ARCHES 21ST THE ARCHES:
21 DEFINING MOMENTS
Glasgow’s cutting edge venue comes of age this year. To celebrate, The List picks some of the stand- out moments in its history
OCT 1991 1. CAFE LOCO DEC 1994 4. MASSIVE ATTACK
First set up as an experiment by Arches founder Andy Arnold to bring theatre to clubbers, Cafe Loco showcased numerous emerging and experimental performers including early sightings of performance company Mischief La Bas. APR 1992 2. ALIEN WAR One of the i rst events of its kind in the UK, this scream- fest through the Arches’ basement was inspired by Ridley Scott’s Alien. It’s back this autumn for its 20th anniversary (see preview, page 16). OCT 1994 3. NATIONAL REVIEW OF LIVE ART
The festival comes to the Arches, where it would stay until 2010, showcasing international work by the likes of American performance artist Ron Athey and Alastair MacLennan’s monumental burnt-out car piece ‘MAEL’ (1996).
‘I have so many fond memories of working in the Arches. If I had to pick just one it would be by Alastair MacLennan. In 1996, his work MAEL 69/96 occupied a whole arch for three days. Simple lines of lightbulbs with the level pulsing from near-darkness to a sort of half- light, illuminated lines of burnt-out cars while the soundtrack listed the names of every person killed during the conl ict in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1996. There’s always some sound leakage between the arches so for days I was aware of the haunting list of names and, like most festival visitors, I dropped into the installation regularly. On one occasion, Alastair appeared out of the darkness and placed a small child’s shoe in front of one of the cars before slipping back into the shadows. It was one of those magical moments – a simple gesture with such a big emotional impact – the kind of thing that only live art can give you.’ Nikki Milican, artistic director, National Review of Live Art 1979-2010 14 THE LIST 18 Oct–15 Nov 2012
The era dei ning, chillout trip-hop duo perform at the venue. AUG 1993 5. LEIGH BOWERY AT LOVE BOUTIQUE
Infamous performance artist Leigh Bowery thrills (and no doubt shocks a few) clubbers with his ‘live birth’ performance at this anything-goes club night. SEP 1997 6. CREAM
The Liverpool house night takes over the 2000-capacity Arches, with 5000 clubbers queueing up Midland Street all the way to the Clyde, hoping to sample a taste of the global club brand. NOV 1997 7. MOGWAI First home headline gig by the post rock local heroes. ‘My favourite memory of playing the Arches was when we played after Mogwai Young Team in 1997. It was our i rst proper headline show in Glasgow where we were playing to lots of people we didn’t know. It was a really magical night.’ Stuart Braithwaite, Mogwai FEB 1992 8. CONQUEST OF THE SOUTH POLE
A young Robert Carlyle performs at the Arches in this show produced by his theatre company, Rain Dog. JAN 2000 9. THE END PART II The i rst performance of the new millennium, The End Part II took place as the bells chimed midnight in the middle of a packed Hogmanay club. NOV 2002 10. DEATH DISCO BEGINS
The renowned underground electro club opens its doors for the i rst time.
‘I remember, while I was a student, working with a performance collective called BarArt. We made performance interventions for night club settings and
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Pressure Dante’s Inferno, 2006
Goblin, 2011