The Twilight Sad to play final Pinup Nights

Malcolm Middleton, Miaoux Miaoux, Emma Pollock and Sonny Marvello also set to say farewell

Has there ever been an indie night that’s worked as hard as Pinup Nights? Perhaps, but none have managed to alchemise the same mix of cannily chosen guest DJs, intelligently-curated young bands, painstaking theme nights and frankly dedicated gimmickry to the same effect. And now it’s over, and Glasgow will be a sadder place. ‘A lot of people have been asking why we’re stopping when things are going so well,’ says John D McGonagle, who founded Pinups almost nine years ago. ‘We want to go out – not at the top, that sounds really big-headed – but on our own terms.’

He doesn’t believe in revivals, and says if he ever throws a one-off party again it will be in a different venue under a different name. What a finale they have planned, though, with live sets from Miaoux Miaoux and Sonny Marvello, plus The Twilight Sad, Malcolm Middleton and Emma Pollock playing acoustic sets in the kitchen bar. Plus there’s the online campaign to get Jarvis Cocker to come and DJ, which McGonagle has been desperate to make happen since the club began.

In the spirit of praising-not-burying, then, what have been his favourite ever Pinups moments? ‘Getting a photo of Aidan Moffat, Frank McAvennie and Paolo Nutini chatting away last year was very amusing,’ he says. ‘Florence Welch DJing, Friendly Fires, Alex James – who didn’t sell out, strangely – and Tony Wilson’s screamo set. It was horrendous and it cleared the room, I don’t know what he was thinking on that night. I could write a book on it all – and it would be just like Peter Hook’s How Not to Run a Club.’

Flying Duck, Glasgow, Fri 30 Mar.