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The Arches (Glasgow)

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Coordinates:55°51′33″N4°15′30″W/ 55.85917°N 4.25833°W/55.85917; -4.25833
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The Arches
Map
LocationCity Centre,Glasgow,United Kingdom
OwnerArches Retail Company Limited
TypeBar,Theatre,Music venue,Nightclub
Genre(s)Multi-genred
Seating typeSeating/Standing
Opened1991[1]
Closed2015

The Archeswas a bar, arts venue,theatre,live music venue andnightclubinGlasgow,Scotland,which first opened in 1991. It was a not-for-profit organisation, and was situated in theCity CentreunderGlasgow Central stationand theWest Coast Main Linein the brick arches of theviaductleading into the station, with entrances on Midland Street, and (since 2001) an entrance underneathHielanman's UmbrellaonArgyle Street.[2][3]The venue had 7,800 square metres (84,000 sq ft) of floor space which was spread over two floors and seven arches. In June 2015, The Arches announced on their website that the company would go into administration and had no choice but to close down the facility, after its licensing hours had been curtailed.[4][5]

History

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The site of the venue was a previously derelict area below the Glasgow Central railway station, which was converted to house the exhibitionGlasgow's Glasgowduring the city's year asEuropean City of Culture.In 1991, after the exhibition had ended, the space was obtained byAndy Arnold,who would become the venue'sartistic director,for the purposes of creating a theatre. Realising that theatre productions required substantial funding, Arnold decided to stage nightclub events to support his projects, and this practice continued until the venue's closure, the clubbing revenues helping to fund what became one of Europe's leading cultural venues.[1]

In early 2007, The Arches was voted 12th best club in the world by DJs in aDJ Magazinepoll.[6]

In January 2008, Andy Arnold left The Arches to become the artistic director at theTron Theatre.[7]He was succeeded as artistic director and joint chief executive byJackie Wylie,[1]formerly the venue's Arts Programmer.

In April 2015, The Arches announced on Facebook that their nightclub licence had been removed from them. DJs, artists, performers showed anger all over the world. A petition started to reinstate the licence gained over 40,000 signatures, while over 400 figures from the Scottish cultural scene, includingIrvine Welsh,Liz Lochheadand members ofFranz Ferdinand,Belle and SebastianandMogwai,signed a letter asking the Scottish government to ensure that The Arches remained open as an arts venue.[8]

In June 2015, The Arches announced on social media that the company would go into administration and would have no choice but to close down the facility.

The Arches building was reopened as Platform food market since February 2018.

Brickwork: A Biography of The Arches[9]was published by Salamander Street in November 2021 containing accounts from directors, DJs, performers, clubbers, artists, bar tenders, actors, audiences and staff.

Theatre

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Arnold set up The Arches Theatre Company to perform interpretations of work by playwrights includingSamuel Beckett,Tennessee Williams,[10]David Mamet,Harold Pinterand two unperformed works by the novelistJames Kelman,[11]generally receiving favourable ratings from theScottish Arts Council.[12][13] He was also inspired by the size and atmospherics of the space to put on unusual productions such asArthur Miller'sThe Cruciblein the building's damp, dark basement with the audience seated on church pews,Metropolis– The Theatre Cut,a promenade version ofFritz Lang's film featuring a cast of 100,[11]and a staging ofSeamus Heaney's translation of the epic poemBeowulf.[14]For the building's fifteenth anniversary in 2006, Arnold conceived and directed the critically acclaimed productionSpend A Penny,a series of one-on-one monologues staged in the venue's toilet cubicles, featuring work by playwrights includingLiz Lochhead.[15]

When Jackie Wylie took over the arts programme in 2008, The Arches built on its increasing reputation for nurturing emergent talent from across the country.The Guardian's theatre criticLyn Gardnerdescribed the venue's significance under Wylie's direction:

The Arches was one of the reasons that in recent years Glasgow has become a magnet for young performance-makers; many of those who forge careers there take the work on to festivals and theatres across the world. It is as significant as Battersea Arts Centre, in London, in the way it nurtures tomorrow.[16]

Between 2008 and 2015, The Arches developed a whole new generation of playwright-performers, including Rob Drummond, Kieran Hurley,Gary McNairand Julia Taudevin, and performance artists likeNic Green,Robert Softley Gale and Adrian Howells.[17]Wylie commissioned and developed international touring multi-award-winning productions includingNic Green'sTrilogy,[18][19]Rob Drummond'sBullet Catchand Kieran Hurley'sBeats.[20]Drummond credits The Arches with allowing him to develop his work into a career in theatre.[21]Having rebranded and redeveloped the nine-year-old Arches Theatre Festival into Behaviour,[22]an internationally significant festival of contemporary performance which brought companies and artists like Mammalian Diving Reflex, Ontroerend Goed,Gob Squad,The TEAM, Ann Liv Young,Taylor MacandTim Crouchto Scotland,[23]Wylie also co-commissioned performances such as DEREVO'sNatura Morte,[24]andLinder Sterling's 13 hour performanceDarktown Cakewalk.[25]

Nightclub events

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The Arches played host to club nights since 1992 with some nights being promoted by outside companies and others being in-house productions.[26]Notable long-running regular clubs to be held in the venue included:

Slam at the Arches

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One of the first club nights to be hosted in The Arches, Slam ran every Friday between 1992 and 1998. Originally the night was held in now defunct Glasgow venue Tin Pan Alley and later TheSub Club.It was hosted by localtechnoproducersSlambut also featured regular guests, most notablyUnderworldandDaft Punk(in their first UK appearance in 1997).[26]

Pressure

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In 1998, after six years of running Friday club nights at The Arches, Slam created a bigger, monthly event, Pressure, on the last Friday of every month.[27]The night had at least two rooms of music playing mainlyhouseand techno. Pressure saw some of the largest names in dance music play The Arches, includingJeff Mills,Carl Craig,Derrick Carter,Richie Hawtin,Laurent Garnier,Felix da Housecat,Ricardo Villalobos,Boys Noize,Vitalic,andErol Alkan.[28][29]

Other club nights

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Other well-established club nights at the Arches included:

  • Colours (1995)[30]
  • Inside Out (1996)[26]
  • Death Disco (2002)[26]
  • Octopussy (2005)[31]

Alien Wars

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In 2008, The Arches reprieved itsAlien Warattraction, which originally took place in 1992, and transformed it intoAlien Wars.The initial show was anAlien-inspired tour, recreating the atmosphere and horror of the Alien films. Many celebrities were linked to this attraction, when staged in London, including:Sigourney Weaver,who participated;Sylvester Stallone,whose restaurant was next door, and declined to take part; and,Michael Jackson,[32]whose bodyguards visited but apparently didn't finish the tour.[33]Sigourney Weaver, when asked to comment on her experience, said "Although I have been through the movies, I was screaming as much as everyone else."[33]

The organisers, who had a contract for the first attraction with20th Century Fox,the copyright holders to the Alien franchise, decided to go beyond this limitation and develop their own storyline, thus freeing themselves of the contractual constraints imposed by Fox. The 2008 storyline is centred on an alien vessel being discovered in the basement by workmen, guarded by the military for the last couple of years, and to which visitors are escorted by "space marines".[32]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^abc"About Us".The Arches.Archived from the original on 29 February 2016.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^"Find us".The Arches.Archived from the original on 6 July 2015.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^"The Arches: main venue".Data Thistle.Retrieved25 November2020.{{cite magazine}}:Cite magazine requires|magazine=(help)
  4. ^"Press Release: The Arches" left with no other choice "than to go into administration".The Arches.Archived from the original on 12 June 2015.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. ^Henderson, Scott (10 June 2015)."Dark day for the arts in Scotland as The Arches goes into administration".The List.Retrieved25 November2020.
  6. ^"Top 50 Clubs voted by DJs (2007)".DJ Magazine.Retrieved11 February2009.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^"History".Tron Theatre.Archived fromthe originalon 6 January 2012.Retrieved25 November2020.
  8. ^"The Arches: Founder warns of cultural 'damage' to Glasgow".BBC News.15 June 2015.Retrieved25 November2020.
  9. ^David, Bratchpiece (2021).Brickwork.Salamander Street.ISBN9781913630980.
  10. ^"The Arches Theatre Company".Visiting Arts.Archived from the original on 23 July 2011.Retrieved31 March2012.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ab"The silver jubilee of the Arches will be a damp squib".The Herald.Glasgow. 30 April 2016.Retrieved25 November2020.
  12. ^Licata, Tim (6 September 2008)."Arches Artistic Evaluation:Amada"(PDF).Scottish Arts Council.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 1 February 2017.Retrieved25 November2020.
  13. ^Lumsden, Jaine (8 October 2007)."Artistic Evaluation:Gag"(PDF).Scottish Arts Council.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 1 February 2017.Retrieved25 November2020.
  14. ^Fisher, Mark (18 February 2004)."Beowulf".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved25 November2020.
  15. ^Pollock, David (4 October 2006)."Spend a Penny, The Arches, Glasgow".Financial Times.Archivedfrom the original on 11 December 2022.Retrieved25 November2020.
  16. ^Gardner, Lyn (10 June 2015)."The closure of the Arches in Glasgow will be felt around the world".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved25 November2020.
  17. ^"Joyce McMillan: Spirit of The Arches lives on".The Scotsman.5 October 2016.Retrieved25 November2020.
  18. ^"Trilogy by Nic Green".Retrieved24 July2022.Developed, commissioned and presented by Battersea Arts Centre and The Arches with support from Made In Scotland and HaB Arts.
  19. ^"Trilogy, Nic Green".Made in Scotland.Federation of Scottish Theatre.Retrieved25 November2020.
  20. ^Vile, Gareth K. (16 October 2012)."21 Years in The Arches".The Skinny.Retrieved25 November2020.
  21. ^Ainley-Walker, Emma (4 April 2016)."Theatre in Glasgow after The Arches".The Skinny.Retrieved25 November2020.
  22. ^Innes, Kirstin (1 April 2009)."Behaviour".The List.Retrieved25 November2020.
  23. ^"If These Spasms Could Speak"(PDF).Made in Scotland.Federation of Scottish Theatre. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 30 June 2018.Retrieved25 November2020.
  24. ^"Nature Morte".DEREVO.Retrieved25 November2020.
  25. ^"Glasgow arts venue The Arches goes into administration".A-N the Artists Information Company.10 June 2015.Retrieved25 November2020.
  26. ^abcdRichardson, Andrew (18 September 2006)."History of the Arches".The List.No. 559.Retrieved25 November2020.
  27. ^"Slam – 10 Years of Pressure".Discogs.Retrieved25 November2020.
  28. ^Duncan, Chris (26 November 2008)."Pressure's Tenth Birthday".The Skinny.Retrieved25 November2020.
  29. ^"Pressure".The List.No. 603. 22 May 2008.Retrieved25 November2020.
  30. ^"Colours 17th Birthday Party".The Arches.Archived from the original on 27 January 2012.Retrieved25 November2020.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  31. ^"Octopussy – licensed to thrill".Octopussy UK.Archived fromthe originalon 29 December 2011.Retrieved25 November2020.
  32. ^abMcLean, Pauline (5 December 2008)."Alien War".BBC.Retrieved25 November2020.
  33. ^abNorthmore, Henry (27 November 2008)."Alien War".The List.Retrieved25 November2020.
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55°51′33″N4°15′30″W/ 55.85917°N 4.25833°W/55.85917; -4.25833

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