Clubbed to death?

[Gob]

So long to Ritzy and farewell to Cinderella Rockafella – the long tradition of the great British nightclub appears to be on the way out.



Even famous London dance-music clubs such as Turnmills, Bagley’s and The End have succumbed to a process that has seen the UK's total portfolio of nightclubs shrink by almost half from 3,144 in 2005 to 1,733 a decade later.

The statistic from the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) is a signal not just of the effect of the smoking ban and the imposition of student loans but of a fundamental shift in the way a new generation chooses to spend its entertainment budget.

After a week listening to favourite playlists on Spotify, when friends on Facebook and WhatsApp have looked out so many other attractive weekend adventures that will make far better shots on Instagram, another Friday night at Mystique just doesn’t do it. And, as for pulling, there’s always Tinder.



“Millennials favour experiences over stuff and nightclubs should benefit from that,” says Ramzi Yakob, senior strategist of the digital agency TH_NK. “But Millennials also realise that their time is the scarcest resource they have, so why would they spend their precious time revisiting the same experience every weekend?”

According to nationwide research from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, British councils own hundreds of pubs, restaurants and hotels - and even two nightclubs According to nationwide research from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, British councils own hundreds of pubs, restaurants and hotels - and even two nightclubs Marketing expert Mark Borkowski, says that the large nightclub chains were faced with a challenge in creating a unique and photogenic experience. “Social capital is bragging about your experiences and putting them on Instagram or Facebook and the local nightclub is struggling to cut it when there’s so much choice out there.”

According to Yakob, nightclubbing has become for many young people a “couple of times a year” experience, hearing the best DJs on the best sound systems.

He points out that once costly high-end audio equipment can be easily and inexpensively sourced online, meaning that the house party represents a better value option, as indeed do the entertainment offerings from Netflix, Amazon Instant Video or games companies.

Twice a year punters aren’t going to pay a nightclub’s bills. But even for some dedicated music fans, the lure of a night of House music could be reduced by their long hours of listening to playlists on a premium streaming service during daily commutes. The UK is among Spotify’s strongest markets. Felim McGrath, analyst at market research company GlobalWebIndex, says: “In years gone by you would go to a nightclub at the weekend to discover music played by a top DJ. Now you can do that online via a curated playlist.”

Scantily clad performers and acrobats attracted huge crowds to Manumission's Ibiza club nights Spotify, Pandora, Deezer and other streaming services have ensured that today’s youth have easy access to a much wider range of music than their parents and they have correspondingly broad tastes which are hard to replicate for night clubs which have built their reputations around a single genre.

There are potential consequences here for the music industry in terms of building new scenes. Music public relations expert Alan Edwards says: “There’s not a particularly obvious music undercurrent out there right now and you have to ask would there have been a Roxy without punk music, a Hacienda without the Manchester scene or a Gossips without the popularity of reggae?”



Tom Kihl, co-editor of London cultural guide kentishtowner.co.uk and a former deputy editor of DJ magazine, has reported the trend of clubs being forced out of high-rent central locations and making clubbing a more occasional experience. “You are pushing people towards big out-of-town venues and festivals, which are more expensive so people can’t go every Friday night.” Kihl argues that there is “no lack of enthusiasm for dancing to loud music” but acknowledges that, in the world of Instagram, dark nightclubs with flashing lights don’t make for the best backdrops. “These days, people want to take pictures and they need something to take pictures of,” he said.

Millennials know that the special interest leisure activities that they’ve researched online are more likely to lead to finding suitable partners than drunken fumbles in a sticky-floored club. Or else there are dating sites.

A group of girls saying cheers and are having ice cold drafted beer at the local nightclub. A group of girls saying cheers and are having ice cold drafted beer at the local nightclub. Ross Williams, founder of dating group Venntro, says that the days of heading to a nightclub with the aim of meeting the partner of your dreams are long gone. “You might go to a club to dance with friends but not to meet new people,” he said. “I could be on the 6am train to Waterloo and my phone gives me access to far more suitable partners than I could ever find in a sweaty night club.”

Sophie Wilkinson, news editor of women’s lifestyle website The Debrief, says that nightclub bouncers are often focused on preventing drunken fights rather than harassment of female clubbers. “I think websites such as Tinder provide a safer environment for women – it’s a bit easier to filter out any baddies if you are behind a screen.”

She says that many of her readers would prefer the gastronomic alternative of “street food” events to a night out in a club. “There’s real common ground and it makes for a more friendly environment.”

Fabric nightclub, a long-standing fixture of the capital's club scene, is facing closure But Dave Haslam, author of Life After Dark; A History of British Nightclubs and Music Venues, which is published this week, notes that while the mainstream nightclub industry represented by ALMR might have its problems, there are plenty of “maverick underground” venues still thriving.

Assessing the demise of the British night club, he prefers a longer view. “History teaches that the demand for nights out never goes away and hedonism is a very strong tradition in our country even though we are known for being reserved,” he said. “The British also have a great tradition for reinventing ways of going out at night and that’s why we are still seen as a cool country.”

I haven't been out clubbing for years. Back when I lived in Blighty there was a club which had "Over 30's" rave nights, they were great. We're more likely to go out to early music gigs, plays or stand up comedian nights than clubbing now, though given the right circumstance I'd love a night strutting my funky stuff on the dancefloor.

[Long Run]

According to Yakob, nightclubbing has become for many young people a “couple of times a year” experience, hearing the best DJs on the best sound systems.

I haven't been out clubbing for years. Back when I lived in Blighty there was a club which had "Over 30's" rave nights, they were great. We're more likely to go out to early music gigs, plays or stand up comedian nights than clubbing now, though given the right circumstance I'd love a night strutting my funky stuff on the dancefloor.

What? I can't hear you.

[Long Run]

“I could be on the 6am train to Waterloo and my phone gives me access to far more suitable partners than I could ever find in a sweaty night club.”

Just about sums it up.

[Big RR]

Personally, I used to like clubs when they had live bands, but that number shrank throughout the 70s and 80s as club owners realized they could still pack them in and only pay a DJ. And little by little I stopped going. While I appreciate a great sound system, I can get much of the same music experience on my set at home and can listen to what I want, rather than what the DJ or those in the club like. But seeing bands (even good cover bands) is different; I still attend concerts, but I haven't been in a club in over 15 years.

[Sue U]

“I could be on the 6am train to Waterloo and my phone gives me access to far more suitable partners than I could ever find in a sweaty night club.”

Just about sums it up.

Where's the sport in that?

Personally, I used to like clubs when they had live bands, but that number shrank throughout the 70s and 80s as club owners realized they could still pack them in and only pay a DJ. And little by little I stopped going. While I appreciate a great sound system, I can get much of the same music experience on my set at home and can listen to what I want, rather than what the DJ or those in the club like. But seeing bands (even good cover bands) is different; I still attend concerts, but I haven't been in a club in over 15 years.

Me too. Also, being married and having kids sorta slows down the whole clubbing thing.

[Big RR]

Yep, can't argue that. Kids especially; we were married at the time when we went clubbing, but there were no kids waking up early/needing rides/etc.

[MajGenl.Meade]

I went to a club in London once - Samantha's. And no, this video isn't from me but he's right that it was near Regent Street and it was underground.

Also the most boring night I ever had. Wrote a poem "Saturday at Samantha's". One of the most boring poems too.



Didn't bother going to a club ever again. I was 19 or 20 years old and an evening was cheaper, easier and more fun at any of many local pubs

[oldr_n_wsr]

I can't remember the last club I went to but it definately had a band playing.
Speaks? Hammerheads? My Fathers Place?
The Good Rats? Twisted Sister?

The past is a blurr

[Sue U]

Jeez, oldr, I saw the Good Rats playing a college gig somewhere in North Jersey back in 1975, on a bill with Stanky Brown, I forget which headlined; never heard/saw either of them before or since.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Jeez, oldr, I saw the Good Rats playing a college gig somewhere in North Jersey back in 1975, on a bill with Stanky Brown, I forget which headlined; never heard/saw either of them before or since.

They had been playing on long island for years before and after 1975. A few of the guys left the band and then came back. I last saw them in the early 80's at my fathers place I think.
Peppi Marchello died in 2013 so no chance at ever seeing them again. I thought they were good, for a local/regional band.

I saw them up in Buffalo in 77 while in college. Turned a few buffalo locals into Rats fans.

[Guinevere]

It's not even a spouse and children -- even without those things, being a semi-responsible adult that works hard and has all sorts of other obligations (including maintaining a home) makes it more difficult to get to the clubs too. Still there is/was nothing like them, for a great night of dancing your ass off.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I blame my reduced hearing ability on clubing. Who/what can I sue?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Oh wait... the Flats in Cleveland - Pirate's Cove but that was a bar and not a club really. Pere Ubu and Devo....

[Gob]

This is the place I used to go, loved up and loving it large!!

[Guinevere]

My sentimental favorite is a club called Kilimanjaro, which was in Adams-Morgan in DC. Best dancing ever.

[Lord Jim]

which was in Adams-Morgan in DC.

I loved Adams-Morgan...(It was a lot like Soho in NYC, or SOMA here in 'Frisco.. )

Aside from the bands and the clubs, there was a great Ethiopian Restaurant called The Red Crescent...

Great place to start off with an inexpensive exotic dinner and a bottle of Tej, (Ethiopian honey wine; the African version of the European "mead"...)

And then hitting the clubs, and then more often then not...

sex...

(Don't give me that "too much information" thing...you asked... )

[Guinevere]

It was the Red Sea, not the Red Crescent, old man

But my favorite was Meskerem.

And no, no one asked.

[Sue U]

Hey, I ate at the Red Sea a few times; never heard of Meskerem, but as I recall there were a few Ethiopian places in Adams Morgan back then (what, early-mid 80s?), before serious gentrification. Maybe you were at the next table? Yeah, great food, good times.

[Lord Jim]

It was the Red Sea, not the Red Crescent, old man

I stand corrected; it was The Red Sea, not The Red Crescent...

(But everything else I said stands... )

[Guinevere]

Red Sea was good - it closed a while ago. Meskerem was, imho, the better of the two and lasted longer. It apparently just closed earlier this year. If you never went, you were missing something.

And yes, this was the late 80s and early 90s. The Kil was closed, sadly, by the time I finished law school in the mid-90s and was going downhill before then. I remember the shooting discussed in the article - I was still going there at the time. The article describes the scene very well. International. Cultural. Great music and dancing. Very polite and safe for women. I usually went with a pack of friends that included a bunch of men who were returnEd Peace Corps volunteers who loved the culture and the mixing of nationalities. But I could go on my own and feel totally fine. Indeed you could dance and have fun and stay an arms length away, or you could get a whole lot closer too, if that's what you wanted (hey, Jim brought it up first).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/l ... e3ad1fb0e/.

Ah youth. Sigh.