Arches Live! has become the traditional start of the autumn season in Glasgow. Although running later than usual this year, it still has its perennial mixture of familiar artists and emerging talents. The festival kicks off with Rob Jones' AARG!!!, which promises performance action in the dark basements, via an interactive mystery that is equal parts immersive theatre and parlour game. Later, there is visual art (Katie Gallagher subverting the sexually-charged adverts of American Apparel), an intense 'sensorial experience performed using singing bowls, medicinal noise music, restorative attention and chakra clearing frequencies' (FK Alexander), a meditation on turning 30 from Amy Conway and the return of live artist Stephanie Elaine Black in a ritual evocation of the marriage ceremony.

Thomas Hobbins is also returning after last year's cycling endurance solo show. 'This time I am developing a piece on an idea I had before,' he says. 'So the piece is called, Max Powers Says. It's about a self-help master / motivational speaker called Max Powers and the show explores ideas around self-help and decision making.' Unsurprisingly, Hobbins has a hidden purpose. 'It's a immersive participatory performance where the audience are welcomed to Powers' very own self-help seminar workshop. Powers is fun and very persuasive: but a darker undercurrent is at play … '

FK Alexander appeared at Into the New in January, and then at Buzzcut, showcasing her unique ability to fuse experimental music and heartfelt emotion. Deconstructing stereotypes of the chanteuse, her performances are a bewitching blend of live art and noise music. Promising a healing experience, she makes use of both Tibetan instruments, drones and the structure of meditation.

With both Jack Webb and Louise Ahl in the line-up, as well as the promise of Smashy Smashy from Edinburgh-based poet and activist Harry Giles, Arches Live! is full of its usual verve, vim and vigour, a snapshot of now and a prediction of future glories. 

The Arches, Glasgow, Thu 2--Sat 11 Oct.