The 13th Note Café was a restaurant, bar and music venue in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
From its beginnings on Glassford Street (what is now Bar Bacchus), the 13th Note moved to its present site on King Street in 1997. A few years later, the 13th Note franchise expanded to include a larger club venue on Clyde Street. The holding company that owned both venues went into receivership in November 2001. In the summer of 2002, The 13th Note Club was bought over by the
Channelfly Group (owners of the
Barfly franchise), leaving only the café venue still open under the original 13th Note name.
The venues of the 13th Note have hosted concerts by a number of notable acts, including
Idlewild,
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The band took their name from ...
and
Franz Ferdinand.
Alex Kapranos
Alexander Paul Kapranos (born 20 March 1972) is a Scottish musician. He is the lead singer and lead guitarist of Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand. He has also been a part of the supergroups FFS and BNQT.
Early life
Alexander Paul Kapranos ...
, the lead singer and guitarist of
Franz Ferdinand took over as the music programmer at the Kazoo Club from Jim Byrne of Dexter Slim and the Pickups, who established the successful Kazoo club with his wife Pat. Alex had his first gig at the Kazoo club then became host when the Byrnes gave it up when an entry charge was introduced. Alex also hosted the 99p Club. Another notable music programmer was
Brendan O'Hare
Brendan O'Hare (born 16 January 1970) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, primarily known for being the drummer in the rock band Teenage Fanclub from 1989 until early 1994, and a member of and collaborator with Mogwai.
Career
O'Hare ...
.
Controversy, Strike and Closure
In mid-2023, the owners of 13th Note became embroiled in a dispute with their workers over contracts, safe working conditions, and a living wage. One of the workers was reported to have said that the cafe's owners were "so used to operating outwith the law that they are now at a point where they don't even understand it". Strike action was initiated and subsequently on 19 July 2023, the bar announced that it would be closing down. All 18 workers lost their jobs as a result. In August 2023, a benefit concert was held as part of a fundraising campaign – started by a group of ex-staff – to re-open the venue as an employee-owned cooperative, with a pot of approximately £10,000 raised. As of April 2024, the venue remains closed.
In April 2024, former employees won their case at an employment tribunal, with the judge finding in their favour that the previous owner had failed to provide the statutory 90s days' notice of redundancy, resulting in an order that the injured parties be paid the equivalent in lost wages.
References
External links
13th Note Official Website
Music venues in Glasgow
{{Glasgow-stub