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BBC: UK Clubs Disappearing?

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  • August 10, 2015 at 7:37 pm #2237211
    Alex Moschopoulos
    Participant

    I think all over it’s just changing times. Here in Chicago, the biggest club closed down to new owners and we’re not even sure what’s going to happen there.

    I work in a company loaded with 20somethings, and for them it’s all about bars now…even ones where you pay up the arse for “craft beers” and “craft cocktails”. Beyond that, they’re all going to festivals.

    In my opinion, clubbing has spent too long in the “VIP Bottle Service” lifestyle. I remember from the early 90s all the way until 2001 or so the clubs didn’t push the tables/bottles thing. The best spots were more “dank warehouse” than “super elegant” and people just went to dance all night to the best music.

    Granted, the “VIP Bottle Service” happened and blew up for a bit. Folks wanted to dress up, be seen, and have elegant nights out. However, I think ever since the 2008 crash that all changed. There aren’t enough trust fund babies out there to fill a swanky spot on a regular basis. Lord knows I’ve seen many spots constantly open and close and reopen with a new name. I think the wealthy have moved on to lavish vacations over hot clubs, and the rest of everyone else simply are not in the mood to pay $20-$30 USD to get in and $8-$15 USD for a drink.

    Plus…the festival scene has more or less built a new rave culture. There aren’t really spots looking to build that lifestyle in their venues, as they’re still trying to milk the last remnants of “VIP Bottle Service”. Even in that video you see it with the warehouse party guy. MOS I think remains viable because of the big names and it’s tourist appeal.

    The youth right now are going to bars…many of which have DJs.

    August 10, 2015 at 11:00 pm #2237271
    Mark Miller
    Participant

    D-Jam, everything you said seems pretty accurate about the USA clubbing scene, but the UK scene is slightly different.

    Bottle service isn’t really a thing in your average club, but drink prices, due to tax hikes, have increased rapidly in the last 10-15 years, whilst supermarkets sell alcohol at a loss to attract customers into their stores to make profit on other products. People would rather drink at home.

    There was also a smoking ban put in place in 2007. That changed the whole industry. People don’t want to go outside when it rains and is freezing for 48 weeks a year. People would rather smoke at home.

    I would also suggest that the whole dance/club drug culture has changed, and Ibiza is only a 2 hour flight away.

    August 11, 2015 at 2:34 pm #2237571
    DJ Vintage
    Moderator

    I know here (Holland) more and more people don’t do the weekly thing anymore, but save up for one or two 2- or 3-day festivals in either Holland or abroad. They blow a wad on ticket, camping and of course drinks and food and just go full out for 2 or three days.

    The festival season is absolutely booming.

    August 11, 2015 at 6:10 pm #2237801
    Alex Moschopoulos
    Participant

    Mark, happy that the UK didn’t fall into the trap the US did. I’d probably then just blame the economics of it all in the UK’s case.

    I do remember long ago, when E was all over the place in 2000 and 2001, a punter said in an interview how it’s cheaper to buy one pill for $30 than spend $30 on a few drinks. Still, I also think the rave culture of the fests and now warehouse parties have become more attractive to many.

    August 11, 2015 at 7:41 pm #2237871
    Ricky Figueroa
    Participant

    Thanks guys for all your comments. Being US-based, I fully agree with D-Jam, but wanna add something from the perspective of someone interacting daily and nightly with university students and who also has a child in his\her early 20s.

    I call this phenomenon either the Festival Mindset or the Boiler Room Mindset, depending on venue and vibe.

    Most (usually White) Millennials ain’t into dancing at all. As an older DJ and still active dancer I’m always appalled at the scenes of young people at clubs, festivals, and even bars and private parties, lining up in front of (or behind) the DJ as if they were at a rock or jazz concert, and while they might scream and bob their heads and wave their arms (depending on the vibe), rarely do they dance with each other at all.

    Granted, we do still see some couples, or maybe a group of three or four girls here and there, dancing on the periphery of the crowd, but most of the crowd is there just to listen to the music, cheer, get wasted, and watch us turn knobs, search for the next tune, mix it, etc.

    BTW, the contrast with the Latin scene is enormous, where the culture of club is still alive. I’m not into hip-hop, so I wonder how these issues operate on that other scene.

    Peace.

    August 12, 2015 at 12:17 am #2238041
    Alex Moschopoulos
    Participant

    The club scene in the US owes its origins to gays and minorities.

    Whites usually follow along…except for the oddballs like us who just dive right into it all. I remember in 8th Grade (1986-1987) I was listening to hip-hop while the males were all into heavy metal and the girls into pop. In high school it was myself and the blacks and latinos listening to house while the whites seemed scared of it…but they would listen to new wave, which often had the four on the floor beat.

    I’m hopeful the US scene is about to change again. As I said, the bottle service thing is played out.

    August 12, 2015 at 12:15 pm #2238401
    Ian Cassanova
    Participant

    I was quite lucky that I was able to enjoy the whole club scene (126BPM House) in England (London) when it first took off. Even before then we had warehouse parties up and down the Southbank and Wapping, East London, Kings Cross etc in old warehouses that were laying idle for years hosting near perfect nights for clubbers. There was no security/bouncers, No curfew when the music had to end, The DJ played pretty much what they wanted, No marketing machines just good old word of mouth and knowing which record shops held flyers for your taste in music. When it moved into underground clubs it wasn’t a bad thing as you did less driving around hunting for the locations and you knew which clubs you were going to that had your kind of music, your kind of girl or guy and where you could take our pharmacutical products and feel safe and in a comfortable enviroment were your choice of DJ played (for more than 60 minutes). The choice was also quite incredible, you could maybe have 5-10 big name DJs pretty much playing in the UK every weekend, You would have say Danny Tenaglia in Leeds, Roger Sanchez in Birmingham, Eric Morillo in London just to name a few. Now you would be lucky to have any three here in one year (I know peoples tastes of DJs have changed over time as well). I am personally not a great fan of Festivals, I think I went to a couple of Lovebox’s when they first started and I noticed ticket prices were hiked up, heavy security (like an airport), sound wasn’t great, less dancing and more people staring at the stage, drugs didn’t go down as well. For some people that might be great but it wasn’t for me & I have never been back to one since. Call me old fashioned but I just preferred getting wasted in the dark in an indoor space. I think this kind of music was designed for an indoor environment although I am imagine that the money is in the huge arenas. Thats probably the problem now “the money” that’s if you want to call it that. It’s such a commercial machine now, maybe the youth of today save up for the big events across the year or do the wine bars or high street commercial clubs that close at 2am?

    August 13, 2015 at 2:17 pm #2239171
    Dom James
    Participant

    I think before you can even start to debate if the club scene is dying in the UK, you actually have to define what a club is?

    Is it the typical Night Club you’ll find stag and hen dos on a Friday or Saturday? or is it places like Fabric and Warehouse Project in Manchester? To the more extreme, I guess pop up clubs like A Wing in Lancaster(Rave in a prison).

    To me a club is the latter. Where you have a proper sound system that doesn’t get ragged, because professionals operate it, with “proper” DJ’s, however you choose to define that and proper visuals & lighting. The little “nightclub” down the road that occasionally does the under 18’s event, that isn’t a proper club, nor can it compete with a well run local event in whatever setting(Personally I now look for unusual venues), and that’s why they’re shutting down.

    I think the UK scene is very much alive and kicking but no longer in clubs. I can go to a poor nightclub, with aggressive door staff, surrounded by idiots fueled on expensive drinks looking for a fight(because that’s how your night ends) on a weekly basis or I can go to a rave in a Prison with international DJ’s, the choice is simple. People who go out for the music are finding themselves in more unique experiences. People who go out to get drunk or to pull are the ones ending up in the closing night clubs, because the clientele aren’t loyal and wont support a venue, they’ll just jump ship to the next crappy place. and to them clubs that are closing, Personally the operators aren’t interested in music, or “vibe”/mood of the club. They’re interested in profit. Money hungry corporate entities after money, and that is why they fail.

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