Vic's Picks: June 2026
BBC broadcaster, author, actor, musician and DJ, Mr Galloway flicks through some music listings to choose top June gigs in variously sized rooms and across different genres
Daughter of Sex Pistol Paul Cook, tropical-pop princess Hollie Cook has been serving up quality for 20 years, initially as part of a reformed Slits, and then by perfecting her own take on Lovers Rock across a series of five super-catchy, melancholic reggae albums. Showing her pedigree, she’s supported The Stone Roses and also worked with luminaries such as Dennis Bovell, Youth and Jah Wobble. Cook joins the bill at the inaugural Scottish edition of Womad in early July, but you can swoon to her dreamy vocals this month at Glasgow’s King Tut’s (Friday 5 June), getting up close and personal with a rare talent.
Celebrating their 50th anniversary as the chaos-instigating originators of the London scene, punk pensioners The Damned show up at Kelvingrove Bandstand in Glasgow (Sunday 7 June) to no doubt showcase their legacy of psychedelia, goth, pop and breakneck rock’n’roll over a career-spanning set. In their finest 1980s line-up, forever youthful frontman Dave Vanian stalks the stage like a lustful vampire, flanked by wildman guitarist Captain Sensible and Rickenbacker bass legend Paul Gray as thunderous powerhouse Rat Scabies keeps the beat at the back. Catch these true survivors and one of the UK’s truly iconic bands while you still can.
It would be remiss of me not to highlight a few nuggets at TRNSMT, Scotland’s biggest and merriest festival which takes place on Glasgow Green (Friday 19–Sunday 21 June). Away from lighters-in-the-air headliners, there’s a treasure trove of gems across the weekend. Recently reformed super-Fifers The Beta Band are sure to initiate a baggy shuffle and good vibes; Falkirk tearaways Brògeal have a nice line in Celtic rabble-rousing anthems; and guitar-toting Glasgow young teams Sister Madds and Soapbox should get the blood pumping. If, however, you want a corner of calm within the maelstrom, award-winning singer-songwriters Jacob Alon and Alice Faye have you covered for more pensive and soulful sounds. Or why not get an old-skool techno fix and hoist those glow-sticks aloft for homegrown heroes Slam and Neil Landstrumm? There’s something for all the family it seems…
Listen to Vic Galloway every Monday night on BBC Radio Scotland, or anytime on BBC Sounds; his Vitamin C night next pops up at Futtle in St Monans on Saturday 4 July; picture: Hollie Cook / Fabrice Bourgelle.
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