Clubs PROFILE
Danny Krivit
BANG BANG CLUB Residents Corneilius Pierce (also the promoter) and Stephen Donkin, who go by the names The Baron and The Regent. Guests This time out it’s occasional BBC irregular Jetboy, with visuals provided for the club’s many screens by Lorde Awesome. Recurring local guests have included Kris from Wasabi Disco and Simonotron of Club for Heroes, while live bands like Big Ned and Paul Vickers & The Leg have played.
Music policy ‘We’re trying to play the most diverse range of music in Edinburgh,’ says Pierce, ‘and to avoid falling into any particular scene, so literally everything from rockabilly to drum & bass.’ What they say ‘I’d played in a few garage bands around Edinburgh,’ says Pierce, ‘but I wanted to do something a bit different, a bit more dangerous and edgy. So I started the Bang Bang Club as a kind of performance art night at Cabaret Voltaire’s Speakeasy in early 2009 then moved to the Gilded Balloon at Teviot during the last Festival. We put some bigger bands on there, but it was pretty hard work and a steep learning curve. I think we have the right balance at Electric Circus, though – it’s right in between the Old and New Towns, so the different crowds from each area mix together well.’
What we say The monthly BBC is another reason why Electric Circus is rapidly shaking off the old Massa’s less credible image. The atmosphere is lively, the crowd is stylish but not pretentious, and Pierce will be aiming to repeat its success with his two new alternating monthly nights at the venue (His & Hers and Doppelganger), the first of which is on the 24th of this month. (David Pollock) ■ The Bang Bang Club is at Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Sat 10 Apr.
38 THE LIST 1–15 Apr 2010
DISCO HOUSE MELTING POT’S EASTER WEEKENDER Admiral Bar Basement, Glasgow, Sat 2 & Sun 3 Apr.
Melting Pot: so good it’s taking over the weekend. After a successful bank holiday double-header last year, the underground disco night will be repeating the trick this Easter. On Saturday they’re joined by DJs from the city’s Dance! Dance! Dance! night to pay tribute to the sound of New York’s legendary disco club the Paradise Garage, and particularly its most renowned DJ, the late Larry Levan. Then on Sunday their special guest is Danny Krivit, one-time guest at the Paradise Garage and other famous NY venues like the Loft and the Roxy. ‘Paradise Garage was open from 77-87,’ says Melting Pot’s promoter and resident DJ Andrew Pirie, ‘so its playlist covered a lot of disco and proto-house. We try
to emulate Larry Levan’s anything-goes style ourselves, to mix up old and new, to not play what’s expected of us, to take risks. I think that’s advice all clubs should pay attention to.’ While Melting Pot’s banner sound is disco, its playlist includes everything that’s been influenced by the disco era in the decades since. ‘For a long time, people have been a slave to the 4/4 beat,’ says Pirie. ‘Dance music plateaued and was afraid to change tempo, but recently that’s changed and people aren’t afraid to hear lots of different styles in one night. That’s what we’re looking forward to from Danny, a guy who has something like 50,000 records in his collection: vocal house, disco classics, the odd techno record mixed in really well. The proper New York sound, in other words.’ (David Pollock)
POP/BEAT/GARAGE THE GO-GO 10TH BIRTHDAY BASH Studio 24, Edinburgh, Sat 3 April Edinburgh’s finest beat night The Go-Go has been on the go for ten years and celebrates with a live set from Them Beatles. Here founder and resident DJ Tall Paul remembers his favourite moments from the last decade ‘March 31st 2000, the first ever Go-Go at Walkers Nightclub I was thrilled when 95 people came through the door. Second Birthday Party at Ego, 12th April 2002 Our first ever live night. When The Thanes kicked in, the psychedelic light show went full effect and the go-go dancers jumped up onto the podiums and started grooving, it seemed like the whole place started wigging out. First night at The Venue, 8th October 2005 We tweaked the name to Mondo a-Go-Go and brought punk, ska and new wave into the mix. It was really exciting to be starting the club afresh and in a new venue. Last Ever Night at The Venue, 10th June 2006 That was a very special place, it really was the end of an era. Studio 24, 31st December 2008 I’d always wanted to do our own Hogmanay Party, and I was over the moon when Studio 24 offered us the chance. Studio 24, January 2nd 2010 Heavy snow delayed the Them Beatles coming on stage. Fortunately we had an
Them Beatles understanding crowd and a 5am license. When they finally got underway with ‘Twist and Shout’ the place went mental and Studio 24 became Cavern-tastic. And finally, since December 2009 We’ve constantly been getting a great crowd in through our door. The current crop seem to be really into a the more obscure stuff so we can play a really healthy mix of the more obvious and quite a few garage and psychedelic tracks we don’t always get the chance to air.’ (Interview by Paul Dale) ■ A longer version of this article is available on www.list.co.uk