Well, it’s a bizzare post to write I guess - but it’s something that’s been bothering me for quite some time - and due to me witnessing this phenomenon first hand, I’m sure some of you may agree with me on this one.
This may start a debate or two - but I guess there’s only one way to find out;
Oh well, here goes…
One of the biggest cultures of the United Kingdom is not the proms, our football heritage or the Queens speech at Christmas - it’s our passion for one of probably our most important social activity, namely the art of the traditional British night out.
Sounds like a big statement - but think of it in greater detail, Without british clubbing culture - House music would still be in the States, There would be no Ibiza, No package holidays and definetly no nightclubs.
Well, as a lot of you may have seen this already, some of you first hand through working experience, and some of you as clubbers but is it just me or has clubbing gone a bit ‘too’ corporate?
The bars are dying, the clubs are emptying, numbers are down by their millions due to a simple law that makes it illegal to smoke a cigarette..
Taxes and restrictions on alcohol are now at an extorionate rate, and to add insult to injury - now we can’t drink as much or smoke we can visit a club for longer hours.
It just does’nt make sense. I forsee a ‘domino effect’ already - beer taxes are on the increase so venues are passing this extra expense onto us the clubbers, the cost of a night out has tripled because of this and as a result the attendance figures of clubs are lower than they have ever been.
Bars all over the country are paying less for entertainment, charging more for drinks and no-longer concentrating on what matters most - giving the client (the customer) a better night out. As a result, smaller venues are suffering and people are seeing venues closing in their dozens within a matter of months.
It started with the working mens clubs eariler this year due to the smoking ban, but now it’s reached us - namely the clubbers.
I forsee a future where buying alcohol illegally will take over the drugs trade due to extortionate tax laws, smoking is treated as a class B drug and music is limited to the level in which it’s played.
The health and safety brigade will eventually get their own way and smoke machines will be outlawed because it obscures people’s vision and it will be a threat to their well-being..
We will be drinking out of paper cups because plastic isnt biodegradable enough and all music will be censored so it doesnt offend anyone.
Amongst all this, singing and dancing will be seen as a risk to the safety of others and premises will be pressured to keep it under control.
As a result, people will resort to hosting sercret underground parties where smoking, taking drugs and drinking whatever they want will be commonplace, where the music will be unrestricted and played at whatever level the organisers feel is fit to do so.
Sound familiar? - well cast your minds back to the late 80’s and early 90’s…
Ladies and gentlemen, clubbing is about to turn full circle all over again - so much for society moving into the future eh?
You mark my words boys and girls - I’ve seen the future, and it happened 20 years ago.
My final words to the Government are thus;
Charge whatever you want for a packet of cigarettes, steal all our hard earned cash via your so-called ‘taxes’ - fine us for smoking if you want to..
But keep your thieving, greedy hands off the only thing that England has remaining, our beacon to people - to which half of the planet looks up to for reference and as an example of how to ‘do it right’..
Leave the traditional British ‘night out’ alone.
It’s the only thing we’ve got left to look forward to the weekend for.
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