In Miami recently, away from the velvet-roped glitz and glamour of South Beach’s clubbing scene, I spent a night in a pub called Mac’s Club Deuce. It isn’t hard to find an unsalubrious bar in Miami – it’s a bit like Glasgow in that sense – but Mac’s really takes the biscuit. It’s the oldest bar in the city: a smoke-filled, neon-lit dive where you could be sat next to a biker on one side and a model on the other (I wasn’t: I had an out-of-town businessman and a Vietnam veteran who – like almost every other American I encountered – went into minute and fascinating detail with me about his ancestors, who were from Paisley).
Club Deuce’s motley clientele, its dark corners and its steadfast refusal to conform meant that it instantly reminded me of another institution back home: the great Nice N Sleazy. Both have displayed remarkable endurance (Mac has owned the bar since 1964, Sleazy’s has been there over 25 years now), with new generations of drinkers drawn in by the folklore surrounding both bars. Here, Sleazy’s is an indie institution: a watering hole for members of Glasgow’s rock community, both successful and less so. It’s frequented by musicians, artists, writers, students, geeks and hipsters – a relaxed, permissive vibe permeates the comfy upstairs bars, while the shoebox club downstairs hosts gigs and clubs that you just wouldn’t find anywhere else. From sleazy disco to joyful northern soul, abstract electronica to pummeling thrash noise, there’s truly something for everyone here. Unless you like Avicii, of course, in which case you should probably go elsewhere.
Q: What’s your favourite nostalgic film?
1. Kirsty Auld, 26, Pollokshields, Green Room
Rachel Watson, 26, West End, The Danish Girl
2. Jurgita Moe, 22, West End, Palo Alto
Veronica Verde, 22, West End, The Virgin Suicides
3. Alice McMillan, 18, Glasgow
Favourite Club? Sleay’s basement
Favourite Bar? The Brunswick
Favourite DJ? Tasty Morsels
Favourite Band? LCD Soundsystem
First Club? Fabriq
What You Drinking? Gin & Tonic
Describe Your Dancing? Bump & Grind
4. Eddie McCraw, 23, Possil, Back to the Future
Rab Wardell, 31, Govanhill, Ghostbusters II
5. James Wright, 30, Giffnock, Jaws
6. Liam White, 27, City Centre, Jumanji
Alan McKenna, 20, West End, Jumani
7. Jamie Macleod, 33, Kelvinbridge, Rocky
Carla Hogan, 19, Barrhead, Ferris Beuller’s Day Off
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