Before we get started, readers, a warning: this is not a normal weekend. We’re standing on the cusp of a perfect storm of parties, with the eye located directly over the Squinty Bridge: the midway point between the Gorbals and Finnieston. Batten down the hatches, because the next few nights are going to make a night in Saltcoats look like a WI meeting.

A weekend of gale-force carnage begins tonight, as veteran trance trio Above & Beyond bring their laser-toting, euphoria-inducing, “über-melodic trance” to the O2 Academy. Their recent show at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome was described as like “some kind of futuristic maypole ceremony,” which should go down beautifully in the famously progressive and maypole-tolerant Glaswegian trance community.

The group’s brand of slick, synth-heavy toes the line between classic ‘90s stuff and modern EDM, and is popular with ravers of all ages, so don’t be surprised to see a few bare, middle-aged chests down in the thick of it. It finishes early, too, so keep an ear to the ground for after-parties.

The real stuff kicks off tomorrow night, though, with a special Pressure coming-of-age party at SWG3. Alan Fitzpatrick, the high-tempo, minimal techno dark horse tops the billing, although Detroit legend Carl Craig is the night’s marquee name.

Long-considered one of the foremost artists in the Motor City’s second generation of techno producers, Craig is a bona fide hero. And with support from the respected duo Paranoid London, and Berlin-based acts Rebekah and Barker & Baumecker, it could hardly be more of a night for the connoisseur.

The same goes for Saturday’s celebratory gig by legendary electronica duo The Orb, who are bringing a 25th anniversary performance of their classic debut album Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld to Finnieston. The early-90s ambient techno pioneers are masters of the long-form: listen out for the 19-minute “A Huge Ever-Growing Pulsating Brain that Rules from the Centre of the Ultraworld,” or the curt-by-comparison Perpetual Dawn, their 1991 single that clocks in at only nine minutes. One for hardcore fans and those who witnessed it all first time round, perhaps, but an enticing prospect nonetheless.

The weekend finishes in style with a free show from high-profile house DJ Erick Morillo. The Colombian-American floor-filler is throwing a series of intimate UK gigs, and the last one is a doozy. Unsurprisingly, tickets for this disappeared within minutes, but disappointed fans can console themselves at December’s Defected Records party – more on that next week.

• Above and Beyond, tonight, O2 Academy, 7pm – 11pm, £27.75

• Pressure’s 18th Birthday, tomorrow, SWG3, 10pm – 3am, sold out

• The Orb, Saturday, SWG3, 7pm – 11pm, £22

• Erick Morillo, Sunday, SWG3, 4pm – 12am, free

Thunder Disco’s 7th Birthday

The Subbie is similarly busy over the next few days. Tomorrow, it’s a celebratory bash for those Thunder Disco scamps as they mark seven years in existence. The sleazy house honchos have packed in the highlights: huge Halloween parties like SWG3’s Last Warehouse On the Right, sold-out NYE parties at SWG3 with the hugely popular Norwegian producer Todd Terje, futuristic apocalyptic nights at the Art School and rooftop parties overlooking Barcelona at Off Sonar. London hellraisers Horse Meat Disco are supplying the elastic basslines for this sophisticated disco spectacular, with support from residents Hammer and Jubé.

On Saturday, Andrew Weatherall takes over at Subculture. The grizzled wizard of Windsor has carved out a niche career as a DJ, record producer and raconteur since emerging from the acid house scene two decades ago, and has never been known to back down from his singular musical vision. “I’ve been buying music for 40 years… you suddenly wake up and go ‘oh, I appear to have a record collection,’” he said last year. Four decades worth of bangers from a bona fide hero – it’s worth queuing for, no doubt.

The festivities carry on into next week, when Don’t Drop host a special night for the perennially-uncelebrated St Andrew’s Day. Two of the Scottish underground’s finest techno names – Sei A and Stephen Brown – are the guests, as residents McEwan and Torrance get things warmed up.

• Thunder Disco’s 7th Birthday, tomorrow, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, £10

• Subculture with Andrew Weatherall, Saturday, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, £10

• Don’t Drop: St Andrew’s Day, Wednesday, Sub Club, 11pm – 3am, £6