Clubs PROFILE
AREA 51 PRESENTS BLAST OFF 2011 What is it? Nice’n’ Sleazy’s now- traditional New Year’s Day party, for anyone who thinks one whole day of partying just isn’t enough any more. Time to get out your beds or ignore the body’s craving for sleep entirely as Blast Off sets you up for 2011 in its own special way.
Residents: Gordon Mackinnon, aka GK Machine (Zoo Muzik), one of the original residents of Area 51 when it ran at Sleazy’s from 1994 on. Guests: This year a tasty double bill of JG Wilkes (Optimo) and Spudd (Radar) is promised. ‘Although it’s a case of waiting to see who turns up,’ says Mackinnon. ‘It’s pretty informal like that. I’ve missed it once myself and it’s my own party.’
Music policy: ‘Anything you can dance to, from The Cramps to Siouxsie & the Banshees. Psychedelic, prog rock, techno, funk . . . it’s hard to sum it up in a genre, but let’s say psychedelic turbo-sleaze disco. It’s a day you can get away with playing a lot more, because the crowd are already softened up, as it were,’ laughs Mackinnon.
How did it start? This will be the 16th year of New Year’s Day mayhem from Blast Off and assorted guests. ‘Area 51 only ran for two or three years, then I moved on to nights at the Art School and elsewhere,’ adds Mackinnon.’ Our first New Year’s Day party in 95 was such a success, though, that we’ve run one every year since.’ What’s it all about? ‘It’s totally insane. Or rather it’s a continuation of the night before’s insanity, sometimes we’ve turned up and people have been queuing at the door without having been to bed, sleeping on the pavement. The atmosphere’s relaxed but crazy, and it works on minimal flyering and word of mouth only.’
Where will it all end? Who knows as we almost didn’t get a Blast Off party for 2011 as it is, as GK explains: ‘I thought last yea would be the last one, but one of the guests at it told me they’d organise it this time if I didn’t want to. I thought what the hell, I might as well. It’s just too much fun.’ (David Pollock) ■ Nice’n’Sleazy, Glasgow, Sat 1 Jan.
52 THE LIST 16 Dec 2010 – 6 Jan 2011
G Child
FESTIVE BEATS CHRISTMAS CLUBBING Various venues, Glasgow & Edinburgh, 25 & 26 Dec
If staying in with the family just isn’t your thing over Christmas there’s a few options to get you out on the dancefloor. Things are a bit quieter on Christmas Day itself with a few chart and party venues opening their doors (including the North Pole Party at the Garage, Glasgow which promises fake snow); however the annual Taste Escape Christmas Party (Liquid Rooms, Edinburgh) is bowing out this year as Fisher & Price play out one last Chrimbo dance selection.
By the time Boxing Day rolls around out come the big guns: Colours Winter Party (Arches, Glasgow) featuring Sander Van Doorn, Menno de Jong, Mauro Picotto, Fergie, D Ramirez and more for a hot house/trance/techno mix. There’s more house at the Sunday Circus Boxing Day Party (Studio Warehouse,
Glasgow) with special guest Dyed Soundorom (Freak n’ Chic); but if you want something a bit harder Darkside Meets Infexious (Soundhaus, Glasgow) welcomes Holland’s Neophyte, The Beholder and Tymon.
Karnival’s Boxing Day Soma Party (Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh) features deep techno and house from Slam and Silicone Soul; while the Madchester (Liquid Room, Edinburgh) celebrates its 16th Boxing Day party with a guest DJ set from Clint Boon (Inspiral Carpets); if you fancy some dubstep and bass check out DJ Producer at Mutiny (The Store, Edinburgh) while Tipsy (Lulu, Edinburgh) supply the hip hop, R&B and urban with G Child (1 Xtra). But if you fancy something homegrown, Optimo (Sub Club Glasgow) and Tackno (Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh) both open on Boxing Day. (Henry Northmore) ■ See listings for full details and even more events.
HOUSE/TECHNO A GUY CALLED GERALD Animal Farm at the Sub Club, Glasgow, Mon 27 Dec
For a man who’s had a two-and-a-half decade career in electronic music, including some definitive mid-90s work on the UK jungle and drum & bass scene, Gerald Simpson will be forever known for the fruits of a very brief moment in his career. It was during acid house’s year zero in 1988 that the Mancunian DJ and producer’s enduring anthem ‘Voodoo Ray’ exploded off the Hacienda’s dancefloor and across the UK. ‘I’m proud of ‘Voodoo Ray’,’ he says, on the line from his home in Berlin, ‘and I know it’s a reminder of the good old days for a lot of people. But it’s annoying in a way, because at the time it was something new and completely different, and that’s how I feel about electronic dance music. It should always be pushing on and doing something new. The past should only be a reference. But attention for a lot of the work I’ve done since then has been blocked by ‘Voodoo Ray’.’
On the other hand, such warm feeling for the track more than two decades on does allow him to continue playing high-profile sets like this, an almost entirely live performance of much of his back catalogue. Simpson describes the virtues of this approach with a producer’s enthusiasm and a wariness of the flat tones of much of today’s commercial electronic music. How could he have ensured his legacy endured further? ‘What I should have been doing was selling out as soon as I got in the charts,’ he laughs, ‘like all the people who started underground and then ended up producing Madonna or whoever.’ Fortunately, he managed to resist. (David Pollock)