I was approached by a journalist from the Sunday Times recently asking me what I thought the appeal was of speakeasy-style bars and events. I gave her a lengthy screed largely based on my own observations and theories about how and why the Candlelight Club appeals to those who find it appealing. You may have seen the resulting article (see below).

I must say, I wasn’t actually under the impression that there was a particular vogue for speakeasies—we’ve been doing the Candlelight Club for 12 years now and it’s certainly had it’s ups and downs, but I wasn’t sensing a new surge of fashionability. But it’s an interesting question, because it was in Weimar Berlin in the 1920s, battered by economic and political chaos, that the decadent cabaret culture that we reference at our events was born. In an environment where everything seems to be going to pot and it’s impossible to plan or build for the future, why not live for the now and drown your sorrows? Funnily enough, when we started the Candlelight Club in 2010 we were still in the tail end of the “credit crunch” financial crash, yet things took off pretty rapidly in the first year: I always wondered if it was fuelled by a similar “life is a cabaret” attitude. Certainly that period in the UK witnessed a rise in a WWII-style “make do and mend” outlook, a huge upswing of interest in all things vintage, in upcycling and endless iterations of the wartime “Keep Calm and Carry On” slogan. And suddenly we were all baking at home. It was indeed as if we were all seeking the comfort of the past.

The elephant in the room is that we’re in a similar position now: thanks to Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine we’re all feeling the financial pinch. (And are we seeing a Weimar-style political maelstrom, with infighting among corrupt and incompetent leaders? I guess that depends on your political viewpoint…) So next month we’ll see whether people decide that life is indeed a cabaret and come flocking to our soirées to raise a glass of Champagne, guffaw at our cabaret antics and dance wildly to the latest jazz music.