Bowie Annual Tribute

After Hogmanay’s feast of fun comes the famine of that dire first week in January, when so little goes on that it sometimes feels like you’re living in Edinburgh. It is, to put it mildly, the pits.

Think of Glasgow’s nightlife as being like a pizza, though. Just as a bad pizza is better than the best salad, so it is with going out here: our worst weeks are still better than what they’ve got going on in, say, Bolton. That is to say that there are still good times to be had, even amid the gloom.

We’ll start on a bittersweet note: The Admiral’s second annual Bowie tribute night. After last year’s packed-out party, which marked the first anniversary of the Thin White Duke’s passing, it’s back with two floors of his best tunes, with a group of DJs taking turns to play deep cuts upstairs and golden-era bangers downstairs in the club. Round up a posse of your fellow Bowie-loving weirdo friends, slap on some Ziggy facepaint and make it a fittingly knees-up tribute to the big man.

Bowie Annual Tribute, Saturday, The Admiral, 8pm – 3am, £tbc

Missing Persons Club

There aren’t many out there who vocally identify as non-Bowie fans, but they do exist. And so those people are going to need entertainment too, on this bleak weekend, no matter how deserving or not they are of it. Luckily for them, it could be a DJ that saves their lives. Namely, the residents at La Cheetah’s Missing Persons Club.

After a series of knockout parties in 2017 that featured up-and-coming guest stars like Dr. Rubenstein and Anastasia Kristensen, the local promoters brought the curtain down on the year with a fifth anniversary special that brought New York-based Volvox and Umfang to Queen Street. Tomorrow night, the club’s residents kick off the new year with a do that sees the first 50 revelers get in for free. “With countless hours of DJ experience between them [in] this world-class wrecking crew,” they said, “this party is guaranteed to keep the fire burning on the dancefloor on the first weekend of a new and exciting year for the club, party and patrons.” We can’t wait to see what guest stars they’ve got lined up for their 2018 La Cheetah residency – stay tuned to these pages for updates.

And at the same venue on Saturday is Lezure’s latest party, which has a handpicked selection of spinners from forward-thing Glasgow radio station Subcity behind the decks.

Missing Persons Club, tomorrow, La Cheetah, 11pm – 3am, free for first 50, £5 after

Lezure with Subcity DJs, Saturday, La Cheetah, 11pm – 3am, £5

Funk Yer Resolutions

If you’re one of those people whose tongue is lodged firmly in cheek while trotting out the usual “new year, new me” platitudes to make yourself sound better, then this could be the club for you. On Saturday night at North Street’s happening Berkeley Suite, local promoters Mind Yer Self host their fifth party, and are giving the club’s particularly hedonistic patrons a free pass to say “funk that” to their resolutions and cut loose properly for the first time in 2018. Expect some soul, funk, Balearic, Italo disco and afro rhythms from resident DJs Lech and Mac, with all proceeds going to support the Scottish charity Penumbra Mental Health Foundation, who provide a network of support services across the country.

Funk Yer Resolutions, Saturday, The Berkeley Suite, 11pm – 3am, £5

The Source Reunion

Scotland’s biggest old-skool reunion makes a welcome return to the city this Saturday, as veteran DJ Mallorca Lee gets the old gang back together for his fourth Source reunion party. Glasgow Techno crew Chill FM – described as “one of the most controversial hard trance acts of their generation,” although we’re not sure why – are headlining. You might know them for their classic old-skool tune Strobelight, but if not there are plenty of other acts to get stuck into; Ultimate Buzz, Dymension, Casio Bros. and Bass Generator are among the highlights. Right off the Richter Scale, this one.

The Source Reunion 4: Welcome to the Earthquaker, Saturday, Classic Grand, 6.30pm – 3am, £20