Clubbing

I think this is an interesting subject to talk about. Many of the folks here, including myself, belong to demographics that stereotypically don't enjoy this sort of entertainment. I for one don't agree: as long as you find the right kind of friends, it can be incredibly fun, to be able to express yourself with freedom in an environment where it's barely possible to make out your silhouette or what exactly was the thing on the ground that just broke uder your shoe. But the key here is accompaniment: with firends, it's the opportunity to loosen up and show each other sides of yourselves you don't get to show in "the real, clear, time-aware world out there".

But when you're by yourslef, or lose sight of your friends, suddenly you're in a dark, noisy, confusing place with lots of sweaty people where no-one really knows what the hell is going on, and there might be all sorts of predators roaming the place. It feel like a very hostile environment.

So, the topic is: experiences, feelings, memories, conceptions, mindsets that clubbing evokes and rouses in you. This includes particular clubs, types of clubs, ambiances and crowds, the difference between weekdays, and hours, the role of gogodancers and the quality thereof... Anything and everything related to the experience of clubbing, today, tomorrow and yesterday.

An action is not virtuous merely because it is unpleasant to do.

Can't say i've ever had an experience of clubbing...ever.

But if it was just people getting drunk while loud music plays, I can't say I feel so bad.

What I can't stand is people who get on your case for not doing so "What, you never clubbed? What are you, a loser?"

No, I just don't like crowds and drunk people.

Those people are idiots. What's enjoying a specific sort of fun have to do with being a "loser"? What's lost anyway?

An action is not virtuous merely because it is unpleasant to do.

Clubs are fine for those that like 'em. There just tends to be more dancing than I can really put up with, and you can't have a decent conversation in them so I tend to prefer bars.

Places that have bars in reltive isolation to the club proper, where you can talk normally and rest a little, and then go back to dance in pure frenzy to you heart's content... That's nice, but rare.

An action is not virtuous merely because it is unpleasant to do.

~shrug~

People are free to their fun. Don't set your drink down, though.

I could make varying sociological arguments for and against clubbing as a "good" activity, in terms of personal health. I wouldn't convince anybody who already has an opinion on the matter.

I personally don't care for the idea, though. As with Thorn, I don't do crowds... especially not drunk crowds.

I am now known as Flyboy.

Clubs only exist for one reason, to get you utterly brickfaced.

Dutch Lesbian

Hell I can barely handle the one anime convention I go to.

Most of the time I just lock myself in the table top gaming room

Why do people enjoy doing that? I dont understand. You hurt your body, get sick, and feel like shit the next day.

edited 21st Sep '11 3:18:05 PM by Thorn14

In my humble experience, pubs>>>>>clubs.

More talkin' and drinkin' and less dancin'.

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.

To unwind I guess, imo, theres nothing better but then drinking to excess is deeply embedded in my local culture.

edited 21st Sep '11 3:19:05 PM by whaleofyournightmare

Dutch Lesbian

...

Wow.

I was wrong. Totally didn't see that coming. I thought you'd come in and talk about how much better clubbing was than any other less chaotic social activities.

Go figure.

I am now known as Flyboy.

But...you get sick and feel like total shit afterward...it makes no sense...

Fun, if you can find a baby seal, or two.

Enjoy the Inferno...

Then you are doing it wrong. No, seriously.

On topic, though: What, exactly, is "clubbing"?

Beating seals to death.

If you don't like a single Frank Ocean song, you have no soul.

I can't argue with 60p vodka.

With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.

Well, not really. See, it depends a lot on what types of alcohol you drink: different persons have different tastes. And you don't "feel like shit", not if you moderate yourself. You do feel a little light-headed, but there's nothing better than a relaxing, quiet, sunny sunday where you're resting in the silence of your own home, in the warmness of your own couch, sometimes with company.

I for one have a predilection for wheat beer for maintenance, and Jagermeister to start. Then, to keep hydrated, fresh water and apple juice (the bubbly sort, preferably: there's something awesome the bubbles add to the perception of appletaste). Though the gases from the beer can be a bitch, but I have my tricks to get most of them in the atmosphere before I just it down.

Anyway, it's all about finding the right partner to be a corporeal Large Ham with, in my case. I like to act out the songs, and be very very sensuous and passionate and stuff. When you can get a dance partner where you can echo and mirror and follow and converse with each other through nonverbal exuberance, when you get that wordless synchronization of the body and the soul... there is a sense of freedom. Here, I'll let Studio Blue Sky speak on my behalf, with a PG-rated, one-minute concentration of the essence of what makes clubbing awesome:

[[youtube:psBPk3Q5eqI&feature=related]]

Please disrgeard the pseudo-deification of the female lead by the end: in my experience, all parts are equally goofy and arkward throughout. Also, you can't sing over the music like that. Or fly.

Anyway, as I said, it's that sort of... "public intimacy", where you're part of a crowd, part of its warmth, in synch with its rhythm, yet no one can quite see what you are doing. For some reason, in that cluttered, moist space, there's a sense of freedom, release, and exalatation.

An action is not virtuous merely because it is unpleasant to do.

From what I understand, the fun factor of clubbing is pretty much geared entirely to women. For them, clubbing =

1.) An excuse to go shopping. Splurge on a professional hair style. Get primped, pampered, and dressed up. Generally show off their fashion sense.

2.) A way to feel explicitly sexy. Flirt. Ogle. Be ogled.

3.) An occasion to walk on the wild side. Maybe get completely drunk. Maybe hook up with a guy.

4.) An opportunity to go dancing. Doesn't matter if with a guy or with friends. Girls seem to generally enjoy hopping around to music.

5.) A chance to see and be seen. Take pictures. Be social. Make memories. Attempt to have "a life."

Of course, guys can probably enjoy all these things too. But for some reason, we seem to go to clubs pretty much to drink, fight, and chase women. Might have something to do with the fact the girls get in for practically free, while guys have to pay through the nose, then they end up buying (obscenely overpriced) drinks in an attempt to pick up said girls. Maybe guys realize that a club is kind of a shitty place to experience all of the above...erm..."pleasantries." I also think that guys don't get as much pressure from friends to "come out with us," as girls do. We can drink at home, and we've got video games, to boot!

edited 21st Sep '11 4:03:19 PM by sketch162000

Speaking as a wallflower type, I love it, even with the hangovers. They're easy to avoid if you're smart and alternate between alcohol and water - plus the excitement and the atmosphere more than make up for that anyway. It's also way more fun to go in a group rather than by yourself.

It's totally possible for shyer people to enjoy clubs by the way. People aren't going to be interested in what you're doing for more than a second maybe unless you make a colossal fuckup like say, trying to start a fight with the bar guy.

edited 21st Sep '11 4:06:05 PM by orzochimaru

MAXIMUM THE ALLCAPS

@USAF:

WHY I PREFER PUBS

• Pubs rarely (if ever) charge an entry fee. Drinks at pubs are cheaper.
• I normally don't like dancing unless I'm high on X. I don't use X every weekend, so clubs are out.
• Certain pubs serve the meat market function equally well and more efficiently.
• Pubs are more likely to have rock instead of dance music.
• If you're a dude, no matter your sexual orientation, clubs are out to outright fleece you, a situation that we share with dykes. Straight girls like clubbing mostly because they aren't getting fleeced.

The only advantage clubs have is that they close later. Then again, that's why Odin invented raves and private after-hours parties at people's houses when the pubs close.

edited 21st Sep '11 4:07:47 PM by SavageHeathen

You exist because we allow it and you will end because we demand it.

x4 describing the club as "moist" definitely didn't help with the Squick factor

I find that depressingly stupid. Who says you have to experience things in person with other people and document it photographically to make your enjoyment "real" and "worthwhile"? Those smiles on pictures mean next to nothing: all they show is generic demosntrations of happiness in generic sceneries. As Gendou Ikari would say: it's all in your heart. The rest is junk.

Uuuh, ugly turn of phrase you got there. I've worked as a butcher part-time, I should know. Why not call it "the Game" or "the Dance" or something that relfects the back-and-forth and dynamism and effervescence?

I wish I knew how to get in raves. And you won't get fleeced everywhere: in Berlin for instance, a club entry seldom costs more than 5€ (God I'm in love with that town). Though I agree keeping hydrated and alcoholized just enough can be a little tough unless you've smuggled your own drinks in or you've decided to only stay for a relatively short time (until 3 rather than until 6 for example).

Well, yeah, you sweat a lot, everyone does, and then your clothes are all wet on you but since you're all warm and they're all warm and everyone is just plain radiating infrarreds like there's no tomorrow it's not as unpleasant as it should be. But that's the same deal everywhere you exercise in closed spaces, whether it be a gym, a dojo, or a club. Listen, it's about cutting loose, throwing caution to the wind, getting down and dirty. Being wet throughout is just part of it. When two bodies close up together and move in unison, sweat mizing wish sweat, heartbeat upon heartbeat... it's nice, actually(hottip:*:and not in a sexual way either: I seldom get sexually aroused that way, it's something else... "acceptance"?)

edited 21st Sep '11 4:22:26 PM by JesusSaves

An action is not virtuous merely because it is unpleasant to do.

Aaaaaaaand what's with the assumption that you have to drink to go to a club? Being sober is totally badass because you'll remember all the dumb mistakes your friends made.

edited 21st Sep '11 4:22:23 PM by HeavyDDR

I'm pretty sure the concept of Law having limits was a translation error. -Wanderlustwarrior

I have trouble dancing properly when I'm sober. I tend to second-guess myself and think of what I'm doing and hesitate. Alcohol, in the right amount, allows me to... chill out and go with the flow. Isn't it the same for you?

edited 21st Sep '11 4:24:40 PM by JesusSaves

An action is not virtuous merely because it is unpleasant to do.

Nope. I've been completely sober my entire life. Still have fun going to clubs. I'm a pretty confident guy when it comes to dancing or talking, though, so I don't really have that problem. I don't need a depressant to loosen me up.

I'm pretty sure the concept of Law having limits was a translation error. -Wanderlustwarrior