Anyone growing up in the late 90s or early 00s in Malta will surely have fond memories of the beautiful, at times chaotic weekend nights spent in Paceville, and Footloose is one of those clubs at the very heart of these memories. But less than a decade before, the iconic nightclub had a very different feel to it.

In a recently unearthed YouTube video, a standard night out in Footloose in the early 90s shows a completely different vibe… including jovial rounds of billiard and a decently-stocked games arcade!

The footage was taken on a Tuesday, 21st July 1992 at around 9:30pm.

You’d be fooled into thinking it was taken at 3pm, though, with the atmosphere looking and feeling more like a chill bar on Sunday afternoon than a night in Paceville.

And when you think about, it really does lend itself beautifully to Footloose’s “Fun Bar” tagline, which stands decades later.

Of course, this was years before Paceville truly evolved into the clubbing village it would eventually become by the end of the decade… but some recognisable spaces and faces can already be spotted in the three-minute video. 

From a sneak peek at the legendary Paceville road outside to the unmistakeable couple of stairs leading down to Footloose, there’s a weird familiarity about the footage even for people who might not even have been born in 1992.

At one point, one commenter said they even recognised the late Kennethjohn Cutajar, who would go on to become a Footloose veteran in the late 90s and early 00s as DJ Timpana.

And if you’d like to refresh your memory on the stark contrast between Footloose in 1992 and later, check this out. 

A very different generation is about to get nostalgic.

Now more than ever, with the COVID-19 pandemic still going and Paceville being reduced to a ghost of its former self, it’s footage like this that hit us straight in the feels and have us wishing this whole shitstorm would be over already.

Tag someone who remembers Footloose this way… and someone who wishes they did!