i agree with chazbloke, that there has been a shift back to grass roots, with underground dance music. free partys and squat parties. people prefer parting to this kind of music to six in the mornining, with most clubs offering door opening times to two ! people seem to rather do there own thing when this is the case it seems. even though the illegal option is getting harder and harder.
small nights have to run for ages at a loss, till word gets round, this only happens if everything is right, by this i mean atmosphere/vibe of the club, location, the town its in, the djs that play there, the alternatives on the same night, door policys and cost ! and it is hard to get all this right.
i support small nights, but what fun is it going to a club, that dosent suit banging techno, with less then 30 people in it, djs dont fill clubs, clubbers do.
nye at ether in taunton, proved to me that the clubbers are out there, obviously during the rest of the year the clubs arent offering them what they want.

what is a small night ?if you club holds 150 people and is rammed each week is that small, if yours club holds 600 does that make it big if only 150 people turn up ?