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HARD HOUSE
Fuse Glasgow: The Arches, Sat 5 Aug.
Glasgow clubbers took to Trade like 'Crasher kids to a bag of novelty fridge magnets, and when the club’s tenancy at The Arches drew to a close, it looked like fans of high calibre hard-and-fast house would have to put their dancing shoes into mothballs. Thankfully, Fuse stepped into the breach, continuing the long running tradition of high-glamour, dressed-up, first Saturdays that dates to back to long-running feather-boa fest, Love Boutique.
For Danusia, who, with co- promoter Mary Kiani, ran the Glasgow branch of Trade, the new night is a chance to branch out from the template provided by the London iiberclub. ’The contract with Trade came to an end,’ she explains, ’So we decided to strike out on our own. We were acting as agents before, so we were restricted to their policy and couldn’t book any Scottish 015. As regards to Fuse, we’ll have the same music policy, which will be extremely funky, danceable Chicago house, with the important difference that, once we've found our feet, we’ll be looking for new DJ talent from around Scotland. To sum it up, it's going to be the same, but better!‘
’The hard work has been done in Glasgow,’ agrees The Arches’ Sarah Wells, ’And, apart from their regular guests who come from London and across the UK, there seemed to be less and less reason to work on a co- promotion with the people down south. We’ve been working with Mary and Danusia for over a year now, and they brought in a really great crowd of people with brilliant music.’
This month, Fuse is set to continue the association with Trade, welcoming long-standing resident, Ziad. As
’From house to funky house to funky hard house and maybe a bit of techno': DJ Ziad
well as a long career in Dling, from underground warehouse parties way back in 1987 right up to recent bookings at northern superclub Sundissential, Ziad can claim to be an influential figure on the hard house scene. His record shop, Pure Groove, won the coveted first prize in Muzik magazine's awards last year, and the vinyl emporium also serves as a base for the well respected Tripoli Trax imprint.
As for his Dling style, Ziad sticks to the classic hard house musical journey. ’I’m doing the whole night — five long hours! — so I’ll be building it up as | go along,’ he says, ‘You know how it goes: from house to funky house to funky hard house and maybe a bit of techno. I think I’ll have to keep to the harder end of things, otherwise the Glasgow crowd might get upset.’ So the hard house fraternity can rest easy, then, as Fuse looks set to make a name for itself to equal that of its predecessor. (Jack Mottram)
Ti” RRROCK NIGHT
Too scary for the little baby Jesus: Deathlehem
you're as likely to hear head-banging, riff-laden classics as Swedish death metal noise assaults. 'We do try and mix up classic rock and metal,’ says Richie. ’We’ll play Aerosmith stuff for a laugh, or some AC/DC, alongside quite extreme tracks from bands like Refuse or Mashugga. We also try and play tracks by local bands — there are a lot of good bands out there like Confusion Corporation, Fault and Churn. If bands want to bring along their tracks we’ll play them.’
For now, Deathlehem is sticking to the traditional club format, but the promoters have plans to expand their operations to embrace the current upsurge in interest for all things rock.
Deathlehem Glasgow: 13th Note Club, Weds.
Whatever your taste in music, from pumping trance to whimsical indie, it's a fair bet that you can find a night club that will cater to your needs. Unless, that is, your boat is floated by all things hard, heavy and guitar-based. Fortunately for rock lovers who prefer the less commercial end of the metal spectrum, The 13th Note Club has come through with Deathlehem,
28 THE US! 3—10 Aug 2000
where residents Richie, Domenic and Alex are on a mission to provide the best in rocked-up sounds.
'This is the mu5ic I’m into,’ Richie explains, ’and I've always found it hard to find places to go and listen to it. The Cathouse is great for rock, but your chances of hearing bands like Helmet or more varied Pantera tracks are limited because they're a bit too heavy going.’ The Deathlehem music policy isn't limited to the obscure reaches of the metal pantheon, however, and
'There seems to be something going on in Glasgow at the moment,’ says Richie, ’l'm not sure if "scene" is the right word, but there's definitely interest in this kind of music. The plan is to put on live bands, because they provide a good focal point for a night. It’s quite hard doing a metal club as well, because you’ve got to listen to rock music loud to get the full effect. With live music you can get that, and we know there are good hands out there.’ (Jack Mottram)
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Phactfile
Dancing to music is all very well, but it doesn’t really change the world for the better now, does it? If you fancy a chance to party up and salve your conscience, Harem is just the thing. Jack Mottram interrogates his alter ego.
nepalese
What’s it all about, then? Well, some readers may well have noticed the recent vogue for bigotry spurred by evil bus magnate Brian Souter and his utterly vile campaigning. Harem is all set to redress the balance by raising funds for PHACE West, who have been hit by Mrs. Strain’s court action.
Mrs. Strain? Is that a drag artiste? Please, we're going to have to be a little less glib this week. Strain might sound like a bad drag queen pseudonym, but her attempt to use Clause 28/2a to block funding for gay organisations hit PHACE West hard, and their invaluable outreach work and gay men’s HIV prevention project needs a financial boost. The night will also raise funds for Networks, who work in HIV and AIDS education.
Good guys then, what about the party? There's quite a line-up. DJ Class will be on hand to spin some old- school cuts and Craig Reece of Loose Joints should stick to his usual across- the-board, jazzed-up dancefloor selections. On the live front, cult dub combo Nepalese are devising a special one-off set, taking in their tried-and- tested fusion of reggae, house and drum & bass and augmented by special guest vocalist Madame De St. Ange.
How fab. Any other entertainments? Indeed there are. Those who like a tipple will be overjoyed to hear that award-winning barman Chris Langham from Blue will be shaking some new cocktails specially designed for the evening. There’s a raffle too and, apparently, a spot of belly dancing. Glasgow School of Art graduate and top interior designer Lee Sowerbutts will also be collaborating with fellow artist Natalie Astridge to transform the Tron foyer into an exotic Bedouin paradise.
Sounds great. Can we slag Souter off one more time? Certainly, he’s a horrible, narrow-minded little bigot hell bent on fostering intolerance and homophobia who will burn in hell. Nice one.
@ Harem, Tron Theatre Foyer Bar, Fri 4 Aug.