10:: «at
“’1 ‘ cum. a“ minutiae:
r SPURig
I». sc-
Lucky or some
Perhaps the most legendary Club Scotland has ever spawned, PURE, returns for an almighty one-off 13th birthday special. \‘.’oi:l§;: David Pollock
l. you were to ask the man in the street tor his opinion on the state ol' Scottiin clubbing. the consensus would hay c it that (ilasgow is where it‘s at. l'.\cn residents ol' .-\u|d
Reekie would concede (although there are still plenty ol‘
promoters running quality nights in the city l that the west coast leads the way. What a dillerence a decade makes. though. l-‘or those out there with slightly longermemories might remember the day when it was lidinbui‘gh that held sway. chielly due to the mighty reputation ol a club that was \iewcd as one ol‘ the yery best in Britain at the time: l’ure.
Rememlx‘r that when the night slatted in I‘M). techno was barely out ol' its pram. and that o\ er the ten-year period that l’ure was a regular concern it helped establish the genre as a buoyant. intelligent an town. as well as giying many soon-to- be—household names their Scottish debut. But tastes change. and the Pure engine room ol' 'l‘witch and Brainstorm bade the club a liond l‘arewell in 2()()(). Brainstorm went on to play at nights such as Nameless and Radio Babylon in lidinburgh. while 'l‘witch. ironically. established Scotland's ut/tcr era- delining club of the last decade. ()ptimo tlispaciol at the Sub (‘lub in (ilasgow.
So why haye the old team got back together for this one ol‘l‘ date‘.’ ‘I don‘t think we’re necessarily doing this otit of
nostalgia.’ says Brainstorm. ‘\\'e just want to haye a party. But you still see people that used to come all the time who went and got sensible jobs or had lamilies. so it‘s clearly a good chance for them to get out.‘
So what was the plan when the yery tirst Pure happened in August 1990‘? ()byiously it w asn't to become an institution . . . '.\'o. we just wanted somewhere that was friendly and had its own membership] says Brainstorm. ‘.-\ place you could meet up with lots ol‘ friends and not too many growlers. Because there was a lot of growling going on in clubs around Edinburgh at the time. Of course. we also wanted to play the music we were into. because it wasn't being catered for anywhere else.‘
l’ure times l‘ollowed. So what were the best nights. the ones that made the club'.’ Brainstorm sighs as he tries to silt through l3 years in a l'ew seconds. 'l’robably the lirst time we had Derrick .\lay. on an liaster Sunday around ‘)| or 92] he decides. ‘Because he reminded us that you can also play muyti‘. as well as just pounding drums.’ He continues: "llien there was the tirst time ()rbital play ed . . oi' the night we had Richie llawtin and Speedy .l in. which was tremendous.’ This time round tin addition to 'l'w itch. Brainstorm. Sandy
l’aris .lnr and the other residents). the legendary ligure ol
.\larshall .lel‘l‘erson w ill be making a guest appearance. as well as newcomer .\liss Yetti and old lidinburgh techno layourite lige Bam YttSi. “c.” t’L‘\l\I the urge It) tlcsc‘t'ilk' lllltt tts ‘cggcentric'. and instead point out that the sometime .\lr lagg insists that The 1.1.x! dispense with the pleasantrics and just call him ligg. He‘s also precise about the part that l’ure play ed in his career. which included the techno classic .‘lt'l'tl Indigestion lil’. among others. ‘lt‘s not that they specifically set out to help me. btit I just got on with Pine really well.' he says. "l‘hey liked what they heard in the music. and it took off l'rom theref
It certainly did. because ligg estimates he played Pure around 30 times. 'liy'en though I always play liye there‘s nothing more than curiosity Value for the crowd in seeing me playing up on a stage like the high priest.’ he says. ‘So the thing I liked about it was the tact that there were people all around you - that they could see you on their leyel. and you felt like pan of the crowd yourself.’
He adds: ‘.\'o two gigs are the same. but I'm hoping this one will be just like the old days - mental. in the best sense ol‘ the word.‘
Pure 13th Birthday, Studio 24, 24-26 Calton Road, 558 3758, Fri 29 Aug, 10.30pm-5am, £13.
Remembering the old times with Brainstorm, Miss Yetti and Ege 8am Yasi
z' . g -1 5-2:, x , ‘. THE LIST FESTIVAL GUIDE 89