My family call it Old Lady Clubbing, but my giddy ‘nights out’ have lit up a dismal 2024 | Gaby Hinsliff
Dance till you drop, then home by 10pm – daytime events offer a glorious escape for those of us bogged down by responsibility
Last Saturday night, I went clubbing with friends. Once upon a time, this wouldn’t have been a remotely odd sentence to type, because it was what I did pretty much every weekend. But a lot has changed since then – let’s just say that in my peak raving years there was a Labour government in power, only it was actually popular – and like most people whose happy place was once on the dancefloor, inevitably with time comes the feeling that you no longer belong. Deep down, you still come to life when the bassline kicks in. But you morph from hardened raver to the kind of person who’s always up for dancing at parties and weddings, and then finally into the kind of person whose friends aren’t getting married any more and who spends their Saturday nights giving their children lifts to parties. So eventually you tell yourself sadly that those days are over now, and that clinging on would be a bit mutton-behaving-as-lamb.
Well, not any more. Enter what was almost certainly the cheeriest thing about an otherwise lousy 2024: the rise of what is now regrettably known in my house as Old Lady Clubbing, AKA daytime events specially laid on by music promoters for the over-30s. It’s like going back in time, but better: partly because this time round you have learned to wear the big coat, instead of going without and shivering glamorously to death in the queue, but mostly because it starts in the afternoon. The secret of middle-aged socialising, it transpires, is to do roughly what you always did – but earlier: hitting the club at 3pm means being home in time for the 10 o’clock news, and blissfully asleep by last orders. (Though the truly multitasking could do as one of the DJs at Day Fever, the over-35s night set up by the actor Vicky McClure and her promoter husband, Jonny Owen, reportedly sometimes does and cram in a big supermarket shop on the way back.) Even the bar staff love it, one told me, because unlike most nights there’s no hassle: everyone’s just too thrilled to be out of the house.
Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...-
Op-comic: What my 5-year-old taught me about the Velvet Underground
I set out to introduce her to my favorite band, but in the end she showed me what I had missed.Los Angeles Times - 19h -
I imposed a holiday WhatsApp ban – but would my friends and family respect it? | Poorna Bell
After one too many moany voicenotes and streams of incessant notifications, I knew something had to change. Though my internal age is set to about 28, the time when I feel profoundly 43 is when I ...The Guardian - 20h -
'My house was so out of control, I felt ashamed'
A mother says a charity has changed her life after helping her declutter and clean her home.BBC News - 1d -
36-year-old self-made millionaire: This is 'my No. 1 investing philosophy'—it's 'a great way to get started'
Wealth with Tess founder Tess Waresmith suggests starting with a portfolio of low-cost index funds before branching out into other assets.CNBC - 1d -
What rights do I have if my credit card debt is in collections?
By knowing these rights, you may be able to avoid some of the common pitfalls associated with debt collection.CBS News - 3d -
My list of Democrats’ biggest lies of 2024. Do you agree?
Outgoing President Joe Biden and his Democratic support team have been caught in a series of blatant lies, including denying his cognitive decline, downplaying the federal debt, and denying the ...The Hill - 3d -
My grandfather co-signed my cousin’s student loan. After my grandfather died, my cousin skipped town. Will the estate have to pay the debt?
“The loan is now in default, and I have no idea where this grandson is.”MarketWatch - 3d -
The Christmas that went wrong: I had a massive abscess and spent my first ever night in hospital
The year already ranked among my very worst – then I wound up on a tinsel-draped drip, while my family texted fun photos from the pub. It hadn’t been a vintage year. I was in the middle of a ...The Guardian - 4d -
Why some people are spending the holidays sans family: ‘My friends are more fun than my relatives’
Not everyone can – or wants to – celebrate with family. Some choose traditions with friends and neighbors instead. The holidays are often thought of as a time for family – a time to pack bags and ...The Guardian - 4d
More from The Guardian
-
Trump asks US supreme court to pause ban-or-divest law for TikTok
The Guardian - 5h -
Ukraine war briefing: ‘Human wave’ of North Korean troops being sent to their deaths, says US
The Guardian - 3h -
Driver behind China car ramming attack that killed 35 is sentenced to death
The Guardian - 4h -
Tidy! Ruth Jones to read Shipping Forecast as Nessa to mark centenary
The Guardian - 1h -
‘Godfather of AI’ shortens odds of the technology wiping out humanity over next 30 years
The Guardian - 14h