King Tut's Wah Wah Hut ::: History...so far!

The story of King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut

“Quite possibly the finest small venue in the world” - NME

Since its inception in 1990, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut has been at the forefront of the Scottish live music scene and continues to be one of the most celebrated venues in the world.
 
King Tut’s is an integral part of Glasgow’s thriving grassroots music scene as well as bringing the most exciting new talent from across the globe to the city. Playing a gig at this three hundred capacity venue has become a seminal point in the career of an impressive array of artists leading NME to hail King Tut’s in 2007 as ‘quite possibly the finest small venue in the world’, and Radio One to name it ‘UK’s Best Live Venue’ three years in a row.
 
As one of Scotland's leading concert venues, King Tut’s is renowned across the globe as an exciting showcase for new and emerging bands and as the venue that supported some of the music industry's biggest names at the start of their careers: from Oasis (who were famously signed by Alan McGee at the venue in 1993) to Radiohead, The Killers, The verve, Pulp, My Chemical Romance, Biffy Clyro, Manic Street Preachers and Texas plus hundreds more in between.



The booking team at DF Concerts is second to none with a huge commitment to discovering new talent, helped by the brilliant relationships bookers have with artist agents, management and other promoters. Due to its unique atmosphere and famously brilliant Scottish audience, established names continue to return to the 300 capacity venue. Razorlight, Jamie T, Jack Penate and Graham Coxon have played sold out shows at King Tut’s in 2009, with seminal alt-rockers The Breeders staging a consecutive two date return to King Tut’s in May. King Tut’s is also the venue of choice for many visiting musicians meaning that fans could bump into their favourite act having a pint at the bar or picking tunes on the infamous Tut’s jukebox. Over the years, the venue has been visited by likes of The Killers, Bloc Party, Kings of Leon, The Stereophonics, Kaiser Chiefs, Oasis Stereophonics before or after playing shows at the city’s larger venues.



As well as showcasing the best signed talent around, King Tut’s also gives a great deal of support to unsigned artists and in 2005 launched ‘Your Sound’ - described by Radio 1 in Scotland DJ, Vic Galloway as ‘a living, breathing myspace’. Dedicated to unsigned acts of all musical genres throughout the UK, ‘Your Sound’ allows these artists to develop a fan base, and gain exposure within the music industry by having their recorded material played at a monthly event at the venue as well as receiving advice from industry insiders.  


As part of the infrastructure the venue has in place to support new talent, King Tut’s also has its own record label – King Tut’s Recordings and label bosses are always looking to sign up the hottest grassroots talent around. Artists already released through the label include Twilight Sad, The Dykeenies, Alto Elite, Fangs, Woodenbox With A Fistful of Fivers and Flood of Red.  
 
King Tut’s believes that artists of all levels should be treated with the same respect and staff at the venue always ensure that visiting bands and their crew are all well fed and watered before a gig. This has not gone unnoticed by the bands, and the venue received the ultimate accolade at T in the Park 1999 when the Manic Street Preachers dedicated a song to “King Tut’s, the first venue to treat us properly and give us hot food on tour”.
 
Always striving to offer gig goers a unique experience and never resting on its laurels, 2009 has seen King Tut’s working with West Brewery in Glasgow to develop a King Tut’s lager. Currently in the final stages of development, King Tut’s new lager will offer customers the chance to have a ‘pint of King Tut’s’, completing the gig experience for music fans.
 
Celebrating its 20th birthday in 2010, King Tut’s is looking forward to another twenty years of phenomenal live music.
King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in figures

Capacity of venue = 306
 
In 2008 there were 326 gigs reaching an audience of over 70,000 music lovers
Add to that a further 30,000 people through the door for drinks and food
= 100,000 King Tut’s eyes and ears on your brand per year!
 
The King Tut’s flyer is a hallowed document on the Glasgow music scene – long before myspace and Facebook were thought of, the Tut’s flyer was telling the people of Scotland who they should be listening to.  60,000 leaflets are produced every month and distributed across Scotland.
 
5000 subscribers receive this information via eshot every fortnight and www.kingtuts.co.uk <http://www.kingtuts.co.uk/>  receives over 300,000 unique visitors per year.
 

Bands that have played King Tut’s include

The Charlatans, Radiohead, The Kooks, Graham Coxon, The Cribs, The Duke Sprit, Forward Russia, Texas, Kasabian, Brand New, Fionn Regan, My Chemical Romance, The Sunshine Underground, Hot Chip, Snow Patrol, Coldplay, We Are Scientists, Paolo Nutini, Wolfmother, Bloc Party, Willy Mason, KT Tunstall, Maximo Park, Alexisonfire, …and You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead, Death From Above 1979, The Killers, Razorlight, The Libertines, This Girl, Athlete, Skin, Poison The Well, The Raveonettes, Ok Go, British Sea Power, Oasis, The Zutons, Billy Talent, Interpol, Hell Is For Heroes, Sugarhill Gang, Biffy Clyro, Alabama 3, Kula Shaker, Yo La Tengo, Moloko, Arab Strap, No Doubt, Eels, Super Furry Animals, Placebo, Ben Folds Five, Skunk Anansie, The Bluetones, Norma Jean, Tilly And The Wall, Tiny Dancers, Calvin Harris, Kate Nash, Kids In Glass Houses, Scouting For Girls, Ben’s Brother, The Blackout, Kill Hannah, The Rumble Strips, The Enemy, The Maccabees, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Jack Penate, People Under The Stairs, Boy Kill Boy, Hot Chip, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Larrikin Love, Shy Child, Enter Shikari, Keane, Coheed and Cambria, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers, The Verve, Blur, Primal Scream , Stereophonics, Reverend and The Makers, Newton Faulkner, The Dykeenies, Seth Lakeman, Guillemots, The View, Against Me, Two Gallants, The Spinto Band, The Fratellis and many more…