Since 2005 nearly half of the nightclubs in Britain have closed, according to a BBC Newsbeat investigation.
Asking the question, 'where have all the clubs gone?', presenter Jim Connolly interviews clubbers, DJs and promoters to find out why the number of clubs in the UK has dropped from 3, 144 to just 1, 733 in ten years.
Lohan Presencer is the CEO for Ministry Of Sound one of England's biggest and most popular nightclubs, and he says the country's clubbing and nightlife culture is in a very difficult place currently. “I don't think the number of people going clubbing at the weekend is probably any different to where it was 20 years ago, but I do think they're going to different places,” he tells Jim. “With the advent of later pub opening hours, the smoking ban, student tuition fees and the squeeze that a lot of people are under financially since the recession, I think people are finding different ways and different places go out, so what that's meant is that a lot of the bigger venues have shut down.”
Right across the country, popular and longstanding clubs are saying goodnight and closing their doors: from Archers in Glasgow, to Air in Birmingham and even The End in London, there are fewer and fewer options outside London city for clubbing.
Radio 1 Dance Anthems presenter, Danny Howard says the phenomenon represents a fundamental shift in club culture and the way people experience music in live settings. “ Now you've got major events spread throughout the year: festivals, clubs like Ministry Of Sound who book DJs every single week; but then you do still have your local level of clubbing.”
Renowned DJ/producer, Steve Aoki also weighs in on the debate, saying that despite cyclical trends in the industry, clubs are still important centres for creative expression and cultural evolution. “They're [clubs] incredibly important; this is where culture has thrived and grown. Without those clubs there wouldn't be new sounds, new subcultures in the dance genre being able to grow. You need to have those bases to be able to build, expand and push this culture forward.”
Although the closures may signal a paradigmatic shift in British dance culture from clubs to festivals, self-styled promoters like Manchester's Hugo Moneypenny have responded by returning to the glory days of warehouse rave parties. “The idea of dong warehouse parties is really kind of a nod to years gone by when Manchester was a massive warehouse rave scene,” he explains as he sets up a makeshift club in a mechanic's warehouse.
“There's still people who still go clubbing,” he says, “people want something a bit different; this is much more hedonistic and relaxed, we don't have any rules about smoking inside. It's not a place to come and look cool or anything, it's a place people want to come for the music.”
Kristian and Nichos Arnaoutis, owners of the soon-to-be-open Hidden Nigtclub in Manchester say the dance scene, like anything else, is subject to cyclical trends and mostly comes down to personal choice of the consumer. “Basically it's swings and roundabouts … it's sort of a cycle. I wouldn't say it's changed completely, were just offering an alternative.”
