Sub Club XXX – Harri & Domenic @ Sub Club, Glasgow, 1 Apr
As we know, age is just a number – and evidently so, as a 30-year-old Sub Club has all the youthful exuberance of any other burgeoning club in our dear green place. Unlike the drunk dancing uncle at Christmas who really should just sit down, we will confidently egg on the Subbie to keep on keepin’ on dancing as it's arguably one of the best in the world.
The flagship night Subculture is the current longest running house and techno night in the world and it's fitting for the dynamite Glaswegian duo Harri & Domenic to kick off the first in a series of Sub Club XXX birthday celebrations by playing all night long. The basement where Subbie now inhabits was formerly a speakeasy called Le Cavé, an after-hours spot in the 50s and 60s which apparently played host to the likes of Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald after gigs in the city. Harri began DJing in the club when it was known as Lucifers in 1985, before it opened its doors as The Sub Club on 1 April two years later. Domenic then joined in 1992, and over the years, the club has hosted a 'who’s who' of underground music.
The queue for this evening’s festivities is unsurprisingly long as there were no advance tickets available. The first 150 guests on the night are greeted with a glass of bubbly and a Subculture: A House Music Experience CD of tunes selected and mixed by Harri back in 1997 (the back of the CD states “for your car, ageing computer or home entertainment system").
This warm welcome is a testament to the inclusive ethos the club holds and tonight's celebrations are as much for the punters as they are for the venue. The room is filled with birthday balloons and new XXX neon signs and the music is of course, on point. With a cultured mix of new cuts and old house classics, the pair have the ceiling-slapping approval from tonight's diverse crowd. Their entire set is comprised of a raucous and tangible energy and as the clock strikes four (am), we're sad the night has to end.
Reaching the big three-oh for some is the beginning of an existential crisis but for Subbie it's the complete opposite, basking in a huge sense of achievement of reaching this milestone. May the club continue sound-tracking revellers' nights for many years to come because we'll always enjoy one more tune.
Catch KiNK (live) at Subculture on 8 April for the next instalment of Sub Club XXX