Yeah, we were out in the sticks tonight – Glasgow is a very busy city with gigs galore but there was only really one to be at – to pay homage to one of those game-changer dance albums.
It wasn’t my thang back then. but over the years I’ve grown to appreciate how important ‘U.F.Orb’ really is. ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ was played back to me in the early ’00s, my way into this album, and what an intro, what a track – it’s iconic in its own right and as expected, receives the biggest reaction of the night.
After a slow warm up, boom! – (you’d better be strapped in) – psychonaut Alex Paterson blasts us out of this trouble-torn world of ours and takes us on a journey into a secret corner of the universe where everyone is free and equal and having a great time.
Maryhill Community Centre is a bit of a hidden gem – with an old dance hall in the heart of the building, we soon discovered as the crowd starts to bounce it has a spring-loaded floor similar to another iconic building on the other side of town. Your feet are off whether you like it or not, between the springing floor and shamanic dance beats your brain and body kick in to rhythms thousands of years old for nearly two hours.
There’s hardly a soul under 50 here but they’re raving away like they’re in a small dance tent in Glastonbury at 3am. Except as previously mentioned we’re well off the regular gig trail, and our local guide nearly gave it a miss due to the flu, but he danced till the end, by which time he’d sweated it out.
And it’s fitting that this undiscovered treasure of a venue is host to this legendary act – if they’re playing anywhere remotely near you, make the effort to go see them, you’ll not regret it.