Is there still a nightclub scene these days?

I do believe there are many nightclubs reasonably near your location of the Manchester area, probably packed out every Friday and Saturday
 
I follow John Digweed on his socials and his mixcloud releases, he's always playing somewhere. I'd expect if you are looking for something like we had in the 90's then apart from being the old weird bloke everyone is looking at you'd likely leave early due to the music being crap - presuming the price of entry didn't put you off in the first place :D
 
If you did most of your clubbing in the late 90s / early 00s, aged early 20s (meaning that you're around 45 now), then there is definitely still a scene. After the COVID lockdowns, some of the 90s franchises such as Gatecrasher, Cream, Sundissential, Ministry of Sound, Passion have started back up again. The main difference now is that you have to widen your search to find where their events are. Use Skiddle ticketing web site and search on there then you can buy QR-coded tickets. Then if you end up over and hour's train away such as Nottingham, Coventry or Lichfield, treat it as a city break and book a couple of nights in a Premier Inn. I've met lots of new people and bumped into people who I knew 20+ years ago. It's great! Also, the production in nightclubs (lighting / visuals / lasers) is much better now than 20 years ago.

Not as old a franchise, but deffo check out Trancecoda. In terms of music and clientele, the closest franchise to them would be Passion.
 
I still regularly feel the urge for a Fabric night like back in my 20s but then I think about it and the feeling awful the next day and change my mind again! I think I'm just old now :(
 
XeNoN89 said:
I still regularly feel the urge for a Fabric night like back in my 20s but then I think about it and the feeling awful the next day and change my mind again! I think I'm just old now :(
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Being from Bristol going to Fabric for a Playaz night felt like such an event. Jealous you had that as your local.

Never been into the 'club' scene but the raving scene is still pretty strong in Bristol. I'm just now getting on to the point where I look like a weirdo going cause I'm 34.
 
What happened to DSI, Don't Stay In?

That was a crazy website.
All club nights etc were posted there, people had their own profiles and social media style stuff too.


#showingmyage
 
When the big clubs when they took off kind of ruined the mojo and it was the downfall of it all, Pair of Jeans and a T-shirt was all you needed then it started going back to the 80s crap of your not coming in unless your wearing trousers and shoes.....and it was all about cool you looked instead of how sweaty you was from actually dancing like their was no tomorrow.... Hated the big super clubs full of ******* wipes.

How we all came out this alive and managed to get decent jobs is beyond me :)
 
Jokester said:
Was just coming in to say this, if your in the 40+ age group this seems to have exploded recently. Proper grab a granny territory :p
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Yeah, trance specifically, whilst still going as a genre, hasn't refreshed with as many younguns like EDM/Dubstep/etc, so most of the people going to trance events now, were (like me) listening to it back in the 90s :D
 
CaNsA said:
What happened to DSI, Don't Stay In?

That was a crazy website.
All club nights etc were posted there, people had their own profiles and social media style stuff too.


#showingmyage
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I remember DSI! It was kinda pre-social media as it was early 2000s and the masses were just getting online for the first time. There was also 4clubbers.net which was a forum and news site, and the big names like Godskitchen and Sundissential had their own forums as well.

If you didn't know exactly where the venue was, then it was all about Multimap! Get the route, then print it :D Now, it's Google Maps on your phone with real time tracking.

krooton said:
Yeah, trance specifically, whilst still going as a genre, hasn't refreshed with as many younguns like EDM/Dubstep/etc, so most of the people going to trance events now, were (like me) listening to it back in the 90s :D
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Yeah I would say both trance and house, and especially hard trance (my favourite genre) and hard house. I never feel out of place because half of the crowd is my age going for the nostalgia. The other half of the crowd is 20-somethings who like a bit of retro.

The exception was Cream in Liverpool in February (so only a few months ago), at the Blackstone Warehouse. The event was called "Cream feat. BLK". I didn't know the artist (BLK) but the music was techno which I quite enjoyed, but the place was full of children, barely age 18. I felt out of place and left early.

^^ That's my only negative feedback really, out of the best part of 20 gigs that I've been to over the past 18 months.
 
Still going in my mid-40s. Still good nights around if you look for em. The Soul Bugging nights in Nottingham are good, sound crowd.

Tbh I prefer festivals to clubs anyway. The Fatboy Slim weekend at Butlins is awesome.
 
BUDFORCE said:
I couldn't stand these places when I was young , let alone any desire to go to one now.
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Totally agree, never ever got the clubbing thing. Loved the music but not the clubs themselves. Ever since I was 17 I was a pub guy instead. Found the prices, decor, atmosphere and the ability to actually talk normally to people without screaming, far more enjoyable.

Sadly, even good pubs with decent prices are becoming rare now. At the grand old age of 40, I had already moved on to cosy nights in with cheaper beer, no cold rain or expensive cabs home, good grub and good company. Can have a vape indoors too.
 
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Of course clubbing still exists as does the illegal rave/squat party scene from the 90s.

A month or so ago we went to an illegal rave in an abandoned cinema in elephant and castle. £4 entry and it lasted for 2 days before police came and shut it down.
 
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