Is the night still burning? From « Respect is Burning » to lights out!

[Carl de Moncharline] From the legendary Bains Douches (Paris) to the current cold shower, it's only been a few years. Just yesterday, we were burning the night at both ends… Today, we let it slowly burn out. How did we go from the creative spark to the normative fire extinguisher? Like a pre-streaming era cinematic masterpiece that traced the mad race against time to save the City of Light from destruction, nocturnal culture is facing a major extinction crisis. But are we witnessing a slow asphyxiation or a forced metamorphosis that kidnaps our time while swallowing our money? Is there a will to destroy the night? The question deserves to be asked directly. Without making assumptions about intent, the result is clear: through blindness or excessive regulation, public authorities seem to be contributing to the sector's asphyxiation. Political authorities continue to do what they do best, for lack of imagination: legislate and restrict. Banning smoking in establishments, then in smoking rooms, and now on terraces… All under the control of a permanent security apparatus. While health prevention or road safety are undeniable imperatives that no one denies, the lack of balance ends up criminalizing the simple act of going out. It is so much more convenient to mobilize large police forces to make the bourgeois blow into the breathalyzer than to tackle the real scourges of insecurity linked to the rise of drug trafficking, which acts as a powerful repellent for night owls. Algorithms have kidnapped our evenings But the most formidable threat comes from the kidnapping of our available time by streaming giants and social media. In a few years, especially since the Covid lockdowns, their algorithms have kidnapped our evenings. In a Europe with declining purchasing power, staying at home, nestled in an armchair behind the TV, computer, or smartphone, has become the default choice. We save all year on bars, clubs, cinemas, theaters, and restaurants to post, once a year, the ideal photo at the other end of the world in front of a sunset… A virtual showcase of an existence that, the rest of the time, has grown singularly dim in the real world. This is not likely to improve: as highlighted by the culture desk of Radio France on September 18, the home entertainment industry is now establishing itself as the leading private funder of creation; and should establish itself as the leading funder, period, according to Martin Ajdari, head of Arcom (CSA France), by 2030. Diversity, yes… but only for others: a superficial diversity sold by platforms that, in reality, cannibalize and asphyxiate local creation. On the ground, establishments are struggling to survive in the face of crushing expenses. In Brussels, the You is trying to relaunch itself with urban communities; the Spirito is forced to mutate into a restaurant-focused formula; and institutions like the Mirano are retreating into niches. The mixing of genres, social diversity, and mutual enrichment have given way to compartmentalization. Venue owners are running out of steam, like La Cabane which is closing down, or Perché (the first Brussels rooftop, on top of the JAM hotel) which is announcing its closing party on September 26, which I urge you to attend as a sign of support, even if it feels more like the funeral of an entire sector. Is the die cast? There will still be the big private gatherings in public spaces, where politicians can perfect their Instagram profiles in front of delirious crowds. But here too, hurry up: the Hangar parties are on borrowed time, denounced by the non-profit ARAU as an abusive commercialization of public spaces for a privileged audience able to shell out between 67.50 euros and 152.50 euros. A privatization of the city denounced by publishing a photo of the event's setup with a touch of humor that PAN can only highlight: « The scaffolding of the Palace of Justice has landed on Place Poelaert ». Yet, the night has never been just about the mechanical alignment of a binary rhythm in a dark club. In its golden age, clubbing functioned above all as a multidisciplinary incubator. It was the laboratory where fashion design students organized their very first shows, where graphic designers forged a radical visual identity on flyers, where artists took over the walls for ephemeral exhibitions, and where young musicians and DJs came to play their very first set in front of a real audience. It is this entire creative breeding ground that is being suffocated today on the altar of calibrated entertainment. For decades, the night was the living laboratory of identity revolutions. Every two years, a musical and stylistic schism would erupt, from punk to new wave, from funk to new beat and the advent of electro. But for thirty years, no sonic rupture has occurred. We're stuck in a loop of old, recycled samples, now generated solely by AIs like Suno or Udio… for… «idiots». The cultural schism has shifted to technology: we no longer explain to our parents that they don't understand the new sound of the moment; we try to explain to them how ChatGPT works after having explained the internet and then the smartphone. By dint of virtualizing our interactions and suffering from normative confinement, isolationism has become widespread. The flows between Brussels, Antwerp, and Ghent are dwindling, replaced by a digital connectivity that gives the illusion of exchange without offering its warmth. This cold diagnosis demands an urgent reaction. To prevent the night from ending up completely carbonized, it is imperative to reinvent the desire to gather physically. Nocturnal culture should not be approached as a problem to be regulated, but as the beating heart of the city, the last sanctuary of creation and freedom. Before the curtain falls for good on our party spaces, one question remains: will we have the courage to relight the flame? [Illustration text] « The night is like the dark side… It’s a kind of space for freedom that isn’t understood. » « Join us, we have pyrotechnic effects… »