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The UK’s once-thriving club scene hasn’t exactly had the best year, but if you’ve missed sweaty nights out and tequila shots with strangers, you’re in luck. Clubs are back across the country – and the very inhospitable, pandemic-y circumstances don’t seem to have dissuaded new venues from opening.
Newcastle, Birmingham and Bristol are all adding to their nightlife offering this summer. Think decent sound systems, genuinely massive capacities and – perhaps most importantly – properly good music.
All three are opening up this summer, meaning there’s not long to wait until you can visit. Remember what it’s like to go out out? Us neither, but we sure as hell can’t wait to get back out there again.
Newcastle’s Ibiza
For all its reputation as a stag- and hen-do hotspot, the Geordie Shore lacks proper dance music venues – something that new superclub The Lofts hopes to rectify. With space for 1,500 ravers across three rooms, it opens on August Bank Holiday with headline sets from Pete Tong and Horse Meat Disco. From Aug 27.
Brum’s mega-venue
Formerly the Ballroom and the Carling Academy, Forum is a historic venue smack bang in Birmingham’s city centre. The 3,500-capacity space is undergoing a massive refurb, with a huge new sound system and wooden ‘sprung’ dancefloor. Cool.
From Sep 3.
Bristol’s Glasto
Missed Glasto this summer (and last)? Lost Horizon HQ, near Bristol’s Old Market, is a decent stand-in. Created by the team behind the festival’s after-hours area Shangri-La, it’s a 350-capacity bar-slash-arts centre hosting a varied programme of live music, DJs and drag. Open now.
Fancy a night out in the capital? These are the best nightclubs in London.
Plus: DJ Sherelle has visionary plans for London nightlife.