Advertisement
Suffice to say, this is all good news for anyone who likes listening to music and occasionally stays out past 10 PM. But while the report contains a multitude of common sense measures, it also paints a vivid picture of the damage that has been done to London's nightlife in recent years—and the scale of the challenges to be overcome. The report focused largely on small venues putting on live acts, but even when not accounting for lost venues such as Herbal, Cable, and Plastic People, the statistics make for grim reading. Of 136 grassroots music venues operating in London in 2007, almost half are now closed. Accounting for new openings, the total number of trading venues has still fallen to 88 in eight years.Read on Noisey: How London Has Forced Out Musicians
Advertisement
Advertisement
Lutz Leichsenring is spokesman for Clubcommission, which was formed in 2000 and now represents around 150 clubs and party organizers in Berlin. "We started because we had problems with raids on clubs almost every week," says Leichsenring. "It was kind of a reaction to politicians and the administration, because they didn't really communicate with us. They didn't know who to talk to, they just knew how to react with force."Nowadays, Clubcommission works with the city authorities to foresee potential problems. "We want to act rather than react," says Leichsenring. This summer, the organization launched an online directory of night time venues in the city, which is being used to inform decisions on construction projects where noise complaints could threaten the future of a venue. The city now also takes into consideration cultural and social factors when selling off its own buildings. "You can't buy creativity, but you can provide spaces for creative people which are reasonably priced," says Leichsenring. "Not just on the outside of the city, near the pulse of the city on the inside."Read on Thump: London Could Be Getting a Night Mayor
Advertisement