Nightclub

A nightclub (often shortened to club) is an entertainment venue which does its primary business after dark. In most other languages, nightclubs are referred to as "discos" or "discothèques" (French: discothèque; German: Disko or Tanzveranstaltungen). In Japanese ディスコ, disuko refers to an older, smaller, less hip venue; while クラブ, kurabu refers to a more recent, larger, more popular venue. The term night is often used to refer to an event hosted within a nightclub. A dance area too small to be considered a night club, but which has a bar, music and lighting effects, is occasionally referred to as a disco bar.

Introduction

Nightclubs are associated with socializing and music and are usually distinguished from other forms of drinking establishment, such as a bar, pub or tavern, by the inclusion of a dance floor, although a club may also feature other forms of entertainment; possibly unsuitable for minors, such as podium dancers, a floor show or strippers (see strip club). Music may be live or mixed by a DJ and is often amplified using a PA system, and can range from blues, jazz, country, disco, hip-hop, rock and metal to electronic music styles such as house, techno, trance, drum and bass and alternative electronic. Most clubs or club nights have a specific musical theme and generally cater to fans of a few particular music genres.

Gatherings in nightclubs that primarily involve music mixed by a DJ involve dancing and in most cases alcohol. Illegal use of recreational drugs such as ecstasy are commonplace in many modern clubs featuring electronic dance music. Clubs are often advertised by the handing out of flyers on the street, in record shops, and at other clubs and events, they are often highly decorative and eye-catching.

Nightclubs often feature lighting and other effects: flashing lights of many colors, moving light beams, laser light shows and smoke machines. One common item is a disco ball: a rotating football-sized spheroid at the ceiling, covered with many small flat mirrors, with a light beam directed on it; the reflections form a multitude of moving light spots on the floor and on the people. Some nightclubs will throw foam parties where the dance floor is filled with soap suds.

Types of clubs

From time to time, variations enter the market, such as non-smoking and alcohol-free nightclubs. Also, restaurants or supper clubs may provide music and entertainment simlar to that provided by a nightclub, the main difference being that food is the main attraction at these establishments, whereas entertainment is the main attraction at a nightclub. Comedy clubs are one type of venue which provides entertainment.

Another type of club is a concert club, which specializes in hosting performances of live music. In contrast to regular night clubs, concert clubs are usually only open when a performance is scheduled. Such live music venues can be popular, however, it is more common today to find a DJ (Disc Jockey) playing a continuous mix of recorded music using vinyl, CDs and MP3s.

Not all nightclubs last all night. While bigger venues close at 5 am or 6 am, others finish around 3 am. Smaller nightclubs, which could also be described as bars with entertainment, close at 1 or 2 in the morning.

Other nightclubs target strictly the more serious party animals. These clubs don't even open until 5 or 6 in the morning and typically close at noon or later.

The styles of music that are played at clubs differ all over the world. For example, in England and Toronto there are numerous drum'n'bass clubs (among many other types) owing to the popularity of the music in those areas. In continental Europe, tech-house, electroclash and techno are particularly popular. In Spain one might find a higher frequency of salsa clubs, owing to the culture of the region. Despite this, house music seems to enjoy universal popularity at dance clubs all over Europe. In North America, hiphop and R'n'B sounds prevail.

Venues

There are several traditional types of venue that are often used as nightclubs, such as underground buildings, reclaimed warehouses and cinemas, and custom-built buildings. Nightclubs need to be insulated from the outside to prevent noise from escaping, and to prevent light and noise entering from outside. This allows the nightclub to have more control over the environment inside the building. It also creates an idea of timelessness which customers often prefer. This idea is also illustrated by the fact that many nightclubs do not have clocks visible to the public.

History

In the U.S., the repeal of Prohibition in February 1933 sparked the revival of nightclubs, which had gone underground as speakeasies. In New York City, three famous Midtown nightclubs from the "Golden Age" were the Stork Club, El Morocco and the Copacabana, while uptown in Harlem the Cotton Club was king.

Before 1953 and even some years thereafter, most speakeasies bars and nightclubs used jukebox or mostly live bands but then in a Paris club named Whisky à Gogo, Regine Zylberberg laid down a dance-floor, suspended coloured lights and for the first time ever replaced the juke-box with two turntables which she operated herself so there would be no breaks between the music, setting into place the standard elements of the discothèque as known in it's modern form. In her memoirs (Moi, mes histoires, 2006) Régine admitted she was displeased with the fact that customers kept selecting slow pieces of music from the juke-box and then spent the time on the dance-floor covering partners with wet kisses, boring everybody around. Regine also covered the dance-floor with grease every day before guests arrived, to make dancing more challenging.

Mark Birley in 1962 was the first to open a member-only discotheque nightclub, Annabel's, in Berkeley Square, London.

The first rock and roll generation did not favor nightclubs, but the club returned in the 1970s as the "disco," from the French discothèque (although by the early 2000s, the term "disco" had largely fallen out of favor in North America). Two early discos in New York were "Le Club" and "Regine's." Today in Europe, nightclubs play techno, house music or any sort of dance music from nu-jazz to electro or trance for the most part. Some nightclubs in the U.S. play trance and techno, but it is still not as popular.

Famous nightclubs

External links

BeforeLastCall.com Toronto Nightclub information and community
Tips on Tables Famous Vintage New York Nightclubs
London Club Guide Where to club in London
DanceFrontDoor Night Club Stories and News

Nightclubs