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Not So Grim Up North
If you’re fed up with clubbing in the Central Belt, or fancy trying something a wee bit different from your normal Friday night, then check out what Scotland’s other cities have to offer.
First stop on our road trip is Perth, home to The ice Factory (6 Shore Road, 01783 630011) — the club which spawned Zammo of The Ark and Atomic Baby fame. While things are very quiet in January, they kick off again big style with a Rhumba Club night on Fri 11 Feb, featuring guest appearances from Mark Moore of S'Express and Daniele Davoli of Black Box. Look out for their manic third birthday in March as well.
Dundee boasts several top venues, although one of its most renowned, The Cooler (Session Street, 01382 220322), which houses nights like Homeless, is shut for refurbishment through until at least March. Console yourself with a visit to The Marquee (Constable Street, 01382 462888), another cosy venue which is home to up and coming house nights Crash and Exodus. For those of you with matric cards, there's always Do This Do That at Dundee’s student union, Mono (Airlie Place, 01382 221841), which regularly attracts guests of high standing.
Despite its reputation as a hard city, Aberdeen is a clubber’s mecca. For those quick off the mark, drum & bass don Grooverider visits TNT at Glow 303 (9 Belmont Street, 01224 648000) on Sat 8 Jan, followed by Ed Rush (Metalheadz) on Sat 12 Feb. Also in the offing at Glow are ex-Death In Vegas man Steve Hellier’s new live act Element at Loaded on Fri 28 Jan and techno expert Dave Angel at Void on Sat 19 Feb. And for those fancying a
More from S‘Express: Mark Moore at The Rhumba Club, Perth
bit of the same, Pure reside here on the first Saturday of every month. Other clubs worth a mention are The Lemon Tree (5 North West Street, 01224 642230) for live band showcase Juice and monthly big name blow out Love Child at the Palace Nightclub (Bridge Place, 01224 581135) who welcome Darren Stokes at Matt Casaar on Sun 30 Jan.
For those who are prepared to truly venture into the wilderness, Inverness club Blue (Rose Street, 01463 222712) has several guest nights coming up. Recently lauched monthly night Relish welcomes Scott Bond of Gatecrasher on Fri 11 Feb, with Dave Pearce dropping into glam Saturday event Big Blue on 19 Feb. (Abi Bremner)
Nomads: Graeme Anderson and Scott Conchar
night. At the Nomad one-off held in October, Alex Paterson from the Orb rocked with a mix of dub, drum & bass, techno and house. ’That night will be the hardest to follow,’ believes Graeme. ’I never expected it to be so eclectic in the one night.’
’Ecelectic’ is an overused word, thrown about when people don’t want to brand what often turns out to be a very specific sound. With Nomad, though, the full dictionary usage of the word is appropriate; the lineups are as diverse as they are interesting. ’We’re getting anyone who we feel is a credible reflection of their genre,’ says
Nomad
There’s no such thing as a sure-fire thing in clubland. Big name DJ! Pah. Cheap cover-charge! And? Swanky venue! Seen better. It’s no wonder that promoters are playing it safe when it comes to risking their money. A direct result is the unfortunate current climate — clubs are very genre specific, using a tried and tested method aimed at a particular crowd.
So we welcome to this melee, Nomad. Backed by the two promoters of Sublime, this new club's name says it all: a nomadic club (although at
Wilkie for the next few months) with no specific music policy; if they like it, they’ll book it.
’We are into different styles of music,’ explains Graeme Anderson, ’beyond just the trance and techno of Sublime, and there are so many artists and DJs out there that we really respect. With Nomad, we can bring in any of the guests that we want to, and not feel as if we have to stick to a certain category of music.’
They would like to take the genre- hopping a step further, cutting through the pigeonholes during any given
Scott Conchar, ’Alex Paterson, the Space DJz and Jon Carter through to Adam Freeland, Kruder & Dorfmeister and Layo & Bushwacka!
’With other club nights,’ Scott continues, ’we would be restricted to putting on a night every fortnight or month. With Nomad, we don’t have to, so there’s no pressure at all. We can do what we want to do With it, which is a nice position to be in, it’s a very fortunate posnion to be in.' (Simone Baird)
I Nomad is at Wi/kie House on Fri 27 Jan with the Space Djz guest/n9 and resident DJ F/ix.
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Club news
. Goings on in clubland
3 FOR AS LONG as anyone can remember, Glasgow's gay scene has
been dominated by the same small
number of clubs, but this is set to
change with a brace of evenings at Planet Peach. The first, Passionality (Come Get Passionate), features DJ Shawn, the second A'Queer’ous sees Shawn joined by fellow DJ Martin. Unsurprisingly, the music policy is concentrated around standard cheese and handbag fare on both nights. See listings for further details.
DEVOTEES OF THE sterling Slam stable club nights will have to wait awhile to get back into the swing of things after the Hogmanay free for all as they are off on holiday en masse, which means no Freelance Science, Relief, Pressure or Bugged Out! til the end of the month.
EDINBURGH'S WEST END is about to get a much needed injection of cool when The Honeycomb's owner Warren Deigh opens a new bar in the area. He and notorious man about town, DJ and journalist Yogi Haughton have teamed up to open the bar in the late spring/early summer, and the pair are currently working on the project. All other details are still being confirmed, and Warren is still looking for a club venue site.
TEARS WERE WEPT and there wasn’t a dry hankie in the house when Cafe Graffiti finally closed on Hogmanay. Luckily however, your favourite clubs will still be running in Edinburgh. The Lizzard Lounge will be at the Bongo Club monthly from Sat 29 Jan, as will Big Beat who kickstart their monthly residency with legend Reuben Wilson on Fri 14 Jan. Meanwhile, Joseph Malik is starting his own night at La Belle Angele with Daryl G. Called Futuristica, the night will be an across the board quality music night, and we expect nothing short of greatness from it. It’s always difficult for promoters to change venues and start new nights, and they truly deserve all your support.
Look out the West End massive, Yogi Haughton's gonna to be in yer face
7—20 Jan 2000 THE “ST 51