Updated 18th February 1999 This is a guide to a few places of interest in and around Glasgow.
Views expressed here are personal opinions, generally with no
punches pulled. If you have an opinion let us know The Arches - 15th February 1999 - Stomping dance venue The Cathouse - 5th January 1999. Glasgow's only hard rock nightclub?! What to say about the Arches? This is a combination theatre /
nightclub complex which plays host to some of the best dance nights
in Scotland. Until recently the Arches was the residency of techno
gods Slam, who still promote an event on the last Friday of the
month under their guise as Pressure. This venue also hosts dance nights from Colours, Love Boutique,
Pure (from Edinburgh), Renaissance, Cream (Liverpool) and many,
many others. If house and techno are your thang then the Arches
probably hosts a night for you. Live acts are quite common too;
this last year or so has seen acts as diverse as Roni Size / Reprazent,
Crystal Method, The Chemical Brothers and The Creatures. Internally the Arches is fairly basic; the building is built into
and underneath Central Station and is comprised of three massive
brick-walled rooms within impressive vaulted arches which support
the station. Arch one contains the bar and a chill out area. Arch
two contains the main dance floor and sound system. Arch three
(only opened on the most popular evenings) contains the second
dance floor and sound system. Although the decor may be basic
the sound system is not. In the main dance floor you can expect
to see podium bunnies grooving to tunes at a volume sufficient
to interfere with your breathing rate and heartbeat - amazing
for trance and techno! And it gets very hot too (c.f. Trade in
London) so leave your wooly hats at home unless heat exhaustion
is your preferred trip. It is difficult to fault this venue and difficult to recommend
it enough to those who want to dance rather than pose, although
you can do that too, especially at Love Boutique. The doorpersons
(very polite, eh!) are the best in Glasgow, fast, efficient, deadly
and prejudiced only against those idiots who get abusive with
them. Sure, the decor isn't much but you go to the Arches for
music and atmosphere, of which there is PLENTY. The crowd is a mix of students, hardcore dance nuts and generic
party animals. Expect to lose many hours and a few pounds in weight
on the dance floor before being ejected into Midland Street in
the wee small hours. See you on the podium! The Arches now has its own web site at - http://www.thearches.co.uk/ Triptastic, 15th February 1999 The Cathouse is a multi-level 'hard rock' club of dubious origin,
originally based in the old Hollywood Studios but now centrally
located in Union Street next to Central Station. The original
Cathouse offered a varied diet of goth / industrial / thrash /
rock whereas the current incarnation is fairly mainstream and
mediocre. There are two dance floors within the Cathouse; the lower floor
caters to more standard rock and pop whilst the upper floor plays
harder music, although you may hear ABBA or Village People on
either dance floor! Rumour has it that the DJs at the Cathouse
have orders not to play too much music that is too heavy. You
can believe that rumour as the Friday / Saturday playlist rarely
varies from week to week, although recently the management have
become a little more ambitious, opening indie and cheesy nights
on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. It is a shame they haven't
done anything with the sound system though - when will club owners
realise that volume alone is no substitute for clarity? The punters at the Cathouse are a mix of students and grungeheads,
with a fair proportion of regulars getting blotto every weekend.
Nobody really bothers what bad behaviour you get up to and the
bouncers are pretty friendly, a bonus given the limitations of
the place. There is no dress code but you'll feel more at home
in combats, para-boots, Docs, tattoos, piercings and leather. The interior of the Cathouse is pretty shady (as you would expect
from such a venue) with sticky floors, muted lighting and suspect
toilets. Bullt across multiple levels on rather confined floors,
it gets very hot as the evening progresses. During warmer evenings
the emergency doors often have to be opened to let fresh air circulate
before the punters begin to pass out. Occasionally the Cathouse hosts live bands but usually it functions
as a club. On club nights entry is usually free before midnight,
about £5 after midnight. Drinks are priced about average with
frequent promos. For maximum enjoyment the Cathouse should be
experienced when pissed, optimally halfway between the happy stage
and the falling-about-like-an-idiot stage. This is not a club
to go to when sober. WalkingDead, 5th January 1999 South Side Home | Tales | Sounds | View | Guide | Events | Links
