Dance music events will no longer take place at The Arches site, owners confirm

Dance music events will no longer go ahead at former Glasgow nightclub The Arches following licence changes, new owners of the site have confirmed.

According to the BBC, the home of the once legendary nightclub is undergoing a £2.5 million revamp to turn it into a bowling alley and games bar after it was taken over by entertainment chain Lane7.

The Argyle Street venue was acquired by Lane7 in late 2025, and insisted at the time that it would continue to host live music events as it had under the name Platform, which ran shows featuring the likes of Radioactive Man, Sasha and John Digweed.

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The acquisition came a decade after The Arches was shuttered for good following a controversial decision from Glasgow’s licensing body to impose a midnight curfew on the club.

The BBC reports that the same licensing body approved an application from Lane7’s owners on Friday, May 15, which included a term to "remove the reference to club style dance events" at the venue and allow children to access the venue until 8:PM.

Licensing lawyer Audrey Junner said on the decision: "Alcohol is very much ancillary to that entertainment in these types of venues. The Lane7 concept is a perfect example of that type of operation."

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She argued that the night time economy is moving in the entertainment direction and away from clubbing, claiming (via BBC): "I think importantly for Glasgow it means the preservation of a historic entertainment space in the heart of the city."

Junner also argued that the owners of Lane7, who run some 20 sites across the UK and Europe, are "very experienced at running this type of premises across the country".

[Via BBC]

Gemma Ross is Mixmag’s Associate Digital Editor