When clubs closed in March 2020, many wondered if they would ever return — and whether the culture built around them would survive. Two years later, the answer was emphatically yes. Club music did not just survive the pandemic. In many ways, it thrived.

The Livestream Revolution

Boiler Room, Resident Advisor, and hundreds of individual DJs moved online. While nothing replaced the physical experience, the global audience for electronic music expanded enormously during lockdown — reaching listeners who would never have attended a club.

The Sounds That Emerged

Hyperpop, UK garage revival, ambient techno, and the continuing dominance of Afro-house all emerged from or were amplified by the pandemic period. Music made in bedrooms for listeners in bedrooms developed a raw, intimate quality distinct from the big-room sound of pre-pandemic EDM.

The Return

When clubs reopened, the pent-up demand was extraordinary. Fabric in London, Berghain in Berlin, and their equivalents around the world reported their busiest periods ever. A generation that had come of age during lockdown was experiencing club culture for the first time.