Optimo 1997-2010

Well, it had to happen someday, and today was that day. It's been announced that the Glasgow/UK club/institution Optimo (Espacio) will be no more as of Sunday April 25th.



It's pretty much dominated clubbing in this town for the last decade, and the Optimo DJs have been hugely influential on the global techno/electro scene. I feel privileged to have played Optimo, and without a doubt the crowd have been the best crowd I have performed to. The atmosphere is electric and you can hear it on the live recordings - it makes up the somewhat shonky musicianship on our part, that's for sure! We've already put out the recording of my show from January 2009 (below) - check out "Work It" and you'll hear the wicked crowd I'm writing about. We have the tapes of the performance at Hogmanay just passed which will probably come out some time soon too. I love this picture of them (them being the Optimo djs Twitch & Wilkes):



Well, there are 7 Optimos left - I won't be able to make all of them but you'll be seein me at the ones I can!



For the full low down, here's the statement they issued:

"The end is nigh….

After 12 and a half years (or around 650 Optimos), we have, after a huge amount of consideration and many sleepless nights decided that Sunday April 25th will be the LAST EVER night of Optimo (Espacio) at The Sub Club.

We have loved doing Optimo with all our hearts, but our hearts are also telling us it is time to call a halt to it. Playing at, organising and promoting a weekly night takes up an enormous amount of energy and there are so many other things we want to do that some of that energy is needed for our other projects. We also need to get our lives and weeks back a little bit and take on new challenges and opportunities (we have to turn down an awful lot of opportunities by being committed to being in Glasgow every Sunday and being wiped out every Monday).

We will continue to tour, promote and release music as Optimo but it will no longer be possible to hear JD Twitch and JG Wilkes dj at The Sub Club every Sunday night.

However, it is not completely over. Twitch played at the Sub Club on Sunday nights for two years before Optimo started and was involved in a Sunday evening club for a few years before that, so it is hard to let go of Sunday night events in Glasgow completely. Twitch and Wilkes will continue to promote Sunday nights at The Sub Club under an as yet to be announced name. The new night will give a platform to the plethora of great djs in Glasgow, bring djs we love to Glasgow and bring live acts nobody else would bring to this city. Sometimes Twitch or Wilkes will play alongside them and sometimes Twitch and Wilkes may play together on a Sunday night but, without Twitch and Wilkes playing together weekly, it won't and can't be Optimo.

Who know what this new venture will morph into but whatever, we hope that the anarchic spirit we brought to the Sub Club in 1997 will continue to prevail on Sunday nights.

So, there are 7 Optimos left. Hopefully we will see some of you before the end. We absolutely intend to go out with a bang.

It's not over until the fat lady sings....."