Meet the woman who got a Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom tattoo after lockdown

Maureen Grant, 53, from Howwood, Johnstone, is a life-long fan of the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow. 

Recently she decided to permanently impress the Barrowland’s famous animated neon sign on her arm. 

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The tattoo, inked by Paisley artist Krystine Rice, took six hours to complete and it depicts the iconic logo down to the finest details. 

While Maureen already had several tattoos, this was her longest tattooing session to date. 

Maureen's Barrowland tattoo

“It has been a thread through my life, from a teenager to 53,” she said. “I’ve so many memories of friends, ex partners, my husband, my kids at the Barrowlands. If you don’t feel it when you go to the Barras, I can’t explain it to you.”

Maureen, who owns a dog grooming business in Johnstone but frequently travels to Glasgow for live music, has lost count of the gigs she attended at the venue, but a couple stand out in her memory.

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“I’ve been to so many gigs, they are all so special,” she said. “I went with my daughter to see Supergrass, caught the drum stick and gave it to her. That was definitely a cool mom moment.”

Maureen, 53, and her daughter Eilidh, 21, at a Supergrass gig at the Barrowlands

A Gene gig in the nineties was propitious for getting back together with her now husband of 23 years, with whom she has three kids and four dogs. 

“My husband and I had dated a few months and split up, a few months later he asked me to this gig, the rest is history,” added Maureen.

Her most treasured memories of the Barrowlands are now conserved in the form of ticket stubs decorating her Vespa, which also carries the venue’s logo. 

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“I had a Vespa when I was a teenager, my husband is also into bikes, he bought a Harley several years ago, so during lockdown I thought ‘I’m getting one! I’m nobody’s pillion passenger’. So of course I had to get it airbrushed with the Barrowland sign,” she said. 

Maureen's Barrowland-themed Vespa

Lockdown was a tough time for Maureen, so much so she ended up purchasing a painting of the venue from a fellow Barrowland enthusiast who also missed live music to soothe her nostalgia. 

“I really missed gigs at the Barrowlands, I went to my last one before lockdown and went back to see Passenger and The Specials when it reopened. I’ve got Sam Fender In a couple of weeks too, can’t wait.”