Parents and sober culture are redefining club life

People gather around the main stage at a daytime EDM (electronic dance music) event put on by Boiler Room at Woodbine Park in Toronto, on June 3.Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail

On a rainy Sunday afternoon in May, my 12-year-old nephew and I made our way down an alley in Toronto’s Kensington Market neighbourhood. It was 3:45 p.m. and we were looking for the back door to our destination. When we heard music, we knew we’d arrived at Moonlight Lounge.

Inside, dozens of families, with kids ranging from just a few weeks old to tweens, were gathered on the dance floor under a disco ball, dancing away. Called Disco Descendants, it was the first party of its kind organized by Sarah Lesniewski. The 44-year-old learned about kid-friendly clubbing in London, England, where she lived from 2007-2015, and wanted to bring it to Toronto when she moved back to Canada.

“Going out to a club really doesn’t fit with the lifestyle of a parent of a young child, and most stuff for kids is not fun for parents – it certainly wasn’t fun for me,” she says. “I’m doing this for parents and people who have kids in their lives who want to spend quality time with those children but don’t want to go to some awful soft-play centre in the suburbs on a Sunday afternoon.”

Lesniewski’s party is just one of the many day or early evening clubbing experiences that are gaining popularity as lifestyle changes and habits formed during the past three years of the pandemic merge with traditional club culture. Some, like hers, welcome kids. Others focus on grown ups who still don’t want to be out all night.

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Last year in the U.K., Annie Mac, BBC Radio 1′s resident dance DJ for almost two decades, launched Before Midnight, a club night that runs from 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. In Vancouver, Home by Midnight, a similarly timed event that started in 2018, has taken off in the past two years and is now selling out. And parties like Daybreaker, which is currently on a tour to celebrate its 10th year, are as popular as ever.

Daybreaker’s recent Toronto stop, on June 24, partnered with Othership, the breathwork and bathhouse wellness space near the city’s club district. That connection to well-being is a significant driver for the growth of these parties.

When Mac launched Before Midnight, she told The Guardian that one of the main reasons she chose the timing of the event was the appeal of getting a good night’s sleep. “You shouldn’t have to wait till 1, 2 a.m. to see your favourite DJ go on the decks,” the 44-year-old said.

Similarly, as more folks opt for a low- or no-alcohol lifestyle, these parties are enticing because they don’t embrace alcohol consumption like traditional, late-night clubbing does. Daybreaker, for instance, is a sober event.

People dance to a DJ set at the daytime event at Woodbine Park. Boiler Room added a daytime party to its schedule in Toronto in early June.Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail

Boiler Room, a club event that started in London and now tours internationally showcasing emerging and big-ticket DJ talent, added a daytime party to its schedule in Toronto in early June. “I think the growing interest in daytime events has grown hand in hand with the well-being movement, where people no longer feel the pressure to stay out to the early hours if it doesn’t agree with their body clock,” says Lev Harris, Boiler Room’s head of events, North America. While late-night events are still the refuge for hard-core clubbers, “daytime shows appeal to the casual music fans who view it more as a social event.”

The desire to find a casual social environment to dance is what motivated Mikael Bingham, 41, one of the founders of Home By Midnight. “I was hanging out with a group of people, it was an early evening event, and we were talking about how we all used to go dancing, and how the only opportunity to do that in a setting where you’re not staying up until two in the morning was weddings,” she says.

That the event is in an accessible space also appeals to attendees.

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Jenny Richardson, 40, has been going to Home By Midnight events since they started. “I’ve always loved dancing, but one of the things I didn’t like before about clubbing is there’s always a vibe of people trying to hook up,” she says. “This is nothing like that. People don’t dress to impress, there’s no toxic male energy. Everyone’s just there to dance, and have fun with their friends. It’s a safe space that they’ve created to really let loose.”

While demand from clubbers is there, a challenge the organizers face is the reluctance of venues to hold dance parties earlier in the day, mostly because they’re unconvinced they’re money makers.

“Finding the right space is the trickiest thing,” says Bingham. “We didn’t want to feel pressure that the only way we can break even is if we’re pushing drinks. But a lot of the spaces that are set up for dancing, that’s the deal, you take a cut of the bar.”

In Toronto, Lesniewski had similar issues. “Venues were really hesitant. I have heard from people who work in the industry that per-head spend of people who go to bars hasn’t increased in 15 years,” she says. “People aren’t drinking, they’re not drinking as much or they’re maybe doing other drugs. So venues are very much struggling. And it would have been a real leap of faith for some venues.”

The organizers are undeterred, however. “The goal is to create a fun, safe place for people, but I think it fulfills something a lot deeper for folks as well,” says Bingham. “It has to do with wellness. It has to do with joy and happiness and pleasure. People walk out of the door and tell us this is vital, this is important.”

People gather around the main stage at Woodbine Park. Boiler Room’s head of events, North America says that daytime shows appeal to 'casual music fans who view it more as a social event.'Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail

Does the thought of doing a little dance, having a little fun and then getting a good night’s sleep appeal? Here are some of the early parties happening this summer.

Home By Midnight

Vancouver

July 8 at The Anza Club

Doors at 8 p.m.

Tickets $25

Music: Everything from 90s, R&B to current Top 40

instagram.com/homebymidnightyvr

Cruel Summer

Calgary

July 8 at the Back Alley

Doors at 6 p.m.

Tickets: $13.58