more acceptable gradient (1:17), while retaining visibility and intimacy.  

Next, we journeyed up the stairs to the Circle of the main theatre. Here, Patricia explained that, in olden days, this was where the wealthy sat, clinking their jewellery, while the plebs sat on the benches in the stalls. She pointed out that the boxes had no view of the stage. The individuals there were seen as possessing status and wealth.

She told us the tale of the first pantomime, Ali Baba, which resulted in a riot when the scenery malfunctioned, bringing the production to a halt. The manager sent his wife out to calm the angry audience, to no avail. The manager didn't last long after that.

She also mentioned tales of the various ghosts that have been spotted: an actor, a monk and a hooded figure. One worker once witnessed the apparition of a Victorian lady and refused to return. 

The area once housed the city's Leper Hospital, run by monks. Lepers from all over were sent there. These were known locally as 'Gorbs'. There is a suggestion that the name "The Gorbals" derives from these lepers, as they wore bells, hence "gorb bells".

In 1945, the theatre changed its name from the Royal Princess's Theatre to the Citizens Theatre when the Citizens Theatre Company relocated there. In 1969, the triumvirate of Giles Havergal, Philip Prowse and Robert David MacDonald took over and brought about a renaissance, during which the theatre developed a global reputation for excellence, for producing experimental works, and for its outreach programmes with local community groups.  

Lastly, we were shown down a corridor that overlooks the paint room and the fly room. The innovation in the former is that the canvas can be raised and lowered, rather than requiring the artist to use ladders or work on the floor. Afterwards, the canvas can be slid through a slot in the wall onto the stage. The corridor will host more audiovisual presentations later, but I took a few snaps of the displays.

The fly floor

    

The final image shows the six statues that topped the frontage of the old theatre. These were retained and still sit proudly above the theatre. They denote four muses (art, dance, music and drama), as well as Robert Burns and William Shakespeare.

The theatre retains links with community groups today. This installation is by women from the Lilias Centre, a custody unit. It's visually striking, but none of the artists has been able to visit as they are still detained at His Majesty's pleasure. 

This print, on display on the first floor balcony, is a copy of the giant one unveiled during the theatre's reopening ceremony. It bears representations of time, from the past through the present to the future.

The heritage tour is still being developed, but even at this early stage, it's a fascinating journey. A lovely way to spend an hour and a half.

Ticket Price: £8 x 2 plus £2.50 fee = £18.50 from Citizens Theatre.