Drummer from The Smiths among DJs at Bop Local events for music lovers too old for city clubs
For people of a certain age, the prospect of a heaving nightclub, overpriced drinks and a long bus ride home fills them with horror. But they still want to throw shapes while listening to decent music – and get home in time to pay the babysitter.
Now fortysomethings and former rave and indie kids have somewhere to spend their Friday and Saturday nights. Bop Local, the brainchild of a club promoter and a DJ, has been selling out venues across Greater Manchester for the past 18 months. The concept has been so successful that they are rolling out their suburban disco to the rest of the country.
"People living in the suburbs still like good music and going out but they don't want to be dancing next to someone who is young enough to be their child," says Tom O'Toole, co-founder of Bop Local and a well-known face on the Manchester music scene.
"Going to clubs when you're in your late 30s or 40s just doesn't feel right. People want to be with their peers."
Using the slogans "keeping babysitters busy since 2010" and "bringing the dancefloor to your doorstep", Bop Local starts earlier than a city centre club night but carries on until 1am. Parents can let their hair down and still get back at a decent hour while a younger crowd parties until the early hours. And there is no need to pay for an expensive taxi home at the end of the night.
Phil Beckett, a DJ who dreamed up the concept with O'Toole, realised the idea was catching on when they had to start turning people away.
"People were saying to us that they loved the idea and they hadn't heard the tunes we were playing for years. And then we realised we were hitting the nail on the head by having it round the corner from where they lived."
Combining decades of experience running and playing at clubs in Manchester, including the now defunct Hacienda, Beckett and O'Toole stay away from cheesy music, preferring to play an eclectic mix of indie chic, 70s funk, reggae, soul and classic rave. The clientele can request their favourite tracks and very few songs are off limits.
Ruth Cooke, 44, went to her first Bop Local last month. She lives in Ramsbottom, a semi-rural town north of Bury, Greater Manchester. The nurse says she will definitely go again: "It was so local that at the end of the night I was happy to walk home in killer heels. There was a good selection of music and they played anything we wanted."
Beckett believes the demand for a sensibly priced local club night with a top-of-the-range sound and light system is particularly strong when economic times are tough. He says: "It's no coincidence that we're thriving and the big clubs in town are struggling a bit."
Currently scouting locations for new Bop Local nights in Dublin and Belfast, Beckett says they are also planning disco nights in Hackney, Brighton, York, Derby, Leeds, Leicester and Cornwall.
Beckett and O'Toole plan to keep their policy of guest DJs at events held further afield. To date, guests have included the Smiths drummer Mike Joyce, Peter Hook from Joy Division and New Order as well as TV chef Simon Rimmer and former Coronation street actor Graeme Hawley.
Alison Bell, part of the team who run Bop Local, explains that the name derived from the phrase "shop local" which is used by a wholefood supermarket in Chorlton, a popular bohemian suburb of Manchester. The first Bop Locals were held at the Chorlton Irish Club where they have a monthly residency. Recent events have been staged in Didsbury, Salford and Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire.
Beckett says: "People come back and they bring more people with them. We've been bowled over by how busy it has been. Now we are looking to have a kids' one for under 18s."