By Chester Cornford
Glasgow has a vibrant and varied underground dance music scene. This small piece will help you find your way through the fog, and get you on your way to discovering the best clubs and parties in the city.
The main players, club wise, are Sub Club, La Cheetah and The Berkeley Suite. Sub Club is Glasgow’s flagship venue, and if you aren’t aware of it, Subculture on a Saturday is a good way of getting acquainted. Their Tuesday student night, the I Am, is also always busy and a lot of fun. La Cheetah is a smaller venue but has one of the best booking policies in Glasgow. The Berkeley Suite attracts some big names, and it’s also where I run my night, Loose Joints, which is obviously a must.
The Art School can either open its massive assembly hall space, which can put on big parties with high levels of production, or the more intimate Vic Bar. SWG3 is going someway in filling the gap left the by the Arches, and hosts some of the biggest capacity parties in the city.
The 13th Note, Broadcast, and Nice N Sleazy’s are all smaller basement venues that host a wide array of different nights, and should also be kept on your radar. Stereo also has a good sized venue space with a wide variety of nights. The Rum Shack is also responsible for bringing the heat to the Southside, and are hosting more and more interesting parties.
Outside of venues, Optimo, Numbers, Walk n Skank, and Pressure are some of the stand out party starters in the city. Optimo throw bimonthly parties at the Subclub and are a must. Numbers host occasional monster line ups at SWG3, and forward-thinking parties at the Subclub. Walk n Skank provides a weekly haunt for fans of reggae and dub, and Pressure bring some of the biggest stars in big room techno to Glasgow.
Also be sure to check out Rubadub, Palais de Danse and Monorail. These are my three favourite record shops in Glasgow and the people behind them are really friendly and helpful, and will be more than happy to point you in the right direction club wise.
