Club Previews

02/07/15

The Kelburn Garden Party

Nightmares on Wax, who headline The Viewpoint stage at the Kelburn Garden Party tomorrow, are part of the fabric of British dance music. A quarter of a century after its release, their 1989 track Dextrous is still acknowledged as one of the movement’s defining songs: it sold 30,000 copies, and its creator George Evelyn told The Guardian in 2009 that “[his] spine went cold” when he saw the frenzy that it created at a rave in an abattoir in Blackburn.

Now going it alone, Evelyn has been living in an Ibizan farmhouse for seven years. For four years he’s been running Wax Da Jam at the oldest club on the island, hosting underground guests like DJ Shadow and Roots Manuva. Expect a transcendent set tomorrow night, encompassing acid house, Balearic beats and some of the legendary tracks he wrote himself.

Elsewhere at the festival – which takes place in the picturesque grounds of the graffiti-swathed Kelburn Castle, near Largs – Optimo take their eclectic DJ policy to the main stage on Saturday, while Mungo’s Hi-Fi make their first appearance at the festival in three years on Sunday. There’s also mesmerising alt-folk from Rozi Plain, conceptual deep house grooves from Romare, and the straight-talking punk poetry of The Girobabies.

• The Kelburn Garden Party, tomorrow – Sunday, Kelburn Castle, £99 weekend ticket

Leisure System

The revered Berlin label Leisure System returns to Glasgow at the Sub Club tomorrow, bringing a lineup of heavyweight names from the German capital. Its founder Barker brings along Hemlock Recordings boss Untold, but the main event is Clark. The Subbie has been waiting for this guy: his intricate, intense productions have made him a cult hero –even in this subculture swarming with cult heroes, Clark is a cut above. Expect the unexpected: you’ll still be raving about this night in years to come. On Saturday, Jasper James and local legends Sensu have free reign at Subculture; deep tech house and a rowdy night are but guaranteed.

• Leisure System, tomorrow, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, £12

• Jasper James and Sensu, Saturday, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, £8

Food Bank Bash

For old school rave tunes with a philanthropic bent, get to La Cheetah on Saturday. The Let’s Go Back crew, consisting of residents Bosco, Rob Mason and JP McGowan, will be dishing out their usual late-eighties and early-nineties house, acid and techno – and they’ll also be donating the proceeds to Glasgow’s foodbanks. It comes hot on the heels of similarly generous gestures from Optimo and Mogwai, and punters can save £2 on the door tax by bringing along some non-perishables for those in need. Round the corner at 69 Below, confirmed legend George Bowie hosts a sizzling summer beach party on the same night, the big man’s two-hour set sure to be one of the highlights of the pre-Ibiza season. Spoiler alert: he might play Bits and Pieces.

• Let’s Go Back… Food Bank Bash, Saturday, La Cheetah, 11pm – 3am, £7/£5

• GBX Beach Party, Saturday, 69 Below, 9pm – 3am, £10

Changing Rooms

By some terrible oversight, we neglected to mention last week that The Flying Duck as we know it is, sadly, no longer. The quirky interior that we know and love is gone, replaced this week by one that’s altogether newer, fresher, and with an improved layout and soundsystem. So, every cloud and all that. The pub relaunches tomorrow night, with London’s Bass Clef, the Night of the Jaguar DJs and David Barbarossa laying down electronica and tribal rhythms. The new bar will have live music from SubCity’s 12th Isle and Unearthly Matters, with the whole affair being recorded and streamed live, via technology, onto the web.

Over at the bottom of Byres Road, Dundonian indie scamps The View are doing a DJ set at the Record Factory on Saturday, while nerds and their admirers should get down to The Art School on Sunday for the Glasgow Comic Con afterparty. Of course, dressing in an elaborate hand-made costume is not just encouraged: it’s all but mandatory.

• Flying Duck: The Relaunch, tomorrow, The Flying Duck, 8pm – 3am, £5

• The View DJ Set, Saturday, The Record Factory, 10pm – 3am, £5

• Glasgow Comic Con Afterparty, Sunday, The Art School, 8pm – 3am, £5

Night Moves

02/07/2015

Scottish Alternative Music Awards Showcase at CitizenM

“This is a beautiful venue full of beautiful people, and it’s not pretentious. That’s the highest accolade I could give anybody.”

We’re in the plush surrounds of the CitizenM Hotel, and Gerry Cinnamon is fingerpicking his way through a set of his modern, socially-conscious ballads. A referendum Woody Guthrie, he praises the audience on their looks and lack of posturing, before striding out onto the floor to finish his set unamplified. As he yells and beats his guitar, the partisan crowd urge him on like they might a football team: shouts of “Mon Gerry Boy!” punctuate the performance.

Cinnamon, who shot to viral fame with his Yes campaign anthem Hope Over Fear, is just one of the acts performing at this low-key gig in the run-up to the Scottish Alternative Music Awards. Another is Michael Cassidy, a Paisley singer-songwriter in the new-folk mould, who impresses with his rich croon and loner-persona tales. There’s no way he’s lonely – he’s much too handsome and his between-song banter is too charming – but the deception is complete, and by the end of his set the audience are rapt.

Similar scenes ensued for Josephine Sillars, a singer-songwriter from Inverness now based in Glasgow. Her winsome, piano-led vignettes bring to mind Regina Spektor and Kate Nash’s early work – and I do mean that in a good way. Kelvin round the night off – a polished indie quartet, their stripped-back instrumentation means that we don’t get to experience their usual power, but there are some saccharinely poppy hooks to be enjoyed nonetheless. Over free beers and the sound of backslapping, it is Cinnamon’s name that I overhear again and again. This spirited singer-songwriter’s fledgling fame was not extinguished by the No vote: there’s a feeling that the best is yet to come from this guy.

Night Moves

02/07/2015

SAMAs at CitizenM Hotel

Q: Who’s your favourite Scottish act of 2015?

1. Michael Cassidy, 28, Paisley

Favourite Club? The Flying Duck

Favourite Bar?

Favourite DJ? Barrientos

Favourite Band? A Sudden Burst of Colour

What You Drinking? Heineken

First Club? The Garage

Describe Your Dancing? Just dreadful.

2. Josephine Sillars, 19, West End, Kathryn Joseph

3. Liam McCormack, 19, Govanhill, Hector Bizerk

4. Sasha Mazhar, 28, Glasgow,

Calum Woodger, 21, Paisley, Vukovi

5. Amie Young, 24, Edinburgh, Jamie and Junie

Richy Muirhead, 26, Glasgow, Martha Ffion

6. Danny Kelly, 24, Lanark, A Sudden Burst of Colour

Pete Duthie, 26, Perth, Prides

7. Nicole Kirkland, 28, Kilmarnock, Fatherson

David Bell, 27, Kilmarnock, Foreign Fox

Diane Allan, 27, Bearsden, Forever

8. Andrew Fyfe, 22, Houston

Bradley Revill, 20, East Kilbride

Conor McGlave, 21, East Kilbride

Michael Biggart, 21, Houston, all said Gerry Cinammon.