Sven Vath, Pressure & Cotton Cake, The Arches, Glasgow, Sept 1

The anticipation could definitely be felt as Slam welcomed the minimal talents of Cocoon legend and tonight's headliner, Sven Vath, as well as the first night at The Arches for Cotton Cake, Glasgow School of Art's previous tenants. The main Arch saw Slam play another excellent warm-up set before Sven appeared on the decks to play for the last three hours. Despite missing his last night at the Arches through illness he resisted the temptation to play too many trusted minimal techno records, and many of the tunes sounded ferociously fresh. The relentless onslaught that soundtracks the Cocoon Club in Frankfurt and Ibiza peaked with the superb This is Sick by Solid Groove. Cotton Cake also had a successful debut despite the late cancellation of Digitalism. Housemeister stepped in at the last minute, and together with Yousef, played sets that were harder than expected and kept the place heaving. [Sean Mcnamara]