Spontaneous nights out are a thing of the past thanks to the cost of living crisis. If I want a night out now I have to be realistic about what I can afford which usually leads to pre drinking more before I go because I can’t afford to drink much when there or just going out a lot less in general and planning, picking and choosing my nights out.
Now I’m in a low wage bracket so not sure if that’s the same right the way up the scale. But it’s the case for me. I don’t think it’s as simple as clubs reducing their prices. Given their operating costs have likely increased substantially.
Here in belfast the lack of taxis is a huge issue, with no other nighttime public transport to speak of many people would rather go to a bar and catch the last bus home around 11 or maybe get a taxi at 12 when it’s easier than try go clubbing and be unable to get a taxi when the clubs all empty out at once
The scene needs a refresh imo, nightlife in the uk is trash. Clubbing drifted so far from it’s roots. Give me an illegal rave any day over what 99% of clubs are offering here.
If there is less demand for clubs, then I don’t think it’s tragic if some close. Most young people live in uni towns or big cities, and I’m fairly sure just about every one of these towns/cities will still have a few left for the people that want to go. You could support clubs financially, but honestly it is a truly very disposable thing, I think supporting other causes related to the cost of living crisis is probably better. When I was a student, I also couldn’t afford to go out three times a week like some other people, and while I enjoyed when I got a job and more disposable income later, I would never compare this to the suffering of people not having enough money to properly heat their flats.
It’s all.about cost for me. In london, entry being £15 and shots being a fiver means i stopped going often
Pub for the football then back to someone’s kitchen when the pub shuts is half the price of going clubbing & much more fun.
Coupled with bouncers who care more about beating people up/re-selling drugs they take rather than maintaining a safe space free of weapons and you have this.
It is quite depressing to read stuff here… It is like the Great Britain is under tremendous great stress.
Is it any surprise ? Clubs are fucking expensive. Pay to get in. Then pay over the odds for drinks at a time when prices for everything is going up. Can’t justify spending it on a headache and poor quality booze.
How much of this can be pinned down to the absurd over saturation of clubs in big cities?
I can think of atleast 10 venues in Nottingham that can fit close to 1000, then dozens more smaller venues that would still be considered clubs, not to mention the amount of bars throwing club nights. Even if half those venues closed their doors I can’t see people caring too much compared to say a local pub.
Cheap to purchase venues with the potential for massive profits off the back of almost randomly obtained popularity doesn’t exactly seem like something the government needs to step in and save.
Allowing pubs to stay open past 11pm was the killer blow for nightclubs.
It was bloody expensive when I was a students in the early 10s. I could easily spend over £30 on drinks, entry fees, a kebab and a taxi home in one night. I would do that once a week but I know people who were going out every other day and spending a hell of a lot more per night. With inflation, that will only have gone up and people just cannot justify it anymore, even if they would love to go out more. Plenty of nigthclubs are shit anyway, playing the same songs and doing nothing to really distinguish themselves from other clubs, it is no wonder so many are shutting down. When people cannot afford to go out and clubs do little to make themselves appealing, it was only a matter of time before the bubble burst.
Here’s what *COULD* save nightclubs…. and just hear me out.
Safe party drugs.
You offer people a stimulant that the club sells them. It is all rigorously tested and the labs they are made in are regulated and inspected. It could be some kind of synthetic novel drug, there are tons of them out there these days, or it could just be plain old cocaine or ecstasy.
There is already a huge market for party drugs, why not just give people a safe (relatively) way to do it and allow the clubs to make some money in the meantime.
That and decent DJs plus a good PA system will bring the punters back in. Especially how the young are drinking way less and are interested in using party drugs to keep up all night.
Around 80% of the nightclubs in my town are owned by one guy with a very questionable past. I doubt the vast majority of the money going through their books is from selling alcohol.
Shit music, expensive drinks, an abundant amount of bellends ready to kick off at any minute.. why would anyone choose a club for a night out over a decent bar/pub with a far better atmosphere?
I my town our last night club closed before the pandemic. They were trying to keep it open by having fitness classes in there before the clubbing. Sounds like such a good idea but it ended up with lots of women in there waving glowy sticks around for a bit of fun. It didn’t catch on. I don’t know what happened to the place. I would have loved to have done something with it to keep people coming back to thy he gown centre but there’s just nothing some skint blinky could do.
Everything in this country that was overpriced and ripping people off to survive is dying because now that people can’t afford to go there or do that activity they’re dying and you get to read about the poor owners in the newspapers and how nobody is coming to their business and they should have help. Welcome to the capitalist free market system where if the people don’t wanna pay for what you offer you die.
Even before covid people were starting to get fed up with getting ridden raw at every opportunity out of pure greed. Cloakroom tickets have jumped from £1 to £3-4+. Entry fees, ludicrous drinks prices. Hounded in the toilets for money for a spray of Joop. The actually club experience never improved and none of that extra they raked in was every filtered through to staff who now feel like the my actively hated you being there as you spend £30 on 4 vodka and cokes while their wages never moved. Same shitty DJs playing the same tunes almost like clockwork. The industry killed itself then covid came along and planted that final nail.
Its just nightclubs going out of fashion not the end of the world. They are crazy low capital businesses so someone will reinvent them again shortly.
Imho nightclubs are to blame. Sure energy costs don’t help, but for years they’ve pandered to shit cultures.
I haven’t set foot in a nightclub in my town for nearly 10 years, because they are complete shitholes, full of dickheads that can’t keep their hands to their self, and serve overpriced knockoff drinks. Does anyone want a Jay Bomb 🤣 ffs.
Will be glad to see the back of 99% of these rotten dumps.
Expensive, long queues at the bar, muppet bouncers, disgusting toilets – the list goes on.
Most of Central London comes to mind and Shoreditch when thinking of the worst places to go out.
More places need to give value for money such as red/ yellow door in London.
I can’t remember the last time I was in a nightclub or bar. Where I live we have a rock/metal pub with a venue attached to it and if my friends/girlfriend/and I go out we go there to support an independent that hosts some seriously cool bands.
Plus, the dickheads on drugs aren’t out looking to start a fight
The other half leaves my car radio tuned to capital dance. I have yet to hear a song played on it that I didn’t hear 20 odd years ago.
I get clubs don’t all need to play house, and I’m probably way out of touch at this point, but it seems like people are less interested in music you can dance too.
Isn’t this just awesome rugged capitalism at work? Either you have what it takes to survive and thrive in your chosen industry, or you fall off and got queue up at the job centre with your former employees.
A lot of you seemed to go to *terrible* clubs that should have been shut down in the Eighties.
Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town?
Men pay extortionate entry fees while women get in free?
Nah thanks, I’ll head down the local pub instead.
I know what. Stop charging stupid prices for watered down drinks, sticky floors and toilets with a fucking attendant in them.
They’re expensive as shit and full of knobheads. Either pretentious knobheads in the pretentious clubs or your classic common or garden knobheads in every other club
I think it is good that it has become more acceptable for people like me to stay home with a cup of tea without fear of “not living one’s life properly”. I don’t like loud noises or atmospheres, I like to be able to see what’s around me and most of all I like a controlled environment where I can choose who to interact with and be left alone by others.
it’s because young people dont leave the house anymore
Dating apps killed clubs. People don’t need to go club looking for a hook up now just go online and you can have one by the weekend
Have ran a live music venue/club and worked in it for a total of 12 years now. Numbers were down pre pandemic. It’s a sad scene. We have always positioned ourselves as the alternative to what the more “mainstream clubs” offer. I.e. minimal house offerings, more indie, emo, pop punk lead nights but it’s a struggle still all round.
well yeah the culture shifted and that’s not how you get laid any more
5 pubs have closed where I live in the last 2 years. One of which was a much loved music venue for which there is no replacement in the town.
Things looked like they were picking up before covid but coming out of lockdown into a recession has really kicked some places while they were down.
£10 a shot, if you somehow cant make money from that pricing, just close
Cost of living + less young people drinking. That’s the market, baby, adjust or perish. I’m not going to a club just to be rinsed dry for a shit night out. I’m also not 21 anymore.
Just wish it was was easier to get home after, no public transport after 11pm just kills it for me
I haven’t been on a night out since before the pandemic and I don’t see that changing. I’d rather sit at home with mates than a bar with loud shitty music that noone is listening to.
Even before coivd and all this though I feel the whole night out thing was dying
Im the grand old age of 31 and pretty much no one I know can be bothered to go out anymore
Even new years
Clubs are just grim. When you’re younger they’re exciting and fun. But when they turn the lights on at the end of the night and you realise its just a dim room with music and expensive drinks, you kinda realise its a waste of money.
Student nights get subsidised to an extent and that audience is their bread and butter but then they don’t tend too spend much and won’t touch the most lucrative services like table service and bottles
Another problem is the novelty of them wears off pretty quickly after about 21 , they are a nightmare to pull in , usually too loud , too expensive and too dark
My local “PRYZM” is a miserable experience and i haven’t been in about 10 years
I did go to a decent club in southampton a few years back , switch i think it was called it was very very busy but they seemed to get the atmosphere just right .
Sad times. Same with pubs. People should get down the local before it’s gone
No company or industry has a God-given right to exist. If the public demand for your services reduces, then you close and find something else to do.
43 comments
Spontaneous nights out are a thing of the past thanks to the cost of living crisis. If I want a night out now I have to be realistic about what I can afford which usually leads to pre drinking more before I go because I can’t afford to drink much when there or just going out a lot less in general and planning, picking and choosing my nights out.
Now I’m in a low wage bracket so not sure if that’s the same right the way up the scale. But it’s the case for me. I don’t think it’s as simple as clubs reducing their prices. Given their operating costs have likely increased substantially.
Here in belfast the lack of taxis is a huge issue, with no other nighttime public transport to speak of many people would rather go to a bar and catch the last bus home around 11 or maybe get a taxi at 12 when it’s easier than try go clubbing and be unable to get a taxi when the clubs all empty out at once
The scene needs a refresh imo, nightlife in the uk is trash. Clubbing drifted so far from it’s roots. Give me an illegal rave any day over what 99% of clubs are offering here.
One thing that this article overlooks is the changing culture about drinking. There were some stories [earlier in the year](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jul/24/gen-z-for-zero-tolerance-why-british-youth-are-turning-off-booze) about how 26% of people aged 16-24 don’t drink at all (compared to 19% of the adult population), and that those numbers have been slowly increasing over the years.
And not many people go to nightclubs sober.
If there is less demand for clubs, then I don’t think it’s tragic if some close. Most young people live in uni towns or big cities, and I’m fairly sure just about every one of these towns/cities will still have a few left for the people that want to go. You could support clubs financially, but honestly it is a truly very disposable thing, I think supporting other causes related to the cost of living crisis is probably better. When I was a student, I also couldn’t afford to go out three times a week like some other people, and while I enjoyed when I got a job and more disposable income later, I would never compare this to the suffering of people not having enough money to properly heat their flats.
It’s all.about cost for me. In london, entry being £15 and shots being a fiver means i stopped going often
Pub for the football then back to someone’s kitchen when the pub shuts is half the price of going clubbing & much more fun.
Coupled with bouncers who care more about beating people up/re-selling drugs they take rather than maintaining a safe space free of weapons and you have this.
It is quite depressing to read stuff here… It is like the Great Britain is under tremendous great stress.
Is it any surprise ? Clubs are fucking expensive. Pay to get in. Then pay over the odds for drinks at a time when prices for everything is going up. Can’t justify spending it on a headache and poor quality booze.
How much of this can be pinned down to the absurd over saturation of clubs in big cities?
I can think of atleast 10 venues in Nottingham that can fit close to 1000, then dozens more smaller venues that would still be considered clubs, not to mention the amount of bars throwing club nights. Even if half those venues closed their doors I can’t see people caring too much compared to say a local pub.
Cheap to purchase venues with the potential for massive profits off the back of almost randomly obtained popularity doesn’t exactly seem like something the government needs to step in and save.
Allowing pubs to stay open past 11pm was the killer blow for nightclubs.
It was bloody expensive when I was a students in the early 10s. I could easily spend over £30 on drinks, entry fees, a kebab and a taxi home in one night. I would do that once a week but I know people who were going out every other day and spending a hell of a lot more per night. With inflation, that will only have gone up and people just cannot justify it anymore, even if they would love to go out more. Plenty of nigthclubs are shit anyway, playing the same songs and doing nothing to really distinguish themselves from other clubs, it is no wonder so many are shutting down. When people cannot afford to go out and clubs do little to make themselves appealing, it was only a matter of time before the bubble burst.
Here’s what *COULD* save nightclubs…. and just hear me out.
Safe party drugs.
You offer people a stimulant that the club sells them. It is all rigorously tested and the labs they are made in are regulated and inspected. It could be some kind of synthetic novel drug, there are tons of them out there these days, or it could just be plain old cocaine or ecstasy.
There is already a huge market for party drugs, why not just give people a safe (relatively) way to do it and allow the clubs to make some money in the meantime.
That and decent DJs plus a good PA system will bring the punters back in. Especially how the young are drinking way less and are interested in using party drugs to keep up all night.
Around 80% of the nightclubs in my town are owned by one guy with a very questionable past. I doubt the vast majority of the money going through their books is from selling alcohol.
Shit music, expensive drinks, an abundant amount of bellends ready to kick off at any minute.. why would anyone choose a club for a night out over a decent bar/pub with a far better atmosphere?
I my town our last night club closed before the pandemic. They were trying to keep it open by having fitness classes in there before the clubbing. Sounds like such a good idea but it ended up with lots of women in there waving glowy sticks around for a bit of fun. It didn’t catch on. I don’t know what happened to the place. I would have loved to have done something with it to keep people coming back to thy he gown centre but there’s just nothing some skint blinky could do.
Everything in this country that was overpriced and ripping people off to survive is dying because now that people can’t afford to go there or do that activity they’re dying and you get to read about the poor owners in the newspapers and how nobody is coming to their business and they should have help. Welcome to the capitalist free market system where if the people don’t wanna pay for what you offer you die.
Even before covid people were starting to get fed up with getting ridden raw at every opportunity out of pure greed. Cloakroom tickets have jumped from £1 to £3-4+. Entry fees, ludicrous drinks prices. Hounded in the toilets for money for a spray of Joop. The actually club experience never improved and none of that extra they raked in was every filtered through to staff who now feel like the my actively hated you being there as you spend £30 on 4 vodka and cokes while their wages never moved. Same shitty DJs playing the same tunes almost like clockwork. The industry killed itself then covid came along and planted that final nail.
Its just nightclubs going out of fashion not the end of the world. They are crazy low capital businesses so someone will reinvent them again shortly.
Imho nightclubs are to blame. Sure energy costs don’t help, but for years they’ve pandered to shit cultures.
I haven’t set foot in a nightclub in my town for nearly 10 years, because they are complete shitholes, full of dickheads that can’t keep their hands to their self, and serve overpriced knockoff drinks. Does anyone want a Jay Bomb 🤣 ffs.
Will be glad to see the back of 99% of these rotten dumps.
Expensive, long queues at the bar, muppet bouncers, disgusting toilets – the list goes on.
Most of Central London comes to mind and Shoreditch when thinking of the worst places to go out.
More places need to give value for money such as red/ yellow door in London.
I can’t remember the last time I was in a nightclub or bar. Where I live we have a rock/metal pub with a venue attached to it and if my friends/girlfriend/and I go out we go there to support an independent that hosts some seriously cool bands.
Plus, the dickheads on drugs aren’t out looking to start a fight
The other half leaves my car radio tuned to capital dance. I have yet to hear a song played on it that I didn’t hear 20 odd years ago.
I get clubs don’t all need to play house, and I’m probably way out of touch at this point, but it seems like people are less interested in music you can dance too.
Isn’t this just awesome rugged capitalism at work? Either you have what it takes to survive and thrive in your chosen industry, or you fall off and got queue up at the job centre with your former employees.
A lot of you seemed to go to *terrible* clubs that should have been shut down in the Eighties.
Do you remember the good old days before the ghost town?
Men pay extortionate entry fees while women get in free?
Nah thanks, I’ll head down the local pub instead.
I know what. Stop charging stupid prices for watered down drinks, sticky floors and toilets with a fucking attendant in them.
They’re expensive as shit and full of knobheads. Either pretentious knobheads in the pretentious clubs or your classic common or garden knobheads in every other club
I think it is good that it has become more acceptable for people like me to stay home with a cup of tea without fear of “not living one’s life properly”. I don’t like loud noises or atmospheres, I like to be able to see what’s around me and most of all I like a controlled environment where I can choose who to interact with and be left alone by others.
it’s because young people dont leave the house anymore
Dating apps killed clubs. People don’t need to go club looking for a hook up now just go online and you can have one by the weekend
Have ran a live music venue/club and worked in it for a total of 12 years now. Numbers were down pre pandemic. It’s a sad scene. We have always positioned ourselves as the alternative to what the more “mainstream clubs” offer. I.e. minimal house offerings, more indie, emo, pop punk lead nights but it’s a struggle still all round.
well yeah the culture shifted and that’s not how you get laid any more
5 pubs have closed where I live in the last 2 years. One of which was a much loved music venue for which there is no replacement in the town.
Things looked like they were picking up before covid but coming out of lockdown into a recession has really kicked some places while they were down.
£10 a shot, if you somehow cant make money from that pricing, just close
Cost of living + less young people drinking. That’s the market, baby, adjust or perish. I’m not going to a club just to be rinsed dry for a shit night out. I’m also not 21 anymore.
Just wish it was was easier to get home after, no public transport after 11pm just kills it for me
I haven’t been on a night out since before the pandemic and I don’t see that changing. I’d rather sit at home with mates than a bar with loud shitty music that noone is listening to.
Even before coivd and all this though I feel the whole night out thing was dying
Im the grand old age of 31 and pretty much no one I know can be bothered to go out anymore
Even new years
Clubs are just grim. When you’re younger they’re exciting and fun. But when they turn the lights on at the end of the night and you realise its just a dim room with music and expensive drinks, you kinda realise its a waste of money.
Student nights get subsidised to an extent and that audience is their bread and butter but then they don’t tend too spend much and won’t touch the most lucrative services like table service and bottles
Another problem is the novelty of them wears off pretty quickly after about 21 , they are a nightmare to pull in , usually too loud , too expensive and too dark
My local “PRYZM” is a miserable experience and i haven’t been in about 10 years
I did go to a decent club in southampton a few years back , switch i think it was called it was very very busy but they seemed to get the atmosphere just right .
Sad times. Same with pubs. People should get down the local before it’s gone
No company or industry has a God-given right to exist. If the public demand for your services reduces, then you close and find something else to do.