Antwerp Mansion's closing is another huge blow to UK club culture

Antwerp Mansion's closing is another huge blow to UK club culture

It's Manchester's most iconic venue

Tucked away at the beginning (or the end depending where you were coming from) of Manchester’s Curry Mile, there it stood. Each and every night, hundreds upon hundreds of students from not just Manchester, but all over the U.K., flooded to its gates for a night of good vibes, good music and Red Stripe for £3. But now, after 7 years of loyal service to its adoring fans, Antwerp Mansion has been given the notice from Manchester City Council to permanently close its doors.

This comes after accusations that are far from watertight, and becomes yet another chapter in the obituary of British nightlife. As we all know, this constant reduction of opening hours and eventual venue closure is not exclusive to Manchester. In September 2016, the popular nightclub Fabric, located in Farringdon, London was temporarily closed due to two drug related deaths. As a result, Fabric’s licence was revoked and a campaign which reached over 150,000 signatures was signed by a variety of fellow revellers, promoters, DJs and this writer himself. Following on from this, Fabric eventually struck a deal with the Islington Council which was backed by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Fabric re-opened in January of 2017 under strict new rules and guidelines set by the council.

 

London and Manchester aren’t the only cities where it seems the council has waged a war on nightlife: in Birmingham a number of the Rainbow Venues spaces have had their licenses revoked also due to drug related deaths. As a result, their license was also revoked, sparking a campaign from the venue chain called #Educatenotrevocate, aimed at teaching about the dangers of drugs to party-goers rather than closing down the venues where they take them.

 

So, what will happen now as a result of clubs like these closing? Clubs will keep on being forced to shut as councils continue to wage war on underground music, and events will be pushed to the city centre where they will eventually die, as fewer and fewer people will be willing to travel to them, and no one wants to go to a rave in a city centre superclub or a chain bar. The council may feel that closing clubs such as Antwerp in residential student areas will tackle noise pollution, but they fail to see that those who want to rave will find a way: underground music events will be pushed to different areas, and people will throw large house parties and illegal raves with no forms of regulation, ultimately making the problem that the council tried to squash even more prominent. Why waste Police time, when a venue is willing to pay for security to make sure an event goes smoothly?

 

The underground music scene is one of the last bastions of escapism for people of all ages. It features small events in discreet, legal settings where, for a few hours every week, people can forget all their problems, and just marvel at the atmosphere with other like minded individuals. Places such as Manchester and Bristol have become well regarded cities due to their thriving underground scene, bringing not only huge revenue but staggering cultural enrichment to the areas. These spaces, however, and the events held in them are under threat and, in the long run, it won’t be the people who used to revel and convene in these areas every week who will be the most disadvantaged; it will be the next generation of young music talent who will suffer. Ultimately, this will have hugely negative, widespread effects on the UK and its culture.

Images: author's own, @theknightking , @echidnagram

Cover image: Triple Cooked