Club nights to return to Glasgow’s Arches after eight years

The event space that was previously The Arches is to welcome its first regular club nights in eight years. The group behind FLY Open Air Festival, Watchtower Group, is launching the series of events titled New World.

Nine dance music events set to run with a 2am licence will feature headline DJ sets in the railway arches.

Tom Ketley, the founder of Watchtower, told STV News: “There’s loads of people that actually haven’t been to this venue. It’s been closed since 2015. There’s also a lot of people that were younger people who are predominantly clubbers, but have never actually been here and never actually enjoyed the space.

“The space here, Platform, has been running as a street food venue. It’s been doing corporate events, and it’s been an event space a number of times. This is the first time they’ll be doing dance music events.

“I think that previous clubbers are going to want to return and the young generation are going to come back. That’s why we’ve given it the name New World, so that we can get that new experience again.”

The Arches was an arts venue and theatre underneath Central Station. Club nights began in 1992 with Slam DJs and Colours creating popular nights alongside stars of 90s techno and electronic music. The club’s late licence was revoked in 2015 and it went into administration shortly after. It’s now home to street food and events venue, Platform.

The promoter said he will work with Police Scotland to ensure it is a safe venue: “Obviously, there’s been tragic news in recent weeks. We’ve worked very closely with Police Scotland on our drug policy. We have a zero tolerance drug policy and our message is clear. You know, drugs are illegal and we do not expect people to bring drugs to the venue.

“We were training with a pure market leader in harm reduction, and we will be working closely with all of them on this and that the event is to ensure that everyone comes to our events and they have a safe and fun time.”

Introducing the event series, Tom Ketley said: “This project is of huge cultural significance for music in Glasgow, Scotland and beyond. Seeing the unfortunate closure of numerous venues in recent years has been hard on the industry. The launch of a new large-scale event series in the city centre will bring job opportunities, boost the local economy, and most importantly provide a music space for the next generation to enjoy.

“The venue’s history is renowned, and it holds a special place in people’s hearts, so we know that today’s news will mean so much to so many. Having delivered safe and successful events in Scotland for the past 10 years we know what it takes to launch a project of this scale. Glasgow is legendary for having one of the best crowds in the world and our aim is to champion that by attracting dance music fans from all over the UK and beyond.’

The New World series kicks off on 21^st October. There will be nine shows in this series and the headliners and line-ups will be released on Tuesday 12 September.

The New World series dates are: Oct 21 28 | Nov 10 11 17 18 | Dec 17 26 31

Watchtower has over 10 years’ experience in large scale events in Scotland, with its club brand FLY operating festivals in locations such as Edinburgh Castle, Scone Palace and Hopetoun House. FLY was born out of club culture back in 2013 with residencies at Glasgow’s Sub Club and Edinburgh’s Cabaret Voltaire. It has been instrumental in unearthing some of Scotland’s best electronic talent in recent years, working closely with the likes of Denis Sulta, LF System and Ewan McVicar.