Festive Clubbing

The festive period has some of the biggest nights of the year and there is a lot to choose from. We dig through the masses of nights and pick out some of the best including the highlights for Hogmanay.

Feature by Neil Murchison | 28 Nov 2011

It’s become the default mode for people to be entirely cynical about this time of year and what it means. This should be a time in which sharing, love and happiness flow through the cold streets, when homeless people smile and leap up to high-five passersby and millions of children have the love of their parents confirmed to them through new Apple products. Instead, some people like to focus on the negatives. They complain that too many people crowd their favourite bars and clubs and that the event that is Hogmanay is just one big anticlimax anyway. Well, they’re right, but that’s why you have to dig a little deeper, go that extra mile and seek out the really good nights. Or, alternatively, pick something that requires tickets and get behind the safety of the doors away from the masses. There is plenty of outstanding stuff to get into without ending up slouched on the sofa gorging on chocolate coins and fantasising about Jackie Bird.

Edinburgh

The Final Departure Lounge

This will be one New Years party where the dispatching of the old will not be compensated with the promise of the new. Departure Lounge has booked its final flight and is sitting in the bar waiting for boarding to commence. It’s been one hell of a journey though, with a suitcase full of memories from over 60 previous shows, and influences from across the globe having been showcased, its loss is going to leave a significant hole in the Edinburgh scene. The final departure has enough in store to keep you going till spring with the nine member brass Orkestra Del Sol headlining with Soul Foundation and the Edinburgh Samba School in support. Tickets £24, 10pm - 5am, Tickets Scotland, Ticketweb, Ripping Records.

Tiger & Woods

Cabaret Voltaire’s Gasoline Dance Machine night has made its mark already this year with a number of great guests and by virtue of having two of the best residents DJs around in Cheap Picasso and Kris Wasabi. It is fitting that Gasoline gets to bring in Hogmanay and the guests are once again rather special. Larry Tiger and David Woods are a secretive duo who have been making hay out of their combined names as Tiger & Woods by releasing EPs such as Hole in One and Caddy Shag. While they may indulge in comedy names their music is the genuine article with some of the most inventive disco infected house around. Considering they gave away their album for free last month there is no excuses not to be fully clued up on them by the time they hit Edinburgh. Tickets £13, 10.30pm - 5am, Tickets Scotland, Ticketweb, Ripping Records.

Mark Ronson and Jaymo & Andy George

The safest DJing hands in the capital on Hogmanay will be those of producer, artist and overly stylish man Mark Ronson for the Official Hogmanay Afterparty being held at the HMV Picturehouse. Before producing Winehouse to stardom and releasing cover albums, Ronson’s days were passed as a DJ and appearances in the last few years at a few RockNess festivals have proved that he is a crowd pleaser. The lineup also features Radio 1 DJs Jaymo & Andy George who not only are the youngest DJs to record an Essential Mix but who then went on to get their own regular show on the station. Their Moda nights have been one of the most successful of the past decade by expanding their genres of interest to include a wide assortment of electro and house and their remixes have been picked up by DJs like Fake Blood and Erol Alkan. Tickets £25, 10pm - 5am.

WE LOVE HOGMANAY with Julio Bashmore 

At Liquid Rooms the time honoured festive tradition of more is a whole lot better is alive and well as they host a Musika/Heavy Gossip/Ultragroove monster which brings the Ibiza giant WE LOVE to the Capital. One of the standouts of 2011, Julio Bashmore, will deliver his bass-propelled take on house – his star has not stopped rising since the year began. Joining him will be Deetron with some utterly compulsive, glowstick techno alongside WE LOVE resident Jozif. Of course, in support are a whole host of Heavy Gossip and Ultragroove residents including Gareth Sommerville and Laurie Neil. Thank your winter gods that there is a full nine hours to enjoy it. Tickets £27.50 + booking free www.musikanights.com

Numbers & Deadboy

Sneaky Pete’s have lined up a pretty awesome double header to snap you out of any festive induced malaise. First up they have a treat for all those utterly impatient people who couldn’t wait until Christmas Day to open their presents as they party away on the night before New Years Eve. Featuring the entire Numbers crew including Jackmaster and Nelson, they will also be joined by London based producer and DJ Deadboy who will be dropping in a set full of his digital heartbreak house. The following night is the real deal with Sneaky Pete’s All Star New Years Eve. Tickets: free, 10pm - 3am.

Toolroom Knights at Ocean Terminal

As part of the independent label’s fifth birthday celebrations Toolroom Knights take over Ocean Terminal for a seven hour spectacular featuring Mark Knight and D.Ramirez. The label has been putting on some of the biggest nights in Ibiza and across Europe this year and the same level of productions will be on show in Edinburgh. Tickets £25 until 5th Dec, £35 after, 9pm - 4am, Tickets Scotland. 

Voodoo Rooms' Vegas Grand Hogmanay Ball

Voodoo Rooms will be putting on two very different nights on for NYE. The first being The Motherfunk Hogmanay Party at Voodoo Rooms itself where they will be playing soul, funk and 80's boogie joints (£5, 10pm-3am).  The second party will be The Vegas Grand Hogmanay Ball at Adam House featuring swing bands, cabaret and burlesque acts including The Loveboat Big Band, Missy Malone and The Vegas Revue. Spread over three floors in the middle of the Old Town it will be the glitziest event of the evening. Tickets £30, Ticketweb, Tickets Scotland, Ripping Records. 

Glasgow

2ManyDJs

At the Academy it’s pretty much organised mayhem once again as 2ManyDJs crash the party with what will be another incendiary chapter in their genre flipping record playing career. 2011 has been a year of reinvigoration for the brothers with the release of the their Radio Soulwax app that has added a further 24 hours of mixes to their already packed mix history. Constantly inventive in their record selections, 2ManyDJs have wrapped up the market in the grimy trash pop aesthetic whilst never forgetting that they are here to make people dance. If you are having a house party this year simply plug your soundsystem into Radio Soulwax and your music problems will be solved. That’s only if you can’t get hold of tickets for the real show though. Tickets £39.50, 10pm - 3am, Tickets Scotland.

Bigfoot's Tea Party's Riverside Hogmanay

If you want something different to bring in the New Year then Bigfoot's Tea Party will be putting on a riverside show on the banks of the Clyde with fireworks, Hogmanay food and a mind boggling 10 hour set of house and techno planned. Confirmed guests already include Bigfoot's regular Simon Stokes, Quail from Animal Farm and Christopher Kelly with more to be announced. Tickets £8/£12 from Tickets Scotland, 6pm-4am.

Hogmanay Threesome at The Admiral 

A Hogmanay Threesome at The Admiral sounds promising enough and on closer inspection the details are even more enticing as three generations of club nights link up for an absolute belter. Upstairs Divine!, now in it’s 21st year, present their Psychedelic Soul Lounge with Andrew Divine and Hushpuppy. Down in the basement it’s a Highlife special with Brian D’Souza playing live with his Auntie Flo project before hitting the decks and then introducing Chilean DJ Alejandro Paz. Melting Pot, closing out their tenth anniversary year, will also somehow manage to cram into the basement with Andrew Pirie and Simon Cordiner on duty for a packed out night. Tickets £12, 10pm - 4am, The Admiral, Aspecto and Hillhead Book Club.

One More Tune

One More Tune take over the SWG3 with a seriously heavyweight line up featuring the aforementioned Tiger & Woods and HaHaHa playing live plus Chungo Bungo and Itch! in support. Tickets £15, 7pm - late, Tickets Scotland.

Optimo Hogmanay 

It wouldn’t be New Year in Glasgow without Optimo playing and this year they are inhabiting The Glue Factory. It has been another massive year for Twitch and Wilkes and the end of their regular Sunday nights has only made their less frequent appearances more anticipated. Tickets £18, 10.30pm - late, Ticket Scotland.

GBX at The Arches

New Year at the Arches is always a biggie and this year GBX are taking over with a night of hardcore with Korsakoff and Outblast on the lineup and Unexist playing live. Korsakoff is the biggest female hardcore DJ in the world and this will be Unexist’s first ever live performance and that’s before the GBXperience room full of Georgie Bowie, Mallorca Lee and Trevor Reilly is taken into account. Tickets £25, 8.30pm - 4am, Tickets Scotland, The Arches box office.

Optimo and Subculture at Sub Club

The Sub Club have a whole raft of great festive clubbing in store with the pick of the bunch being Optimo’s Boxing Day Meltdown and Subculture’s Hogmanay. Bringing in what will be the 25th Year of Sub Club and the 18th of Subculture, this final bash of the year will have all five resident DJs in attendance and one of their favourites from this year returning in the form of Kristian Beyer of Âme. Tickets £10, 10pm-4am, Residentadvisor.net