THIS IS NOT THE SCENARIO WE HAD IN MIND
When we posted about All the Clubs Have Been Closed Down some time ago, our focus was on the closure of clubs and venues around the UK and not so much a lament as a rally call to support the great places and incubators of music. The current crisis has given this new meaning and it’s worth a revisit to remind ourselves of the importance of the club and venue, and how much we miss them. Most importantly of all, write a note to self that once we reach the other side, we will support those clubs and venues like never before. They are in the main independent and will need every one of us queuing at the door.
From our original post – ALL THE CLUBS HAVE BEEN CLOSED DOWN
It’s the way of the club world – the promoters and club owners have a concept, an idea and they need a place to play it out. All that’s available are the forgotten buildings in the forgotten parts of town. They breathe life into those buildings, resuscitate them, and support the nightlife economy where no one else will go. That continues for a few years or a decade or so, but only until the light of the property developer finally starts to illuminate that part of town. The buildings and that part of town are no longer forgotten. And the club? “Thanks for keeping the place alive now it’s time to move on” is the message from City Hall.
So that’s it. All the clubs have been closed down. You can’t really expect anything other than that from those elected to serve. With “multiple interests” they have more than just the clubbers to think about. They might talk about the night economy and the youth but beware the politician in a baseball cap.
Clubs come and go sure enough. They grow, they boom and sometimes they die. The owners might mismanage them, the clubbers might grow tired of them or the authorities might screw them down. Survival of the fittest applies here more than anywhere in the market economy. The closure of clubs is well documented on the Underground blog and we all know that trend of other nightlife spending, whether it be food stalls in shipping containers or weekend sessions in Prague or Berlin are eating into the nocturnal £.
So is it the end of the road for the Club? We don’t think so. Is it just time for a remix or a re-imagination of the club? In Manchester the flames burn ever bright with the Warehouse Project. Curated events in varying locations – it’s a concept that works. Not tied to one place and able to adapt to constantly changing landscape the WHP has created a mobile brand. The Coventry Empire is filling its floors most nights with live music or club nights of one genre or another. Back in London, Fabric returns and the girls at Pussy Palace have it under control at their house party or residency.
ALL THE CLUBS HAVE BEEN CLOSED DOWN is not a lament, it’s not a shout from another age. It’s none of that it’s a defiance. We know your game and we are onto it. Close a club – but we will open another.
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Underground presents an ongoing series of reports on venues past and present that have played a part in supporting the underground music scene, with a special emphasis on those venues supporting diversity in music, women in music, independent labels and the local music scene.
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