A Dance and Restart - Closed Nightclubs Are Not Just a Problem for Industry Entrepreneurs
Marco Fattorini
The entire economy revolving around nightlife has been in difficulty for the second consecutive year, but this time the situation has become unsustainable. The president of the Emilia-Romagna region, Stefano Bonaccini, has spoken out: “Dance halls risk disappearing permanently”
This summer the lights of Cocoricò will remain off. Under the glass and steel pyramid overlooking the hills of Riccione, Lucio Dalla and Jean-Paul Gaultier danced. Patty Pravo performed, while the Daft Punk were kicked out of the console. A very strong musical identity, a demanding audience. Cocoricò is more than a nightclub. Here for thirty years a piece of contemporary culture has been written, between avant-garde and provocations.
Quarters of beef hanging on the walls, walls covered with guns, performers locked inside display cases full of flies. The most iconic and controversial Italian venue, certainly the most famous in Europe. A pilgrimage destination for thousands of enthusiasts. Not by chance has it been called the “Mecca”, “the cathedral”, “the temple of music”.
The “Cocco” went bankrupt in 2019 only to be reborn, or almost. The pandemic blocked everything until a date to be determined. “I postponed the inauguration six times in the last two years, now we hope to reopen in October but with all these ‘yes, no, who knows, we’ll see’ I have some doubts about autumn too”. Enrico Galli, well-known entrepreneur of Rimini nightlife, took over Cocoricò in January 2020, just before Covid disrupted all plans. On the phone with Linkiesta he recounts the disappointment of a sector that has been at a standstill for almost two years. “We were convinced they would let us reopen, our protocol had been approved by the Technical-Scientific Committee. The green pass is fine for all activities, but not for us. Meanwhile in squares and on beaches they make people dance without licenses or safety”.
Before the government’s latest decision, Galli had already decided not to turn on the sound system due to too much uncertainty. “World stars don’t wait for us, it takes months to do artistic programming and organize evenings”. Meanwhile he has invested 2.5 million euros to renovate the entire venue. One hundred thousand just to polish up the mythological pyramid, the one from which generations of clubbers have waited for dawn. “But since the company was recently established and couldn’t register any revenue drop compared to 2019, I didn’t get a euro in compensation”.
In the summer of the Delta variant, the Romagna Riviera must deal with the increase in infections while continuing to welcome tens of thousands of tourists. Despite the outbreaks, Rimini remains the capital of vacationers. “This is the only place where it is still possible to live and graft oneself into the continuum of the national-popular novel”, wrote Pier Vittorio Tondelli. The imagery is almost the same. The very wide beaches and family hotels. But above all the music on the dance floor, in the land of Raoul Casadei. From smooth dancing to techno, from couple dances to international DJs. While in the rest of Italy hundreds of nightclubs have closed, in Emilia-Romagna over 300 venues resist, half of which are on the coast. A 200 million euro industry with a workforce of 20,000 people.
The pandemic has put even those who had never stopped dancing to the test. “From a symbol of entertainment, Romagna has become the emblem of frustration”. Gianni Indino is the regional president of Silb-Confcommercio, the association that brings together venue managers. “Someone in Rome must explain to us why they won’t let us reopen, we are able to guarantee all safety rules, we have security services, we do swabs, we sell tickets online”. Negotiations continue, political pressures increase. The president of the region Stefano Bonaccini has spoken out: “Dance halls risk disappearing permanently”. From the Democratic Party to the Lega, many would like to give the green light to venues.
Indino hopes for a rethink from the government: “Thousands of young people who want to have fun are arriving on the Riviera. When they find nightclubs closed they make do and go dancing wherever they can, without any type of control. In this way the State has legalized illegal activity, allowing many unscrupulous people to do business in this context. Plus there’s a public order issue: fights and stabbings are increasing. After all, this happens if you leave kids on the street”.
In the chats of industry insiders there’s an air of demobilization. In Romagna more than a few have abandoned the activity, several owners have decided to rent out the huge parking spaces to raise cash. Others reopen by changing format, organizing dinner-shows. Anything goes, or almost. There are those who turned the music back on and filled the dance floor. For this reason a couple of nightclubs in Rimini were closed by law enforcement. “Rules must be respected – clarifies Confcommercio president Indino – but I don’t blame those who were fined for scraping together some change. Venue managers are desperate, they pay rents of 200 thousand euros per year in addition to taxes and bills. In return they received compensation of 6 or 7 thousand euros”.
In Romagna, as in the rest of Italy, managers are waiting for the green pass to open the doors of nightclubs. “Those who govern – vents Enrico Galli – don’t understand the importance of our sector and don’t consider that we in entertainment also have real businesses, with current expenses and flesh-and-blood families. We work full time, personally I sleep four hours a night and certainly not because I’m out having fun”.
