Nightclubs and music venues are often the source of a lifetime’s music taste, best friends, and vivid memories. They can define a town, a city, or a generation, and breed scenes and bands that change music history.

Life After Dark is a passionate and authoritative history of significant venues and great nights out. Dave Haslam takes us from vice-ridden Victorian dance halls to acid house and beyond; through the jazz decades of luxurious ballrooms to mods in basement dives and the venues that nurtured the Beatles, the Stones, and the Sex Pistols; from psychedelic light shows to high street discos; from the Roxy to the Hacienda; from the Krays to the Slits; and from reggae sound systems to rave nights in Stoke.

We hear of a venue named after a mongoose; a disco that became a Tesco; and an old bingo hall where the Prodigy played for £60. We discover where Robert Plant met John Bonham, and where a singer killed a heckler. We meet one of the gangsters who nearly destroyed Manchester’s nightlife; and discuss goth clubs in Leeds with David Peace.

‘Warm and illuminating…the attention to detail makes this book so fascinating’ – The Sunday Times

‘Impressive…beautifully written, incredibly readable and fascinating’ – The Herald (Scotland)

‘A rousing tribute to Britain’s club culture and its place within the nation’s psyche’ – The Observer

‘Life After Dark’ is a tour de force and an essential purchase’ – Record Collector magazine

Life After Dark: A History of British Nightclubs & Music Venues is available online from Hive (independent bookshop site) here. Online from Amazon here. Online from Waterstones here. Online from Blackwells here.