The Null Device

Feeling Gloomy

Dust off your anoraks, because a new alternative club night is opening in London; the night, Feeling Gloomy, will play only miserablist anthems. Patrons can probably expect the usuals: The Smiths, Leonard Cohen, and such, as well as a few surprises:
And Wake Up Boo, by the Boo Radleys, which far from being an end-of-the-summer anthem is apparently "about death". But just when you think the play list sounds like a trip down memory lane for those who were students or Indie kids in the mid 90s, he adds that East 17's Stay Another Day puts in an appearance. When I suggest that that particular song is just 'slushy stuff' I am told it qualifies because it is about the suicide of the songwriter's brother.
"I just created a night that I would want to go to and for people who maybe have stopped going to clubs because they don't like the music. When a flyer for a club says 'sexy, funky, fun', it makes me annoyed. It's not sexy, it's drunk girls in mini-skirts being sick."
The night will also serve cheese and pickle sandwiches and cups of tea; part of the proceeds will go to the Depression Alliance.

There are 2 comments on "Feeling Gloomy":

Posted by: datakid http:// Tue Aug 16 09:31:08 2005

will there be more voyeurs than regulars? could the happy shiny people go to subvert the idea and make it unworkable? what if I'm ambivalent? i guess i'm interested...don't know which category i'd fall in though...

Posted by: acb http://dev.null.org Tue Aug 16 10:42:46 2005

Well, as long as they're not getting loudly trashed, dancing around their handbags, and screeching at the DJ to play some Britney or something, I don't see it as being a problem.

I'd be more worried about the regulars who come to every one of the nights, those who are committed to feeling miserable as part of their identity. It sounds like it could be a great way to meet disturbed people; the sort of night that could launch a hundred dysfunctional/codependent/bunny-boiling relationships.