So that’s that then. Another Bank Holiday begins to warm-down. Unless you’re Notting Hilling it up with work a distant memory, only to be fully recalled come Wednesday.
Times like this are perfect opportunities to reflect. You could still be on the road after a harsh couple of nights up north at Creamfields, or nestled at home surrounded by comfort food; both situations- and plenty beside- allow for a pre-reality, retrospective checklist to be completed.
Not only has the long-weekend reached its conclusion, but more importantly summer has all but left the year. You could easily argue that July’s demise welcomed autumn, as the respectably warm weather of previous months disappeared like the water it made evaporate, and the short-term hosepipe bans it helped create. But the months from May to September are about more than sunshine. At least that’s what Britain needs to think, and, in turn, has made so.
Many times we’ve danced, dripping wet, wishing the reason for our saturated state was a warm club, rather than a waterlogged Wiltshire field. But then we’ve been overjoyed at the fact that we’re getting down outside, and so always make the most of it.
In summer there’s a lot to do, and very little of it demands the indoors, just sensible clothing. If you want proof ask half of the club promoters in England how they perceive the milder months. The answer is invariably quiet and challenging, with the ‘destination venues’ of our most prominent cities being possible exceptions.
The situation is both a blessing and a curse. Waking up this Wednesday won’t be too pretty. It’s a long hard slog until our next excuse to get on it, and even then the likes of Halloween and Bonfire Night are scant comparisons to a weekend raving under our unpredictable skies. Similarly, if full on festivals are your thing, then the following months offer little by way of dance-oriented weekends. In terms of major events, the next stop is arguably Bloc, by which time we’re in March 2011.
Yet on the other side of the coin, if we look through optimistic eyes, all that lies between now and New Year is the promise of some heads down partying. Sure, spectacle is hard to find as the rain begins to lash down. But desperate times call for desperate measures. So, as we fast approach the period where night dominates day, and you return from work in invariably cold and depressing weather, there’s one thing that becomes more significant to survival. Friday, 5PM- when the working world turns in, and the weekend descends.
So fear not as you stare, teary eyed and stunned, wondering where the last few months have gone. The long days are behind us, and the challenge is about to begin. But ultimately that’s what we’re good at, a fact born from years of disappointing downpours negating the stereotype of summer. So bring on September, October and November- it’s time to get some practice in before the big one in December.
