In between the booming bass, the sweaty bodies gyrating to the music and the cigarette lighting at The Middle East in Cambridge last Friday, Joshua Melvin of The III Kings, paused to ask the audience to take a moment to think about the tragedy that took place just one night before in Warwick, R.I. The buzz of the crowd diminished momentarily, and then it was back to business for the band.

Throughout Boston and Cambridge, it was business as usual for nightclubs and club goers last weekend, as Boston officials assured the public of the safety of legally operating clubs in Boston in the wake of recent nightclub tragedies in Rhode Island and Chicago.

“We have a very tight system to ensure that nightclub buildings are maintained and operating properly,” said John Dorsey, spokesman for the Boston Inspectional Services Department.

According to Dorsey, inspectors from the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety accompanied the ISD on spot inspections of nightclubs around Boston last weekend, finding only minor violations at several locations.

“These are issues we take very seriously, but our system was not reactive,” Dorsey said, noting that spot inspections take place on a weekly basis throughout the year.

During an inspection by the ISD and the fire department, an emergency egress is among the first thing looked for by inspectors, said Dorsey. Emergency exits must be marked, doors must remain unlocked and an emergency lighting system must function normally as well.

“We really haven’t done anything differently,” said Lt. Richard Powers, spokesman for the Boston Fire Department.

Powers said the city sends inspectors out during normal operating hours Thursday through Sunday nights to make sure club owners are staying up to code.

“From Friday night through Monday night, we had nine minor violations on the city,” Powers said. “It’s been good for quite a while. The night club owners do a decent job of maintaining the clubs.”

For a city with approximately 250 legally operating nightclubs, defined as any club with 50 or more patrons, there are generally no major violations found, Powers said.

“Most housekeeping violations we find are in restaurants that turn into nightclubs when they stop dinner service,” Dorsey said.

Minor violations could be as simple as stacked chairs blocking exit areas or a trash bin blocking an emergency exit, according to Dorsey. Most can be fixed on the spot or by the next night, he added.

For patrons who might be concerned about the use of pyrotechnics or flammable insulation, which resulted in 97 deaths in the Rhode Island fire, Powers assured them that the city is very strict in granting permits and maintaining the safety within the buildings.

“For the use of pyrotechnics, the club must have firefighter or two at the scene,” Powers said. “But that’s at a place like the FleetCenter. We’re very strict that and how we issue these permits.”

The flammable soundproof insulation used at the Rhode Island nightclub would never be allowed, Powers added.

Many students who frequent Boston-area clubs, whether it is for concerts or dancing, said they had never considered any threat to their safety last weekend.

“Honestly, the Chicago thing made me think more about my safety,” said Christine Ross, a Boston University junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. “I’ve never noticed exits before. They’re really inaccessible because they’re downstairs or out of the way. What the security guards did [in Chicago] was ridiculous.

“My brother is a bouncer at Pravda [116] and he is trained to handle situations appropriately,” she said. “Now I would definitely look for an exit the next time I go to a club.”

Like Ross, many patrons waiting in line on Lansdowne Street last weekend said they had never considered their safety threatened.

“You really don’t think about it. You expect people to secure your safety,” said Pablo Rasquel, a junior at UMass Boston.

Mike Kamin, who said he only goes to clubs to see concerts, agreed.

“I don’t anybody ever thinks about their security. Nobody thinks they’re going to get burned to death when they go to see a show,” said Kamin, a recent BU graduate.

According to the ISD, about 80 percent of clubs around Boston are equipped with sprinkler systems, but that does not preclude owners from installing systems, Dorsey said.

Aaron Harman, a BU junior in CAS and the College of Fine Arts, said that ultimately, fire hazards will weigh on the minds on both fire safety officials and club owners.

“People are going to learn from this,” Harman said.