More than 40 years ago, the folk singer Fred Wedlock branded anybody showing a little grey hair who fancied a night on the tiles as that most tragic of figures: “the oldest swinger in town”.
But, in 2022, refusing to give up dancing once your skin clears up is no longer a source of shame. Instead, there are enough people in middle age ready to go clubbing that they are taking over venues – until the clock strikes midnight, at least.
Annie Mac, one of the nation’s best loved DJs, announced on Friday that she is creating a club night for “Cinderellas” that opens at 7pm and ends at midnight.
For music lovers of a certain age, it is a dream come true: an early dinner and a few hours of wild abandon before crawling into bed by 1am. This means the unique rush which comes from raving is now available to those unable to forsake their Saturday morning responsibilities.
“Before Midnight is a very simple idea, and sometimes I think the simplest ones are the best ones,” the Irish DJ, whose full name is Annie Macmanus, said. “Everything about it is the same as a typical nightclub except for the time it starts and the time it ends. Nightclubs in the UK open what, 10, 11pm, end 3, 4, 5am.”
She added: “That is not accessible for people who need sleep. You shouldn’t have to wait till 1, 2am to see your favourite DJ go on the decks. You should be able to access DJs at an earlier time, in the same way that we can access bands and other music artists. And you should be able to get a good night’s sleep at the end of it.”
Mac, 43, said she received messages from people “who adore the clubbing experience but don’t want to wait until 1am in the morning to see me play, who need to be sharp and useful at the weekends and just can’t afford sleepless nights”.
And her venture comes amid a growing demand for club nights catering to older people, with a study before the pandemic finding that more than 3.7 million Britons aged 45 and over were going clubbing once a week. Last year, cabinet minister Michael Gove was captured letting loose in an Aberdeen club at 2am.
Club nights tailored to older clubbers include Soul Train Disco, an over-25s night club opened in Liverpool last summer by 55-year-old David Thomas – stage name DJ David Soul – who said he hoped to “save club land” for older people.
“There was nowhere for us to go,” Thomas said. “I thought, ‘I don’t care if it doesn’t make any money, I’m going to do it, even if I have to dance alone’. Oddly, the entire world came. It’s been rammed every Saturday since we opened.”
Another popular night is Haven’t Stopped Dancing Yet, which was set up by 60-year-old Nikki Spencer 12 years ago after she tried and failed go out dancing in Soho one night when she was in her late 40s.
“It just dawned on me that there was nowhere that catered to older clubbers,” she said. “When I launched the club night there was so much enthusiasm. People came and said, ‘I’ve been waiting 20 years for this’. They were phoning me, telling me their life stories, like ‘I used to dance back in the day’, or ‘I just had cancer treatment and now I want to go out and bring all my mates’.”
She added: “When you get to your 40s or 50s, you’ve got that teenage kid, older parents, and you’re sandwiched between all these responsibilities. So we’re going, ‘just for one night forget about it all and have a good dance’.”
Simon Settle, 48, from Leeds said he “still loved clubbing” and that it had become “a part of me”.
He added: “I get the same feeling now when I’m in the club and it’s dark and hot and the DJ is playing a great set and everybody is dancing as I did when I first fell in love with house music in 1988. That feeling of togetherness, seeing people smiling, meeting people and dancing has never left me.”
Mac left BBC Radio 1 after 17 years last year, was instrumental in breaking major acts, including Mylo and Justice, in the UK. She was also credited with introducing the mainstream to dubstep, and was credited as Europe’s biggest female DJ.
For her new event, she will be performing for the entire four hours. “It’s going to be an amazing sound system, you’re going to be able to get all that wild abandon and collective euphoria that you get when you dance in a dark, sweaty room with brilliant people to brilliant music,” she said. “I’m so gassed about this.”
• Before Midnight is due to take place in London on Friday 20 May.
