Smaller and more private clubs seem to be the trend these days. While mainstream clubbers prefer to party in megaclubs such as Eden or Heaven, a growing number of partygoers are heading off to smaller clubs… Be it intimacy, privacy, or whatnot, smaller clubs or lounges have advantages megaclubs cannot offer. Smaller venues considered relevant for this discussion include: Ark Lounge, Boutique Club Function, Chicago, Social Club, Tutti Matti, C4 and etc. Larger clubs include: Heaven, Le Nuit Blanche, Eden, Volume and etc. If you are familiar with the nightlife scene in Seoul, disparities in sheer magnitudes of these venues should be apparent to you.
Why are smaller venues opening left and right these days more often so than larger ones? Well the most obvious is the cost associated with opening megaclubs. They cost millions of dollars depending on real estate, and equipment that venue owners decide to arm their clubs with, so any given megaclub seldom has an individual investor funding it all. Besides the obvious issue of size, and resulting capacity of clubbers the venue can accommodate, what do club sizes mean for an average clubber?
One immediate benefit of smaller clubs is that they offer more privacy, as you aren’t immediately surrounded by five hundred guests jumping up and down synchronously with music beats. This could mean multiple things for clubbers: 1. More privacy potentially allows for even more fun and craziness, 2. Guests probably have more space to yourself in the dance floor, 3. Smaller venues are more suitable for hanging out with closer group of friends for certain guests.
Smaller club clientele base relies much more heavily on return customers than those for megaclubs do, so after a few times, a frequent party-goer of a smaller club will start to notice familiar faces, which could be (or maybe not) another reason why some prefer it to larger venues. There is certain merit in going to party with people more familiar to you.
Of course, there are downsides associated with smaller clubs. Because they lack a huge guest database that megaclubs sport, and they lack promotion budget (comparatively) that megaclubs have so much of, parties tend to be smaller in scale. Unless smaller venues have a fixed party schedule, chances are, the venue will not be as jam-packed as some of the larger clubs with big sponsors and big-name DJs; but this might be something that certain clubbers are trying to avoid, as they feel like they cannot have fun in situation not too dissimilar to being helplessly stuck in a subway during the rush hour.
Upcoming articles on SeoulGrid will review some of the known smaller clubs/lounges in Seoul in case you want to check them out yourself!
