Return To Atlantis - ONLINE ONLY

Leader line: One of Glasgow's most influential nights makes a welcome return to the club scene during the upcoming festive period.<br/><br/>Pull Quote: ""Atlantis was part of an era which acted as a catalyst for the scene we have now.""

Feature by Colin Chapman | 11 Jan 2007
Between 1990 and 1994, Atlantis at the Sub Club set the standard for Saturday night clubbing not only in Glasgow, but across Scotland, and formed the precursor to two of the city's most successful and long-established nights, Subculture and Pressure. Borne from the late eighties acid house boom, it saw Subculture's Harri join forces with Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle of Slam, to form the now legendary Atlantis residents line-up.

"The venue had been crying out for a great Saturday night," explains Atlantis promoter, now Soma Records Managing Director, Dave Clarke. "The owners had been caught on the hop after acid house exploded, with a dated Saturday night still playing soul and hip-hop more than house... I had been running the Slam nights with Orde and Stuart since 1988, including a weekly Friday at the Sub, when the owners asked us to take over Saturday nights; we asked Harri to join us and Atlantis started in April 1990."

Luckily, Glasgow was basking in the title of European City Of Culture that year and as a result the club had a weekly 5am licence, serving only to fuel the hedonism the night became famous for. "Each Saturday was special with the crowd going berserk every five minutes," Harri recalls. "It was nuts. You could barely move or see anything due to the amount of people and the smoke machine being in overdrive. We had ultra violet lights around the sidewalls which would get an amazing cheer when they were turned on and an equally big cheer when they were turned off."

"It was at a point in time when a scene was beginning," adds Clarke. "There was also a great communal spirit and the night had a very social aspect... I remember the hands in the air and the smiling faces – taxi drivers would queue up outside at the end because they wouldn't get the grief that drunks give them, instead they'd get shiny happy people and decent tips!" Unlike today's club scene, the night's success was built around the residents rather than guest DJs, though a few did appear; Andrew Weatherall, Justin Robertson and Bobby Konders, as well as an early live appearance by Mike Pickering's M People, but one in particular sticks in Clarke's memory: "Alfredo from Amnesia in Ibiza... he only left the island once that Summer and came to play for us - that was a special night."

Though house held the strongest influence on the club's music policy, back then it was a broader church and hadn't split into the myriad of offshoots so prevalent today. "It was fairly eclectic," explains Harri, when he describes the night's sound. "I remember playing the Andy Weatherall mix of Primal Scream, 808 State, Strings of Life, Fool's Gold, Sueno Latino and David Morales Red Zone dubs, that sort of stuff. Over time it seemed to move from more melodic based house to slightly deeper and tech-ier sort of stuff; Detroit techno definitely became a stronger influence."

"As DJs who bought records every week, Harri, Stuart and Orde had one eye on educating the crowd and the other on entertaining," Dave adds. "House, dub, acid and techno and some vocal music were all incorporated - the policy was to stay ahead, but as weekly residents the guys could build particular tunes into Atlantis anthems along the way."

Atlantis came to an end in Spring 1994, as Stuart and Orde's musical taste became increasingly techno-orientated and the popularity of Slam, their Friday night club at the Arches, grew. The success of the four-year residency has helped the pair and Harri carve their own niche in clubland, illustrated by the ongoing success of Pressure and Slam's recording career, as well as Harri's near thirteen-year, Saturday night Sub Club residency. "Atlantis was part of an era which acted as a catalyst for the scene we have now," says Clarke, reflecting on the night's legacy. "It played a big role in the start of house music's domination on youth culture and that era provided many amazing records as its soundtrack."

Atlantis DJ Chart

1. M1 – 'Feel The Drums'
2. Clive Griffin – 'I'll Be Waiting'
3. LFO v Fuse – 'Loop'
4. Last Rhythm – 'Last Rhythm'
5. Robert Owens – 'I'll Be Your Friend'
6. Robert Armani – 'Circus Bells'
7. Lil Louis – 'Blackout'
8. KC flight- 'Voices'
9. Capricorn – '20hz'
10. Sueno Latino – 'Sueno Latino (Derrick May Mix)'
11. Ralphi Rosario – 'Instrumental Need'
12. Vaporspace – 'Gravitational Arc of 10'
13. Slam – 'Positive Education'
14. Rhythm is Rhythm – 'Strings of Life'
15. 808 State – 'Pacific State'
16. FPI Project – 'Rich In Paradise'
17. Alison Limerick – 'Where Love Lives'
18. Moby – 'Go'
19. Bam Bam – 'Where's Your Child'
20. Adonis - No Way Back'

Atlantis Revisted with Harri, Orde Meikle and Stuart McMillan, Sub Club, Glasgow, Dec 30
11pmÐ4am, £10 http://www.subclub.co.uk & www.slamevents.com