Barrowland Ballroom to honour unsung hero of Glasgow music
A tireless advocate for the grassroots Scottish music scene, he died of cancer in May.
On August 31 his life will be celebrated with a concert at his favourite venue, the Barrowland Ballroom, dubbed 'Soapyfest' with all money raised going to Marie Curie and the Beatson Cancer Charity.
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His wife, Susan Soutar, told The Herald on Sunday: "We were together since we were teenagers. We met as bairns, I was 16 and he was 18.
"He didn't have a cynical bone in his body, he just exuded enthusiasm, compassion, kindness and fun.
"He also had a deep, deep love of music. We were regulars at the Barrowlands, that was our first date and where his funeral was.
"Even when we met, one of the things we bonded over was that we'd both been at the same Jesus and Mary Chain gig at the Barrowlands the previous November.
"The bands that are playing are bands he wanted to promote at every opportunity. Someone would put up something like 'is anyone around for a video shoot in Glasgow at 2pm today?' and Soapy would go 'yep, I'm there'.
'He just loved being part of things, feeling part of and building a community.
"We never – ever, ever, ever – asked to be put on a guest list. We'd always pay for tickets and if there was merch to be had we'd buy that, whether it was a CD, vinyl, t-shirt, or a tote bag.
'We wanted to make sure we gave some money back because we know what it's like, these bands don't make much money and they're doing it for the love of music.
John and Susan Soutar (Image: Susan Soutar) 'So many people came to me after he died and said 'he really helped me when I was down on my luck'. He had a knack for spotting when something wasn't quite right and getting in touch to check in with people, just quietly in the background and that showed when we had his funeral.
'He had said himself he wanted his funeral at the Barrowlands and my son and I were going, 'who do you think you are, bloody Michael Jackson?'.
"By the time we were really getting to the point where we had to think about it we couldn't work out where we could actually hold it because we knew it was going to be so big. We had to go to Clydebank Crematorium because it was the only one in Glasgow that could cope and it was full to bursting.
"I got in touch with Alec (Downie) at the Barrowlands and asked if there was any chance we could have the wake there and they were as wonderful as we've always known them to be. Tom Joyce was an absolute joy to deal with and helped us give him the send-off he deserved."
And what would he have thought of Soapyfest?
Susan laughs: "He was selfless and very kind but he also had a healthy ego and my God he'd be beyond delighted at the thought of this happening in his honour – he'd be giggling away about it.
'Even being in The Herald, he'd be casting that up to me forever after.
'It's just a shame that sometimes these things happen after people die.'
Soapyfest will feature music from Colonel Mustard & The Dijon 5, The Filthy Tongues, Mickey 9s, Warren Starry Sky, The Girobabies & The Twistettes; all of whom will perform a cover of a song by James, Soapy's favourite band.
Phill Jupitus will play songs between acts, Barrowland manager Tom Joyce is waiving the costs associated with putting the show on and Ken McCluskey of The Bluebells will make a special guest appearance to end the night.
John 'Soapy' Soutar at Eden Festival (Image: Susan Soutar) Gavin Mitchell, best known for playing Boaby the Barman in Still Game, will compere the event, having had a longstanding friendship with Soapy.
He said: "He was just the most amazing guy. I first met him on a video shoot with Colonel Mustard and the Dijon 5, he had his wee dog Jake with him.
'I didn't know who he was but he cropped up in all sort of places – gigs, video shoots, all the rest of it – and I just thought he was part of the band, which in a way he was. He was a part of so many bands.
'He was nothing but positive, he was always this ray of light even right up to the end. When you went to see John in the hospice he had a mirror ball in his room and had one of the nurses coming in with a mirror ball crash helmet. He was still talking about gigs, still asking about others and not himself – all positive, all optimistic. I loved him very much.
"He championed so many people, he was unbelievable – he's an unsung hero to so many. As soon as people were asked it was: 'for John? Absolutely, not a problem'. So it should be a very special night.'
It's a measure of what Soapy meant to people that Mr Mitchell is speaking to The Herald on Sunday by phone, sheltering from a Glasgow downpour while walking his dog during a break in filming.
At one point he pauses: "Gosh, I'm talking to you just now and there's a guy over the other side of the park wearing a bright yellow jacket and a carrying a rainbow umbrella, which puts me so much in mind of John."
Mrs Soutar says: "He was really funny and daft, and he wore brilliant clothes, he had a really unique dress sense.
"The photo of him with the rainbow coat, yellow boots and umbrella was a photoshoot for a friend, he was trying to build a portfolio to get into university and was looking for models and Soapy looked out the most eye-catching outfit he could find because it was a really grey day.
"He was taking Colin to places and saying 'photograph me there, that will look brilliant, the colours will pop out'. That was him, always ridiculously, effortlessly colourful.
'A friend posted on Facebook in the aftermath of his death and described him as being 'a colour spectrum all of his own', which I thought was a beautiful way to sum him up.'
Soapy was an unsung hero of the Scottish grassroots music scene, a superfan who enthusiastically and relentlessly sang the praises of his favourite acts.
John McAlinden of Colonel Mustard & The Dijon Five said: "From the word go he was always a massive supporter of Colonel Mustard, the Mickey 9s, the Girobabies and he was a big part of the whole Yellow Movement.
'He and Susan came to pretty much every gig, he tried to get us Christmas number one, he really promoted all the bands without being asked to.
'The very first time I met him was down at Avant Garde on King Street and he was just so flamboyant, wearing this really cool, out there shirt. He was full of life, full of joy, just loved music.
"He ran the James fan club and he used to tell all the James fans about the up-and-coming bands in Scotland who weren't household names.
"He was the world's greatest fan of James, of the Barrowlands, of Scotland's music scene, and guys like that might normally go unsung and unknown but through this gig his legend will live on."
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Jo D'Arc of The Twistettes says: "He and Susan would be at all the gigs, he was just an amazing character.
'He made a lot of things happen as well, he sponsored a stage at Mugstock Festival, he supported the bands and the scene and just always brought positivity.
"Certain people, and Soapy was one of them, create a sense of community around them and he did that wherever he went, that was just the kind of person he was.
'He gathered people, made them feel welcome, and those kind of people are integral to anything in life but especially within the underground music scene that's so important – having someone who goes: 'this thing is really good, come and watch it'.
'He would tell people about the gigs, buy records, put on events – it's great to be able to celebrate him at the greatest venue in the world."
In the final days of his life, Soapy was inducted into the Barrowland Hall of Fame, memorialising him with the likes of The Ramones, Iggy Pop, Franz Ferdinand and Biffy Clyro.
Susan says: "Billy (Coyle) and Gavin came to the hospice when he was very, very poorly and brought him his Barrowlands Hall of Fame trophy.
'When the cancer came back it was in his brain so toward the end he wasn't always communicating in the way he would have done, so when they came in he was in mid-flow talking to me and he just carried on as if they weren't there.
'I felt really bad, as if he hadn't noticed, but he never shut up about it thereafter, he was so chuffed."
Soapy will also be immortalised on one of the famous stars on the ceiling of the venue so, as Gavin Mitchell puts it, he'll never miss a gig again.
His wife says: "That, for him, is the greatest prize you could get – up there with David Bowie? That'll do!'
Tickets for Soapyfest are £25, with all money raised going to Marie Curie and The Beatson. They can be purchased here.
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