Concept clubbing: taking a night out to a whole new level

Olivia Cole
07.09.09

For many people, nightclubbing is all about escapism, but there's a new breed of hedonistic Londoner who is putting a good deal more thought into a night out. The big question on clubbers' lips now is not simply where, when and what to drink but who to be. The latest trend in clubbing — called Concept Clubbing — is for a more challenging, rewarding, cultured experience such as a Twenties night, a Prohibition party, complete with teapot of illicit hooch, or burlesque dancing at Paradise in Kensal Rise.

Ecstasy got its name from the emotional state it induced — and the literal translation is “to be or stand outside oneself” — but concept clubbers who, from tomorrow, can savour the delights of a Mills and Boon night, complete with Spanish guitar serenades, are taking the word to a whole new level.

Compared with Concept Clubbing, an ordinary night out, having a few drinks and throwing some moves, starts to look rather boring and passé. Kate Moss is known for her themed parties — for example, her Scott Fitzgerald-inspired Beautiful and Damned 30th birthday party — but the concept clubbers make any night of the week a special one.

Scott Fitzgerald's era has lost none of its magic: Twenties nights involve Great Gatsby characters, girls jumping in fountains, copious amounts of alcohol and Cole Porter's lyrics which, although from 1934, have a distinctly modern feel: “Some get a kick from cocaine/I'm sure that if /I took even one sniff /That would bore me terrifically, too /Yet, I get a kick out of you”.

The licentiousness of Evelyn Waugh's Bright Young Things is always in vogue; at Maddox, a Mayfair club about which there is nothing else fey, they even have a “Bright and Tight” Bright Young Things night. Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz partied there recently and sadly caught a normal night but could perhaps be persuaded to return and become concept clubbers.

At the Cuckoo Club on Swallow Street, in the West End, which is popular with a younger rabble led by characters such as Sam Branson, explorer son of Richard, their newest night is Rockaok — karaoke but with a rock twist — and Alice v Alice (Alice in Wonderland versus Alice Cooper), a concept which led to some clashes so surreal they might, in fact, have been dreamed up by Lewis Carroll.

Entrepreneur Mark Hollingsworth, who started his Prohibition nights on a small scale two years ago, sees it as more to do with people wearying of the “lack of imagination” displayed by clubs than exhibitionism. “We've all been to clubs where you are treated badly, queue to get in and don't get anywhere to sit. I think the industry is lazy and people respond to some creativity instead of being treated badly. At our nights, we don't charge extra, so for the same money you are getting far more. People feel as though they can put thought and time into their night out so the whole atmosphere becomes much more inclusive.”

The Prohibition nights, which now cater for up to 600, started as small ticketed parties for 70 at Bourne & Hollingsworth, the tiny bar in Fitzrovia whose quirkiness lent itself to having fun. They kicked off with Blitz nights — anyone for an air-raid and potato sandwich? — then relocated to a liner moored in St Katharine's Dock. The next party in November has a huge capacity although the organisers have agreed, for the sake of intimacy, to cap it at 600. Like all good speakeasies the venue is a shady subject and isn't revealed until the week before the party. “It sounds innocent but of course it's a drunken night like any other,” says one reveller.

For those who are seriously intellectual there's Bookslam, which began at a small underground venue but has grown so popular that it now takes place at the Tabernacle in Notting Hill. Acts who have appeared, well-read actually, include The Wire author David Simon and, way back before she was famous, Speech Debelle. Last week it hosted a retrospective of Poetry Olympics.

Concept Clubbing started as an edgy, exclusive activity but with its growing popularity comes the inevitability of commercialism, to the extent that London's newest concept night is organised by Smirnoff. Its first event may have been at the distinctly corporate-feeling, million-pound venue O2, but at least it invited guests via Facebook and asked revellers who they wanted to see. They opted for Little Boots and the Pet Shop Boys. Smirnoff's next event is based around a kitsch “tacky wedding”.

It seems that, whatever the theme, Concept Clubbing brings out the inner diva in us all.

Additional reporting by Victoria Stewart

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