Tolbooth

The Tolbooth is a venue for music in the arts in the heart of Stirling’s Old Town.
I’ve been frequenting here about as long as I’ve been alive — when I was a child and a young fiddle player my parents would take me to see people like Alasdair Fraser. I’ve learned fiddle tunes, songs, creative writing, and discovered that I love free jazz in this building.
Highlights of my adult years have included Treacherous Orchestra, Lau, The Weekend jazz/​alt music festival (sadly discontinued), Distil Showcase of new compositions, Jenna Reid Band and The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc. As long as I live in the central belt I’ll be happy to support this trad venue, with its fantastic sound engineers and everything it does for traditional music. It’s one of few venues outside the big cities that brings Scotland’s best trad musicians to the masses, and continues to host both the beset of up-​and-​coming artists and established names like Breabach and Dick Gaughan. Nothing but praise for this noble wee venue that punches well above its weight.

My band supported Three Blind Wolves at the Tolbooth last year and the venue holds itself really well as Stirling’s main music and arts venue. Aside from it being a really great place for a gig, the bar area has a really nice vibe. It’s relaxed and friendly and I don’t remember it being too expensive. I like that the band have to walk past the crowd to get to the stage and although the main hall seems rather small, it is just the perfect sort of cosey for an intimate gig. It’s versatile too. — I went to see the comedian Daniel Sloss and the main hall had been rearranged to suit the night. I felt like I was in a different venue! Tolbooth doesn’t match the size of venues to be found in Glasgow or Edinburgh, but it sure does pack a punch.