One of the most popular traditional music venues in the north is undergoing a major revamp to give it more “wow factor”.
The iconic Hootananny bar in Inverness is just a month away from unveiling a new “Glow Bar” at its three-storey complex, having secured a council licence yesterday.
The existing top floor has been stripped to prepare the way for a new neon-emblazoned cocktail bar, featuring a £20,000 counter, LED-lit furniture and an astral-effect ceiling.
Hootananny co-founder and owner Kit Fraser promises “a visual revolution”.
The extrovert publican was thrilled about his latest venture.
“It means we’ll have a bar on each of the three floors and catering for three different segments of the market,” he said.
“We are family-oriented downstairs, with traditional Scottish music, and Mad Hatters on the middle floor for cover bands. This pub is on a mission to nurture up-and-coming musical talent of whatever genre.
“The bar itself is like a bar of light. We’re talking total wow factor. It’s going to be a completely feminine bar.
“My view is that men and women drink for totally different reasons. A man wants to fight his way to the bar, he wants beer, he wants whisky; it’s a macho thing.
“Women want good looking barmen – what I call ‘Victorian explorers’, guys with beards. I’m providing that. Women want to be treated with luxurious courtesy and kindness, with everything beautiful. Of course, men are welcome.”
The walls will be duck-egg blue with gold-framed mirrors. The ceiling will be “Sky at Night” – black with pin-prick lights to imitate the night sky. The Glow Bar will be open from “five until late” on Fridays and Saturdays.
“It’s a place where a woman can treat herself or allow her partner to treat her. It will be beautiful people, beautiful drinks in a beautiful environment,” Mr Fraser said.
Cocktail makers are currently brushing up on their skills in readiness. Prices, Mr Fraser insisted, will be “normal”.
While the fusion of pop, rock, heavy metal and folk will continue elsewhere in the building, the only music on the Glow Bar level will be piped. There will be no dress code.
Wishing him luck, Inverness Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stewart Nicol said: “It sounds an exciting and innovative addition to what the city has to offer.
“The fact that somebody with his reputation and experience is thinking along these lines says something really positive about what’s going on in the Inverness and Highland economy.”
Midas touch
Hootananny Inverness and Brixton owner Kit Fraser has a midas touch – except for breaking into politics.
He has had three unsuccessful attempts to enter that world, having stood on his various tickets of “Banning Bankers’ Bonuses,” the Publican Party and the “Joy of Talk” party, which shared the name of a community restaurant he founded as part of a campaign to help people combat loneliness.
While Danny Alexander was returned to his parliamentary seat in 2015 with 19,172 votes, Mr Fraser’s Joy of Talk was at the foot of the poll with just 93.
Testing himself by working for a spell as a coal miner, Mr Fraser later recounted his experiences in his first of three books.