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The Glasgow Guardian •

100 years of Jaconelli's

In conversation with James Evans, owner of Cafe D’Jaconelli, only 5 minutes from Murano Street and 15 minutes from campus. We chat ice cream, Trainspotting, Billy Connolly and World War Two.

Go to 570 Maryhill Road and you’ll enter a time warp. “Since 1924”, a ribbon-laced sign says. It’s in front of a huge plastic ice cream cone, a 99, sitting in the window of Jaconelli’s, which last year turned 99 years old. Inside the art deco cafe are semi-circular leather booths, a jukebox, a fish tank, ja
The Glasgow Guardian •

Experimental dance and chronic pain: In conversation with Sarah Hopfinger

Living with invisible pain can be debilitating, but artist and Royal Conservatoire researcher, Sarah Hopfinger, endeavours to turn her pain into art through her autobiographical show, Pain and I, performed at Tramway on November 8 and 9.

Sarah Hopfinger has lived with chronic back pain since she was 14. In the script for her immersive autobiographical performance, Pain and I, she admits feeling “embarrassed” by her pain, and wishing it would “disappear for good”. Because she “can’t always sit f
The Glasgow Guardian •

Glasgow zine library gets bigger and better

The Glasgow Guardian visits and speaks with their staff about the creative value of zinemaking, and why exponential growth isn’t always a good thing

It’s Friday afternoon, and I’m reading a zine called Old Ladies Swearing. Doreen, hunching slightly, says “Shithouse”. Gladys has a perm, and she says “Cunt”. While I flip its plain white, A5 pages, a woman wearing a Scottish autism jumper gets up and leaves the building. She’s been quietly working on a zine for the last few hours. “The last time I
The Glasgow Guardian •

Theatre meets 90s House: Better Days by Ben Tagoe

Ben Tagoe was a teenager when the title track to his one-person show, Better Days, was released. Featuring a raft of classic early ‘90s rave tunes, his crowdfunded production tells the story of Danny, a 19-year-old in 1990, who grapples with the intersection of two subcultures: football hooliganism and the house music scene. The first draft took only two to three months (“this was from the heart”), but as the hard work of refining and perfecting the play carries on until its first performance at
The Glasgow Guardian •

The Kelvin Ensemble’s Voyages of the Sea

No one quite knew where the queue started and ended. The endearing chaos of Hunter Halls - a charmingly functional but far less elaborate version of Bute Hall - was the result of a sold out concert from the Kelvin Ensemble: the University of Glasgow’s student run orchestra. Its chairperson, Nick Baughan, spoke to The Glasgow Guardian before the event, and emphasised the “challenges in getting a venue that’s big enough for us all in previous years”. Though evidently a problem not quite resolved b
The Glasgow Guardian •

How do we improve breast cancer awareness among students? In conversation with Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK finalist Ella Vaday and the Glasgow Uni Boob Team

“I’m going to do the same makeup that I’ve got on so we can be twins”.

Ella Vaday is putting her mum, Donna, into drag. It’s a staple feature of Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK for contestants to wheel their family members out onto the runway, but Covid-19 meant this didn’t happen in Ella’s season. Donna’s makeover can instead be found in a video for CoppaFeel!, a breast cancer awareness charity that focuses on early detection in young people.

Ella described her mum as “the one woman in my life that’s
The Glasgow Guardian •

Buzzcut’s Double Thrills: A masterclass in experimental performance art

“This week he moppin' floors, next week it's the fries”. “That bitch knew her cheeses”.

Both lines emanate from the theatre on display at the CCA on Wednesday 19 October. This is par the course for Double Thrills; a recurring night of experimental art. It’s put on by Glasgow’s Buzzcut, who describe themselves as an “internationally recognised organisation, supporting radical performance practises from all over the world”. Karl Taylor is their administrative director, and he spoke to The Glasgow
The Glasgow Guardian •

Bend It Like Beckham: 20 years on and just as iconic

Bend It Like Beckham is now 20 years old. It has since become the only film to be officially distributed in every country in the world, inspiring sports players and sports journalists alike. Through the endeavours of its protagonist, Jessminder, to intertwine her love for playing football with her South Asian culture, the film has sustained such relevance and uniqueness that its anniversary has dominated the media, with the BBC even producing a documentary about its impact. Guljit Bindra co-wrot
The Glasgow Guardian •

How does UofG improve the safety of its LGBTQ+ students?

In May 2021 The Glasgow Guardian urged the University to do more to eliminate gender-based violence through improving student safety on campus. Since then, a mandatory gender based violence course has been established on moodle, but there is more work to be done. With LGBTQ+ hate crimes soaring post-pandemic, and increasing hostility to LGBTQ+ people more broadly, we surveyed and conducted interviews with LGBTQ+ students to assess specific issues pertaining to their safety.

To be clear, immedia
Ed Fringe Review •

"We’re very lucky that our home city hosts the Fringe": Interviewing Tinderbox Orchestra

It’s hard to imagine a collection of musicians adaptable enough to collaborate with a Chinese alternative folk-punk ensemble one day, and a Scottish indie songwriter the next. Yet Tinderbox Orchestra are doing just that, in what project manager Claire Docherty has described as an “unforgettable experience” at this year’s fringe.

Made up of 20+ musicians - rappers, singers, wind instruments, brass, heavy drums and bass - as well as a
The Glasgow Guardian •

In conversation with: Matt Forde

Both “crasherooni snoozefest” and “security, prosperity, respect” could feature in Matt Forde’s lexicon. As well as voicing Boris Johnson, Keir Starmer and Donald Trump on Spitting Image, Matt has written a book about his disillusionment with The Labour Party, and had a four-season political satire TV series on Dave: Unspun with Matt Forde. He also hosts The Political Party, a podcast which combines stand-up comedy and informal interviews with prominent political figures, ranging from Jacob Rees