Not my first time, but I am in refined clothes, standing outside the nightclub, questioning my life choices, flashing in the sunlight.
Fortunately, for all involved, it’s 4:30pm rather than 4:30am. I’m not out to the club. My friends and my gags (all, for example, femmes d’un exece -ge) dance, drink and wave in the air so that we don’t mind. The mission has been completed.
But when the lights are on at 9pm, we are all out of the club, but we still have time to go home on public transport. I’ll be in bed by 10pm. This is a daytime club. It’s a revelation and I’m a convert.
Daytime clubs and what is called “light” clubs – events that end by midnight – offer a rare bright spot for what has been a dark environment for British bars and clubs. According to the Night Industry Association, which represents companies operating in the sector, the total value added (a measure of productivity) of the night economy was £43.3 billion in 2023, compared to a high of £47.5 billion in 2019.
The reasons for the club’s decline have been well rehearsed and have been accelerating since the pandemic. Higher costs and stricter regulations for venues. And most materially, as children have, is a “shift in atmosphere.” Health-conscious young ‘uns don’t seem to want to forget that the world is burning out by listening to a series of electrobeats in a windowless warehouse with rooms full of drunk strangers. No, I don’t know what’s wrong with them either.
The results are amazing. According to CGA Nielsen’s NTIA Quarterly Night Economy Tracker, the number of UK nightclubs plummeted to 835 at the end of 2024 from 1,240 when lockdown began in March 2020.
The problem is that hedonistic ideals clash with the reality that they are part of the “sandwich” generation
As a result, anyone born between 1965 and 1980 has come to X, with no Boomer or Millennials born. Will our sacrifice never end?
“What we’re seeing is that a crowd of 18-30 young people wants an immersive club experience,” says Michael Kill, head of the NTIA. “The older crowd wants that pleasant experience and collective involvement in dance.”
Of course, that business approach is much cheaper to implement. “It’s true that (old) clubs support younger age groups.
The problem is that the hedonistic ideal, dubbed diplomatically as a “distinguished club,” clashes with the reality that a child/old relative/pet/pet/high stress/mortgage and “sandwich” generation is part of the “sandwich” generation. I think this was known as “middle-aged.” And that’s hard enough without a sense of existential regret that hangovers, lack of sleep and a tendency to create traditional clubs up to early hours.
For the venue itself, the daytime club makes perfect sense. It uses large buildings that are otherwise redundant during the daytime. So, to save the nighttime economy, promoters switched to doing the same thing during the day. Simple. My learned colleagues on the FT Economics team would call this an efficient sweating of idol assets.
Traditional clubs used approximately 13% of their licensed time. That’s now up to about 30%, Kill explains. “There’s an understanding that we have to make them pay to make up for the increased costs,” he says.
Daytime clubs are as diverse as nighttime counterparts. There are embarrassing cheese fests that I have experienced, called guilty pleasures. Then there’s the underground rave. There are also more sophisticated events with famous DJs, such as Annie Mac before midnight. But all of this is different from clubs (and also open during the daytime) that host “family raves” to parents bringing their children. Of course, these have their place. But to state what is obvious, they also have children.
My Hard Scrabble Report on the Frontline provided some top tips on the daytime club. You can thank me later.
First: Lean in, hard. This is not a time to be too cool for school. The sequins, theme group outfits, leather chaps (or in fact, all three come together) are perfectly appropriate. You’ll get one at a glance within the club, but I can’t guarantee an afternoon approach down the High Street. Second: Number strength. These are definitely not lonely events of solo cruising. Third: I’ll go early. This is too late if you leave it to the time you believe it’s better suited to the club, as it’s time to order gin and tonics in a polite society. The dance floor is foolish to be thrust into by already drunk middle-aged people and be kicked out of such a disadvantage. We will introduce the aforementioned children/elder relatives/pets/high stress jobs/mortgages.
But for a few hours, the daytime club offers a little rest from all of that. Why do you grow up and go home? Now you can grow up and go home – all by 10pm.
Email Caroline at Caroline.binham@ft.com
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