Interesting, other than 'the locals' propping up the bar, that's not my experience at all.
I think going to each other's homes (on a smaller scale and in a less organised way than 'a party') is more common now. For whatever reason, I wouldn't like to say, could be fashion, could be the other side of 'the pub is too expensive', or something else.
The parent commenter said "Take something like the bar in [the television show] How I Met Your Mother. Obviously this is all fictional and these characters spend a lot of time there". The only reason they can meet there and hear each other is because the bar is silent and they're actually on a sound stage. Watch any show where any characters interact at a bar: they talk comfortably in a way that would not work in real life.
Bars and restaurants have simply gotten measurably louder to the point where people are choosing to meet at home instead. When English Pubs and U.S. speakeasies became popular, amplified music was not a thing. Even the name "speakeasy" comes from the fact that people could and did speak quietly in the bars!
> But consider a 1993 study of about a dozen dining establishments, which found that sound levels peaked at 68 decibels (a little louder than normal chitchat). Compare that with a much larger 2018 survey of New York City restaurants, in which one-quarter hit at least 81 decibels (more like a garbage disposal), the average level was 77, and just 10 percent were 70 decibels or below. The report deemed those “quiet.”
https://www.popsci.com/story/technology/restaurant-noise-lev...
Scientific papers abound
https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=...
> There are increasing numbers of reports from patrons complaining about the difficulty in conversing with fellow diners due to loud venues. In Zagat’s 2016 Annual Survey, when surveyors were asked what irritated them the most about dining out, noise was the second highest complaint (25%) behind poor service (28%). But in major urban cities of San Francisco, Boston, Portland and New York City, noise was the number one complaint [34]
It's worse than not fixing it, the trend is to make it worse, by removing soft furnishings etc.
Saw an article recently on loud restaurants (the loudest in the world are in London, followed by SF iirc) - the top few in London were measured as so loud that per the law (I assume it's not known/adhered to) they have to provide staff with hearing protection from the injurious volume!
It’s become true at even many very “nice” restaurants as the open kitchen, open spaces, and hard surfaces everywhere aesthetic has taken over nearly everything.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speakeasy
The more common explanation is that it's a place where you have to speak easy to not attract attention.
It makes sense too, since without amplified music being popular why would the speakeasy be specifically quiet rather than just "like everywhere else".
I agree 100% there are even some 'trendy' stores I've visited where the volume of the music was so loud I just left and have never gone back. There are some 'clubs' that are just immediate hearing loss damage, and everyone who goes there will pay for it later in life. Just a massive wall of sound that is waaaay outside safe hearing for any length of time - noisier than any construction zone.
Bars and the quieter zones of clubs are different though: we're meant to socialize. People are opting out of the whole thing and I think it's because of the volume. Go to any bar during the summer that has music inside and a quiet outside and watch where most people go.
I strongly think that the patrons themselves don't actually recognize why they even like outside so much better.
When faced with unkowns, I'll tend to gravitate to hotel bars for this reason. Not too busy, not too loud, not too dark, as a general rule.
It's also why i tend to prefer going out to eat at off-peak times.
Now there are a host of modern "bars" with extended drink and cocktail menus and cacophonous piped music, especially in city centres. But in most traditional pubs the ambient noise comes almost entirely from the patrons.
The bar in the show is (very) loosely based on a real-world location: McGee's Pub in midtown Manhattan. While I haven't visited in quite a few years, when I did visit, the pub was typically quiet enough to have a conversation at your table without raising your voice.
In Finland? People don't get social like that. People in bars will stare at their tables and drink for an hour or five, then leave - but not speak to others.
(OK sometimes it happens, especially later at night, but the idea of going to a bar here for company is very alien.)