I remember The Electric Circus from the 60s -- shows you how old I am. More history: before TV (which took off in the early 50s), every town or neighborhood of 20,00 or more had a nightclub where local talent could get started and established talent could tour. Sinatra, Martin and Lewis were maybe the last Greats who got started in little clubs (in northern New Jersey in all their cases, as I recall). Near where live in northern Virginia, there was a fire house where a local girl used to come by and sing -- Patsy Cline.
I think the dance club scene has been declining since about '05. You had disco in the late 70's, the 80's dance music of the late 80's, and techno/rave/EDM of the late 90's to early 00's. Since then, there really hasn't been any new dance music. Even though I have not been in a club for 15 years, this fact alone tells me that the club scene has to be dying.
I think another factor that has killed it is that more and more clubs adopted what I call the "strip club" business model where they have VIP reserved seating, bottle service, and a host of other expensive services that have made such club unwelcoming to those not willing to pay that kind of money to enter them. I heard about this trend starting around '05 or so. I think this trend originated with the Miami club scene of the 1990's. No one talks about this trend in relation to killing clubs. But I think it is significant.
Of course Tinder has helped to destroy clubs, along with the general tendency of young people being overall less outgoing these days.
Anyways, the hottest women are not found in the clubs. They are found in the fitness gyms.
Interesting. Last week I attended three events on consecutive nights. The first was a DJ's Birthday party/gig at a rooftop patio, 50/50 crowd and the women were grim, dyed and tattooed. Life is too short to hang with ugly women, went home at 11. On Friday I attended my friends night club on the other side of the city. The guy - girl ratio was like 60/40 in favor of the girls..I was happy. However, the owners of the club were not happy. This ratio shift occurred just before Xmas and has continued to the day. The problem...women are too cheap. If the boys are not buying them drinks then they tend to nurse their drink all night long...club revenue is down and the owners are looking for new ideas. On Saturday, I went to a hall party / fundraiser, a polka band was playing, I was expecting the worst. How wrong I was. The women there were beautiful, they wore dresses!!!, between sets I could talk to aforementioned women, it was great! I went home that night thinking this could be the future...Polka bands at hall parties.
I do not think it is dying. In my city they still have them.
It's more of an age thing. You age out of it.That, and once you have a wife or a steady girlfriend, you have no reason to go. Even if I did not, a nightclub would be the last place I would hunt.
Economics-wise, you are really pouring resources down the drain. The cocktails and beers are expensive and the mixed drinks are watered down. You also have to tip because it is the right thing to do and if you do not, the bartender will hate your guts. If you are a typical lush like myself, for a 2 to 4 hour excursion I may drink 6 drinks. This means price ranges from 3 USD a drink for cheap PBR in my area to 10 USD a drink for top shelf stuff at the best night club. I could buy a six pack or a bottle.
Safety, too. If you accidentally drink too much you can leave yourself open to DUIs and stuff. Even if you are in a large city with affordable cabs, your productivity is down the drain the next day.
If you are going there to meet girls, horrible place for most.Guy/girl ratio can be as bad as 1 girl for every 4 guys. Add to that, most of the girls are with someone or are there to drink for free. In my younger club years, I maybe got lucky once every two months going to a place once a week. That is a 1/16th ratio. I hear many did much worse.
It was not quality hook ups. They crank up the music so loud, you can not have any discussion without yelling. Sitting there with my overpriced drink, not being able to have conversations is boring as heck.
Dancing? I've taken ballroom dancing. A drunk, low tier girl rubbing her butt against my midsection is cool and all. But, that's not dancing. Freaked out on X drinking water by themselves? That's not dancing, either.
Maybe I am getting old.. but I think it is more wisdom. I want my money back from my 20s in those places. And the hangovers.
I remember The Electric Circus from the 60s -- shows you how old I am. More history: before TV (which took off in the early 50s), every town or neighborhood of 20,00 or more had a nightclub where local talent could get started and established talent could tour. Sinatra, Martin and Lewis were maybe the last Greats who got started in little clubs (in northern New Jersey in all their cases, as I recall). Near where live in northern Virginia, there was a fire house where a local girl used to come by and sing -- Patsy Cline.
ReplyDeleteLink to your original article ?
ReplyDeleteI think the dance club scene has been declining since about '05. You had disco in the late 70's, the 80's dance music of the late 80's, and techno/rave/EDM of the late 90's to early 00's. Since then, there really hasn't been any new dance music. Even though I have not been in a club for 15 years, this fact alone tells me that the club scene has to be dying.
ReplyDeleteI think another factor that has killed it is that more and more clubs adopted what I call the "strip club" business model where they have VIP reserved seating, bottle service, and a host of other expensive services that have made such club unwelcoming to those not willing to pay that kind of money to enter them. I heard about this trend starting around '05 or so. I think this trend originated with the Miami club scene of the 1990's. No one talks about this trend in relation to killing clubs. But I think it is significant.
Of course Tinder has helped to destroy clubs, along with the general tendency of young people being overall less outgoing these days.
Anyways, the hottest women are not found in the clubs. They are found in the fitness gyms.
Interesting. Last week I attended three events on consecutive nights. The first was a DJ's Birthday party/gig at a rooftop patio, 50/50 crowd and the women were grim, dyed and tattooed. Life is too short to hang with ugly women, went home at 11. On Friday I attended my friends night club on the other side of the city. The guy - girl ratio was like 60/40 in favor of the girls..I was happy. However, the owners of the club were not happy. This ratio shift occurred just before Xmas and has continued to the day. The problem...women are too cheap. If the boys are not buying them drinks then they tend to nurse their drink all night long...club revenue is down and the owners are looking for new ideas. On Saturday, I went to a hall party / fundraiser, a polka band was playing, I was expecting the worst. How wrong I was. The women there were beautiful, they wore dresses!!!, between sets I could talk to aforementioned women, it was great! I went home that night thinking this could be the future...Polka bands at hall parties.
ReplyDeleteI do not think it is dying. In my city they still have them.
ReplyDeleteIt's more of an age thing. You age out of it.That, and once you have a wife or a steady girlfriend, you have no reason to go. Even if I did not, a nightclub would be the last place I would hunt.
Economics-wise, you are really pouring resources down the drain. The cocktails and beers are expensive and the mixed drinks are watered down. You also have to tip because it is the right thing to do and if you do not, the bartender will hate your guts. If you are a typical lush like myself, for a 2 to 4 hour excursion I may drink 6 drinks. This means price ranges from 3 USD a drink for cheap PBR in my area to 10 USD a drink for top shelf stuff at the best night club. I could buy a six pack or a bottle.
Safety, too. If you accidentally drink too much you can leave yourself open to DUIs and stuff. Even if you are in a large city with affordable cabs, your productivity is down the drain the next day.
If you are going there to meet girls, horrible place for most.Guy/girl ratio can be as bad as 1 girl for every 4 guys. Add to that, most of the girls are with someone or are there to drink for free. In my younger club years, I maybe got lucky once every two months going to a place once a week. That is a 1/16th ratio. I hear many did much worse.
It was not quality hook ups. They crank up the music so loud, you can not have any discussion without yelling. Sitting there with my overpriced drink, not being able to have conversations is boring as heck.
Dancing? I've taken ballroom dancing. A drunk, low tier girl rubbing her butt against my midsection is cool and all. But, that's not dancing. Freaked out on X drinking water by themselves? That's not dancing, either.
Maybe I am getting old.. but I think it is more wisdom. I want my money back from my 20s in those places. And the hangovers.