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Jimmegee asks if he's a little too old for this clubbing life

Past prancing on the dance floor?

jimmegee

Wednesday, 27 May 2009

I was reading an interview with Calvin Harris the other day in which he was explaining the background to his surprisingly brilliant 'I’m Not Alone', a track that came from nowhere and stormed the charts and dancefloors recently. His comments struck a real note. The song was, he says, inspired by standing outside a club feeling way too old for this sort of lark, surrounded by 15-year-olds with fake ID cards, until he heard the music inside and decided he’d be okay really.

Is there an age at which we really should hang up our clubbing shoes and accept the fact that staying up all night with your hands in the air is generally considered something strictly for single under-30s? It’s a thought that was compounded by a discussion I had with someone I go to Spanish class with. She’s pretty, in her mid-20s and sociable, yet the mention of clubs in Brighton she should try was met with a “I stopped clubbing years ago.” Gah! Are people sniggering at this still-slightly-portly (10kg less portly than last time I wrote a column, however, darlings) over-40 wannabe teacher and his older-but-fitter boyfriend? If they are, I don’t notice it and I really, truly don’t care.

The club scene in Brighton, and particularly the gay scene, has always been a very tolerant one, where gaggles of hen-nighters gyrate on bar tops while men and women well into retirement age strut through the doors in full fancy dress to be greeted by shirts-off gay boys and baby dykes. It’s a tradition Brighton is particularly proud of and tolerance has always been at the heart of all club culture so while non-clubbers occasionally throw doubt in our way, those of us who still enjoy a bit of laser-catching should embrace it and not feel worried about those groups of 15-year-olds because they’re only there to enjoy themselves too. I just hope that as a teacher, I don’t bump into too many of my students on the dancefloor.