The Glasgow School

Although it may only seem like yesterday that the Thirteenth Note occupied the waterfront premises, it is now five years since the Barfly opened up in Clyde Street. Despite being part of a chain, it has retained that seedy, independent feel and puts on one of the most varied programmes in Glasgow. From Wednesday 2nd through to Sunday 6th May, the Barfly celebrates its anniversary with a series of gigs that build up into a mini-festival. In keeping with their usual policy, local acts are well represented and the prices have been kept low. Unkle Bob and the Hussys headline the last two nights, while post-punk legend Holly Golightly reinvents rockabilly on Friday.

Elsewhere, there is a strong sense of nostalgia. Bluesman Johnny Winter rocks the Ferry on the 2nd, The Animals (The Classic Grand) and Ray Davis (Royal Concert Hall) contest for the baby boomer pound four days later, while Patti Smith arrives at the ABC (22nd). Even the new wave of British heavy metal has been revived, with Saxon shaking the Garage on the 19th. By the time that the perennial tribute acts are added - the Who are impersonated, while two thirds of the Jam reunite (see our interview tih Bruce Foxton online) this month - it seems that the past is finally triumphing over the present. Lets hope the universe doesn't swallow us all up as a result.

Others refuse to let the weight of tradition sink them: A Hawk and A Hacksaw, for example, bring their woozy fusion of Eastern European and klezma music to the Arches and Mr Hudson and the Library is a bizarre re-appropriation of 1980s influences (ABC, 8th). And of course, the Transgressive Roadshow hits the Arches on the 9th, promising a night of listenable experimentation. Might this be enough to pry those eyes away from Eurovision?