Last dance? Not likely: Experts on why we will boogie out of lockdown

The DJ booths are darkened and the dance floors are empty but experts predict Scotland’s clubland will once again be resurgent when Covid passes.

As operators dare to dream of reopening, an exhibition celebrating the history, culture and design of the world’s best clubs will restart the V&A Dundee after lockdown.

Night Fever: Designing Club Culture explores the evolution of nightclub design from the sixties to present day and reveals how Scottish cultural identity has been shaped in our dancehalls.

From swing and jazz to dub and house and all musical points in between, Scotland’s clubs have played host to the world’s biggest bands and DJs and Dave Haslam, music writer, broadcaster and DJ – who played Manchester’s famous Hacienda nightclub more than 400 times – says we are hard-wired to need a big night out.

Haslam, author of Life After Dark: A History Of British Nightclubs, said: “It’s in our DNA, it has to be – the first humans were painting their faces, leaving their caves, building a fire, dancing through the night to a drum beat,” he said. “And they were often intoxicated. In our more modern era – I mean in the last two hundred years – going out dancing has evolved and thrived.” With restrictions easing, clubs are expected to reopen and following lockdown Dave expects heaving dancefloors.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of pent up night madness needing to be let loose,” he added. “People have realised how much they’ve taken for granted haven’t they. Not just clubs, so much else like travel, eating out, and of course live music. Who knows – the Roaring Twenties came directly after the First World War and the Spanish Flu. Maybe we’ll have a similar boom in night-time entertainment.”

Scotland’s clubs and DJs have won a global reputation but Colin Steven, former clubs editor for The List magazine and owner of Velocity Press, a publishing company specialising in electronic music and dance culture literature, believes the pandemic could be a reset: “Clubbing has lost its way recently. It’s mainstream now, not counter-culture. I think the pandemic offers a great opportunity to reset and establish more diverse line-ups and talent.

“Club culture can be taken for granted but it is about community and bonding over a shared experience. People have missed that.”

Night Fever: Designing Club Culture opens at V&A Dundee on May 1