FRETS 2026
FRIDAY 30th & SATURDAY 31st JANUARY 2026 – SOLD OUT
FRETS is delighted to welcome Ricky Warwick to the Strathaven Hotel in January 2026 for acoustic solo concerts on Friday 30th Jan and Saturday 31st Jan (both concerts are SOLD OUT). Many will be aware that Ricky spent part of his youth living in Strathaven, becoming successful as frontman with The Almighty and as a solo artist. It’s going to be a great night.
TICKETS: https://wegottickets.com/event/685253
FRETS is delighted to welcome Norman Blake and Euros Childs back in their JONNY guise to the Strathaven Hotel on Friday 20th Feb, 6 years after the last appearance.
Norman Blake has been releasing albums with Teenage Fanclub since 1990 and has recently released an album with a new project featuring Bernard Butler and James Grant. Teenage Fanclub continue to record and tour internationally.
Euros Childs came to prominence with Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, who released a series of incredible albums. Euros has been releasing acclaimed albums under his own name since 2006.
Norman and Euros joined forces under the Jonny moniker for their 2011 album, which eventually led to Euros joining Teenage Fanclub in 2019.
FRETS is looking forward to welcoming messers Blake & Childs back to the Strathaven Hotel on Friday 20th Feb, their set will take in favourites from their collective back catalogues.
FRETS presents C86 stalwarts and avant-funk noiseniks, MACKENZIES, at the Glad Cafe on Saturday 28th Feb.
TICKETS: https://wegottickets.com/event/683957
BIO
Mackenzies are from Glasgow and formed in 1985, inspired by the power-lifter Precious McKenzie.
Paul Turnbull (drums) and Iain Beveridge (guitar) were at the same school but got together musically when Paul was released from his previous group after being in a car accident which totalled his drum set and so was no longer required by the band.
Gary Weir (vocals and guitar) and Peter Gilmour (bass) formed another group, however, the two factions came together over their shared love of Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, James Brown, Prince, Funkadelic and Parliament. Emboldened by witnessing live performances closer to home from Josef K, Fire Engines and Orange Juice, the group began to rehearse regularly in Paul’s bedroom as they worked on their sound, crafting sonic punk funk fusion.
The recruitment of saxophonist Peter Ellen with his love of Ornette Coleman and Archie Shepp made him the ideal candidate to join the others. The final piece in the jigsaw was the crucial element of the second guitarist that is David Allen.
In November, 1985, a demo recorded in Paul’s bedroom made its way to Radio 1 and the office of John Peel who invited Mackenzies down for a session at legendary Maida Vale studios. Peel was a big supporter of the band inviting them for a second session only months after their first visit.
By the time of the first Peel session in February 1986, the band had signed to Nottingham-based record label, Ron Johnson (home to bands Stump, Big Flame and Dutch band, The Ex) with owner Dave Parsons also impressed by the demo. Shortly afterwards, the debut single, ‘New Breed’ was recorded and released in July 1986.
The NME thought well of it, anointing ‘New Breed’ as their Single of the Week. And then came the invite from the paper to contribute to the C86 cassette – a collection of twenty-two independently signed guitar-based bands that featured leading lights of the 1986 independent scene. The cassette featured tracks by Scottish groups The Pastels, Shop Assistants, Mackenzies, (among others). C86 quickly became synonymous with a new wave of independent groups and gave its name to the resultant scene.
Mackenzies revelled in their live shows which were a fast, full-on mutant funk attack to the senses, sometimes a dozen songs in twenty minutes, no introductions, no respite. This was evident from shows in Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol and London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) through to Glasgow’s legendary Splash One Club
Although the band received a lot of attention from their two Peel sessions, C86 and live shows, ‘New Breed’ was the only record Mackenzies put out in 1986. The follow-up to their debut single, the ‘A Sensual Assault’ ep didn’t see the light of day until the following year.
The release in 2022 of the book ‘Whatever Happened To The C86 Kids – an indie odyssey’ by Nige Tassell brought fresh attention to the band.
The invite to play at the 30th anniversary of the Creeping Bent Organisation event Creeping Bent 30 / C81 – C86 – GO!! as part of the 2025 Celtic Connections festival reinvigorated the band who are now set on finally releasing their debut album in 2026.
THRUM / Friday 13th March, the Glad Cafe (SOLD OUT)
THRUM / Saturday 14th March, the Glad Cafe – TICKETS: https://wegottickets.com/event/685158
THRUM were formed in Lanarkshire by vocalist Monica Queen and guitarist Johnny Smillie. Both musicians shared a love of Neil Young & Crazy Horse and Patsy Cline, influences that provided a bedrock for the sound of Thrum.
Thrum signed to Fire Records and recorded their debut album, Rifferama, in San Francisco (releasing the album in 1994).
Rifferama captured Thrum’s blend of soaring melody, raw guitar energy, and Queen’s unmistakable voice — a sound that cemented them as one of Scotland’s great lost treasures of the indie era.
Thrum recently reformed to perform Rifferama at a sold-out Airdrie Town Hall as part of the Everything Flows exhibition showcasing the vibrant musical history of North Lanarkshire.
“The Airdrie show was meant to be a one-off,” says Monica Queen. “But the energy in the room — the love for those songs — made it impossible not to do it again. Glasgow deserves its own night.”
Now, thirty years on, Queen and Smillie are bringing those songs back to life with a full band, reminding audiences why Rifferama still resonates so deeply. FRETS Concerts will be presenting Thrum live in concert in Glasgow on Friday 13th March (SOLD OUT) and a second night at the Glad Cafe on Saturday 14th March.
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AVOID SCAMMERS TRYING TO SELL TICKETS ON SOCIAL MEDIA – THEY ARE TRYING TO CON YOU OUT OF YOUR MONEY.
FRETS CONCERTS was established by Strathaven musician Douglas MacIntyre. The first concert took place in the Strathaven Hotel on 4th October, 2019, with Lloyd Cole performing an acoustic set accompanied by Commotions guitarist Neil Clark. The ethos at FRETS is very much geared towards a seated and listening audience, with the onus on live performance and songwriting. The artists really appreciate performing to an attentive audience, magic is invariably in the air. Our dream concert would be Neil Young with an acoustic guitar and harmonica performing his On The Beach album, or Bill Callahan performing any of his albums. We look forward to welcoming you to the Strathaven Hotel for an evening at FRETS.
FRETS is a seated venue within the Strathaven Hotel, doors usually open at 7pm with seats taken on a ‘first-come-first-seated’ basis. We usually have two support artists, with live performances commencing shortly after doors open. All tickets are paperless and sold via the Concert Tickets section of this website, you do not need to print your tickets, simply show us your tickets on your phone.
The concerts usually finish by 10.30pm, though the bar in the hotel is open late if you want to have a drink and a chat. Lots of FRETS attendees stay over at the hotel and have a meal in the resturant prior to the concert, more details about the Strathaven Hotel here. https://www.strathavenhotel.com/
If you re not already on the mailing list, go to the Blog section of this website and submit your email address to keep up to date. We have a couple of big announcement forthcoming and will be emailing to our mailing list soon.
In line with other live music promoters and entertainment events we operate a no refunds policy.
https://twitter.com/FRETSCONCERTS / https://www.facebook.com/fretsconcerts
FRETS is supportive of car-sharing as an option to travel to the Strathaven Hotel. If this isn’t possible, Climate Action Strathaven are now operating buses to and from Strathaven. The last bus to run from Glasgow to Strathaven is 9.15pm from North Hanover St (George Square). For more information about Climate Action Strathaven please visit their website: https://castrathaven.org/
Please note there are no direct buses running from Strathaven to coincide with FRETS concerts finishing around 10.30pm. There are trains from Hamilton to Glasgow, however a taxi would be required to be booked from the hotel to Hamilton. There are two taxi firms in Strathaven, here are their details:
Stevie’s Taxis / 01357 – 528888
Strathaven Taxis / 01357 – 522522
PLEASE BE CAREFUL – THERE ARE SCAMMERS OUT THERE WHO WILL OFFER TO SELL YOU TICKETS ONLINE VIA TWITTER OR FACEBOOK. THIS IS A RIP OFF. PLEASE ONLY BUY TICKETS FROM THE WEGOTTICKETS LINKS, IF THE CONCERT SELLS OUT JOIN THE WAITING LIST AT THE WEGOTTICKETS LINK.
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