Alice Cooper brings his violent rock to Glasgow - a city where violence is no stranger... (Melody Maker, November 1972)

The Playhouse’s reputation grew as it hosted acts such as T-Rex, The Who (October 1970), The Rolling Stones (March 1971) and ELP (October 1972). In December 1971 the Groundhogs played the Playhouse supported by Egg and Quicksand.

March and April 1972 saw Led Zeppelin playing the venue, something they never did at the Apollo. Famously, when their publicist tried to stop some ticket touts, he is beaten by fans outside the venue. In November 1972 Alice Cooper brought the Schools Out tour to the Playhouse.

The Alice Cooper gig is remembered by many because 300 fans at the airport broke through police barriers and turned over the band’s limo. A Record Mirror review of this show can be found here.

Glasgow audiences also enjoyed concerts by Black Sabbath during the early seventies; supported by Wild Turkey and by Chicken Shack – we wonder if this is where Ozzy got his infamous taste for birds?

David Bowie brought his Ziggy Stardust tour to the Playhouse in 1973, the bootleg of the gig now famed as the “Legendary Lost Tapes”. Although the tapes obviously exist! The support band for that gig was a band called Fumble, another candidate for where are they now?

David recalls the concert:

"We had, I think, four couples making it in the back row which was fabulous.  Its the first time I've heard of that happening.  There was also a whole row of seats physically torn out of the floor, which sounds like the fifties to me.  Can you imagine how much energy has to be used to tear out a theatre seat?"

Roxy Music also played the Playhouse in 1973 when they set a trend for many bands who played the stage in latter years. They added a Scottish touch to their act by having three young bagpipe players perform a medley of Roxy Music tunes before the concert. The pipers were even invited to join the band live on stage during 'Virginia Plain'. The Sunday Mail reported the event and said:

"These three young Scots pipers have really got something to blow about.... For the Glasgow boys James Hardie of Bishopbriggs, Angus MacLennan from Drumchapel and Ian McDonald of Partick played with their favorite group Roxy Music at two of their concerts.

It all came about when the boys heard that Roxy were to play their first concert in Scotland and they offered to play with them on stage. The group's manager, Simon Puxley, appreciated the gesture and at Green's Playhouse, Glasgow, on Friday night, the trio got a great reception.

In fact, so well did it go that the 'Roxy Pipers' were invited to join the group for another concert in Edinburgh's Odeon last night. The boys played a medley of Roxy music before the concert then teamed up with Roxy for a frenzied version of 'Virginia Plain'.

Said Ian McDonald, whose father Chief Inspector Angus McDonald was pipe major with Glasgow Police Pipe Band: "It was a marvelous experience. The group were great"