‘Stolen’ from over a year of partying: 19-year-old clubbers say they ‘finally feel their age’ | UK News

In the moments leading up to July 19, people waiting in the nightclub queue were counting down from 10. Then, as the clock struck midnight, they clapped for the moment that ‘they were waiting. The wait lasted more than 480 days.

The Egg nightclub in Kings Cross, north London, was one of the first nightclubs to announce it was closing its doors last year, and overnight it was one of the first to reopen.

Hundreds of people showed up for the opening night and the line snaked around the corner.

Most people were anxious to get out.

A clubber called Chloe said “it’s been so long and I can’t wait to get out on the dance floor”. Another said he felt like he had been “robbed” of more than a year of partying.

But there was also a sense of foreboding, with several people feeling the clubs would inevitably close again.

“We want to look forward to it now that we’re out and want to have a good time – but it doesn’t look like that right now,” clubber Annie said, adding that she was worried about having COVID.

Among those waiting in line were several 19-year-olds, awaiting their very first nightclub experience.

One of them, Henry, said to me, “It’s like we haven’t lived the last year and a half. Everyone older than us has told us about going clubbing and dancing. and we haven’t had that – we’re about to have it. We’ll finally feel our age.

It hasn’t been an easy road for much of the nightlife economy, with many clubs shutting down for good.

Now the sites are grappling with what is known as ‘pingemia’ as large numbers of people are polled by the NHS COVID-19 app.