The nightlife scene in Morocco

Hi,

I am currently living in Tanger. Nightlife here is something like I never experienced before. There are clubs all over the city centre, but they only play s****y commercial music, arabesque and charts. It can be rather depressing if you value innovation. I find clubs with traditional moroccan music much more pleasant and interesting. There are some serious musicians here in Tanger! Shisha houses, if you enjoy smoking shisha, can also be nice - and it is definitely an easier environment to meet locals (they are all very relaxed at those places, man and woman mix together with absolute respect - even so, respect their privacy - smoking shisha can be a meditative experience). There are also parties made by expats in their own flats, but I find it quite boring - an extension of social media, since the only way you can get to know these people is through Facebook (and I deleted my account in my earlier days in Morocco - don't want to be a social media junkie anymore).

Musically, Morocco could do much better. Although it is very common to find live bands/Djs playing 70s80s90s hits, this is definitely not my kind of thing (I am a professional DJ, promoter and experimental musician - I have been breathing nightlife for the past 20 years, and Tanger has a lot to develop in terms of professionalism and avant-garde music). If you like pop - go for it! There are plenty of options. But if your ears are more trained, I suspect you will find it disappointing.

As for festivals - I know they happen, but I am not sure how successful they are to attract people. In July there was this Latin music festival - looking at the live streaming I only saw an empty space with great music. The tickets, again, were overpriced...

Restaurants are good, and some of them have really spiced up nights - it seems to be a habit to eat while clubbing here. I prefer clubbing without eating, or even smelling food, so I try to avoid places where they serve food with drinks (which usually comes "for free").

My favourite club in Tanger, although not much for the music, is Club Regine. I like the crowd there, and there's a 80s atmosphere that would work much better with disco music/ new wave than Rihana and Eminem. I was once planning to visit Club 555, which appears to be top notch, but I found 400 dirhams a ticket a little bit overpriced (not even in London you pay that amount to get inside a modern club, and DJs are infinitely more skilled and inspiring). In the past few weeks I have been chasing for an "underground" scene, but it seems to be somewhat rare. I believe places like Casablanca must have one, but Tanger's options are very limited. The most "arty" venue in Tanger is, so far, the cinemateque. But nothing really happens there - just a lot of people drinking tea, observing the crowd and checking out each other. Even so, it is a place that expats and tourists go. I don't know why, but the whole thing seems quite dead to me.

One last thing about Tanger's nightlife: beware of pickpockets and bag-snatching! It does happen often, and they take advantage of drunken people, especially walking at night by him/herself... If that happens to you, I wouldn't bother to call the police or cry for help. Nobody does anything. The criminals prefer to act in gangs, but are rarely violent to tourists. Scenes of violence among Moroccans are also not totally uncommon - I have seen more street fights here (including manXwomen) than anywhere else in the world! It is usually concentrated on places where alcohol is served - so I believe people here, like anywhere else in the world, end up drinking too much.The difference is that police is inexistent after 2 am, so I strongly recommend making friends with a HONEST taxi driver that can drive you everywhere. (Random taxi drivers at night will certainly overcharge you; I got sick of having arguments with them).