Midnight Dancer

When I was growing up, clubbing meant something. Under the collective delusion that finding the right club with the right beats and the right company would somehow open utopia, we studied the form of venues, DJs and nights with the fervour of a gambler searching for the last big score. This revolutionary fervour led to the rise of the superstar DJ, charts clogged with light electronica and dubstep on TV adverts for The Times. These days, listening to techno is as cool as a tatty Che poster, and equally radical.

Many of the interesting characters in the clubbing scene went off and engaged with the visual or performing arts: Darren Johnstone springs to mind (Ousia, Fringe 2009). In the meantime, has a nightclub become the place where we end up after drinking too much, and spectacularly fail to score with an off-duty contemporary dancer?

Nominated as today's Midnight Dancer - and catching only rumours that Mr B the gentleman rapper had been caught in a mash up singalong with DJ Yoda - I made my way to the Bongo Club for the extended cabaret and disco. The cabaret was excellent, apart from a comedy duo: my dark soul cannot abide sketches or comedy songs that pander to an audience. There were two Japanese physical theatre pieces and a genuinely funny burlesque (Kiki Kaboom as a sexy chavette).

However, I was here to dance. The Sunday night at the Bongo offers live music - in line with Rhymes With Purple's approach, where performance is the thing. A big band of gypsy-related energy kicked off after midnight, and people with dreadlocks and hats hurled themselves around.

I realised pretty quickly that this was not the clubbing of my youth: instead of pursing lips and noticing the original talent of the DJ, the audience were having fun, and not worrying about being cool. I am feeling the generation gap.

This week's big night: last of the big Festival launches: Local Takeover. The Skinny is boasting its local credential with a night that promises to show how the locals party all year round. Freaky Brides out of Confusion is Sex, DJs Hostage, Anarkid, Bargain Harold & i-Tallah Disco.

Half big disco and half art school happening, it harks back to those older club nights with revolution in the air. Only this time, people will probably enjoy themselves more.