Discussion
When I was 16 I did my first DJ set at an over 18s event.
It was "Garage Fever" at Area nightclub up in Watford and it was bloody fantastic. I remember being high above the crowd in the DJ box in room two (I moved on to the main room later ;)) and being able to feel the vibes coming off the crowd.
Actually, I was playing a back-to-back set with another DJ who I knew fairly well, and whilst the room was empty when it started, it was packed out come the half-way point of our set. It was brilliant and I'll never forget the reactions I got from the crowd during my sets.
But now every so-called nightclub I go to just feels dead. Some people say clubs these days have a bad atmosphere about them... Now when I first started DJ'ing I played in some real shit holes in some of the most notorious parts of London (a party next to the Stonebridge estate being one of the most memorable), so maybe I'm used to them, but I really don't think clubs these days have bad atmospheres.
The problem is that they just don't have [i]any[/i] atmosphere at all. With the exception of places like Fabric, which is a fair old mission for me these days, everywhere feels lifeless; full of blokes with too much gel in their hair and "aeroplane blondes" that all look the same. I'm almost certain all the clubs in Surrey are simultaniously frequented by exactly the same people. Which brings me to the DJ in the aforementioned clubs.
Why do all DJs sound [i]exactly[/i] the same? Not only in terms of the crap they play but also in terms of their voices - The guy at my cousins wedding sounds exactly the same and talks exactly the same amount of rubbish as the resident DJ at pretty any club I've ever been to and yet they live at least 100 miles in different directions. What is going on?
It was "Garage Fever" at Area nightclub up in Watford and it was bloody fantastic. I remember being high above the crowd in the DJ box in room two (I moved on to the main room later ;)) and being able to feel the vibes coming off the crowd.
Actually, I was playing a back-to-back set with another DJ who I knew fairly well, and whilst the room was empty when it started, it was packed out come the half-way point of our set. It was brilliant and I'll never forget the reactions I got from the crowd during my sets.
But now every so-called nightclub I go to just feels dead. Some people say clubs these days have a bad atmosphere about them... Now when I first started DJ'ing I played in some real shit holes in some of the most notorious parts of London (a party next to the Stonebridge estate being one of the most memorable), so maybe I'm used to them, but I really don't think clubs these days have bad atmospheres.
The problem is that they just don't have [i]any[/i] atmosphere at all. With the exception of places like Fabric, which is a fair old mission for me these days, everywhere feels lifeless; full of blokes with too much gel in their hair and "aeroplane blondes" that all look the same. I'm almost certain all the clubs in Surrey are simultaniously frequented by exactly the same people. Which brings me to the DJ in the aforementioned clubs.
Why do all DJs sound [i]exactly[/i] the same? Not only in terms of the crap they play but also in terms of their voices - The guy at my cousins wedding sounds exactly the same and talks exactly the same amount of rubbish as the resident DJ at pretty any club I've ever been to and yet they live at least 100 miles in different directions. What is going on?
Rose tinted spectacles or just the way a previously underground culture you were part of has become mainstream?
I had the same thing when I was heavily into extreme death and black metal back in the early 90s - used to trade tapes of obscure (read: awful) bands from all over the place, write for badly photocopied fanzines with awful names, compile underground compilation tapes, send out flyers for demos of bands I corresponded with, all sorts. It was great - it was a whole little alien subculture to the rest of music and it felt like you were somehow different from the NME hordes. Then it all went mainstream when record labels realised they could flog the stuff by the crate load, bands that should never have got near record deals where putting out CDs, Cradle of Filth were on BBC2 and the whole thing turned into a parody of itself.
I had the same thing when I was heavily into extreme death and black metal back in the early 90s - used to trade tapes of obscure (read: awful) bands from all over the place, write for badly photocopied fanzines with awful names, compile underground compilation tapes, send out flyers for demos of bands I corresponded with, all sorts. It was great - it was a whole little alien subculture to the rest of music and it felt like you were somehow different from the NME hordes. Then it all went mainstream when record labels realised they could flog the stuff by the crate load, bands that should never have got near record deals where putting out CDs, Cradle of Filth were on BBC2 and the whole thing turned into a parody of itself.
Nah, you still get nights where there seems to be an atmosphere and nights where there isn't. Probably always has been this way and always will. Went out on Thursday night and the place was absoloutely jumping (A level results helped no end no doubt) but there are plenty of 'dead' nights. You sure you're not just forgetting the crappy nights?
Cheers,
Rob.
Cheers,
Rob.
DanBoy said:
Why do all DJs sound exactly the same? Not only in terms of the crap they play but also in terms of their voices - The guy at my cousins wedding sounds exactly the same and talks exactly the same amount of rubbish as the resident DJ at pretty any club I've ever been to and yet they live at least 100 miles in different directions. What is going on?
well most clubs now are owned by a few big companies and so just want the same thing from all their dj's. They dont particularly want a great club night with the best tunes ever, just want to get everyone in and for them to spend as much money as possible. There still are good nights around, it just takes a bit more effort to find them
although crasher vs sundissential in leeds next weekend should be fun
I used to be an avid clubber/DJ - the past couple of years have seen me go to only one or two nights each year, as me and most of my mates have simply grown out of it (sad as it is). A couple of weeks back I decided to organise a small Thursday night outing to a techno night at a small venue. Four of us went, and despite being almost twice the adge of most of the crowd, we had a blinding time and stayed until the end. We all decided that whilst it would not be practical to go out as much as we used to, we should still make the effort every once in a while. 
More rose-tinted spectacleness here but I think it's to do with the rise of hip-hop and the demise of trance. It's almost impossible to find a good trance club even in London now whereas hip-hop gets played everywhere.
Hip-hop attracts a different crowd aswell. More people trying to act tough or cool rather than up for a jump like the old trance clubs I used to go to.
Ah the good old days...
Hip-hop attracts a different crowd aswell. More people trying to act tough or cool rather than up for a jump like the old trance clubs I used to go to.
Ah the good old days...
_VTEC_ said:
More rose-tinted spectacleness here but I think it's to do with the rise of hip-hop and the demise of trance. It's almost impossible to find a good trance club even in London now whereas hip-hop gets played everywhere.
Hip-hop attracts a different crowd aswell. More people trying to act tough or cool rather than up for a jump like the old trance clubs I used to go to.
Ah the good old days...
apparently its what "everyone" wants at the moment. same everywhere unfortunately, i'd kill for a decent trance night. Unfortunatly up here its bouncy/scouse house which is big and seriously sh*te
_VTEC_ said:
More rose-tinted spectacleness here but I think it's to do with the rise of hip-hop and the demise of trance. It's almost impossible to find a good trance club even in London now whereas hip-hop gets played everywhere.
Hip-hop attracts a different crowd aswell. More people trying to act tough or cool rather than up for a jump like the old trance clubs I used to go to.
Ah the good old days...
I used to be heavily into Happy Hardcore... and this was about ten years past the 'glory days'... The atmosphere was amazing, 5000 people crammed into a skate park in the middle of an industrial estate in the middle of nowhere
Great line up of talent, we had Slipmat, Force & Styles and Sy... sometimes leaving at 6am. Now that was a good night out
No Attitude, No lairy chavettes, and no fights. I loved it.
To a lesser extent, clubbing around 2001/2002 was pretty good as everyone seemed to be into euphoric house and trance.
Now its all t
ts dressed up like 50 cent and nodding their head in the five seconds between walking into a club and starting a fight. This Hip Hop shite has really killed clubbing for me
Defo a case of rose tinted spectacles I think. I used to go to illegal Techno warehouse parties in the early to mid 90’s. Even then I had older (25 yrs plus) people telling me then that it wasn’t the same as when the Acid House scene started in 87/88 and that it had all sold out and gone commercial.
Then when the whole trance scene kicked in during the late 90’s I stopped clubbing. Officially because I didn’t like it anymore and it had all gone “commercial” but probably secretly because I had finished uni and had a responsible job. Plus the pills didn’t give me as big a kick anymore
The latter because of build up of tolerance levels but I used to say because they “didn’t make E’s like they used to”
Hip Hop / RnB / Breakbeat doesn’t do anything for me but I guess if you’re a 17 year old going clubbing for the first time and doing your first pill those first couple of years will be something magical and you won’t ever be able to match the feeling. No doubt in 3 years time when the next thing has come along they will say it’s all sold out and gone commercial.
One thing I will say though is that we’re long overdue for some sort of musical revolution. Most club music nowadays (excluding niche clubs for Rock, Jazz etc) is simply some kind of evolution of house music. We haven’t had anything as radical as Punk in 76/77 or Acid House in 87/88 since. If anyone knows what the next big thing is PM me and we’ll make a fortune
Then when the whole trance scene kicked in during the late 90’s I stopped clubbing. Officially because I didn’t like it anymore and it had all gone “commercial” but probably secretly because I had finished uni and had a responsible job. Plus the pills didn’t give me as big a kick anymore
The latter because of build up of tolerance levels but I used to say because they “didn’t make E’s like they used to” Hip Hop / RnB / Breakbeat doesn’t do anything for me but I guess if you’re a 17 year old going clubbing for the first time and doing your first pill those first couple of years will be something magical and you won’t ever be able to match the feeling. No doubt in 3 years time when the next thing has come along they will say it’s all sold out and gone commercial.
One thing I will say though is that we’re long overdue for some sort of musical revolution. Most club music nowadays (excluding niche clubs for Rock, Jazz etc) is simply some kind of evolution of house music. We haven’t had anything as radical as Punk in 76/77 or Acid House in 87/88 since. If anyone knows what the next big thing is PM me and we’ll make a fortune
t1grm said:
We haven’t had anything as radical as Punk in 76/77 or Acid House in 87/88 since. If anyone knows what the next big thing is PM me and we’ll make a fortune
Either that, or given that a fair few 'radical' musical genres were associated with new or wider use of certain chemicals, we need some new drugs
cyberface said:
We haven’t had anything as radical as Punk in 76/77 or Acid House in 87/88 since. If anyone knows what the next big thing is PM me and we’ll make a fortune
Either that, or given that a fair few 'radical' musical genres were associated with new or wider use of certain chemicals, we need some new drugs
Good point! I’m experimenting with mulled fairy liquid micro waved with bleached dogs**t that you apply as a cream to the buttocks. It gives a real buzz. However to work with a new radical music genre it would require something that allows you to dance kneeling down
D'you remember when this was Tom Toms?
'House' clubs now are filled with the kind of shite clientel that was frequenting the student clubs (and I'm thinking of the Top Rank Suite here...) when rave was underground. However there is hope...
As learned friend has already said, Brighton still has the best house clubs to go to. The Honeyclub on a Saturday restores all that pent-up frustration you have had with the best sets, the best crowd and just-the-right door policy so that all the airheads have to bugger off to Creation.
House hasn't died, it fragmented into underground once more and 'popular' (think 'Pretty Green Eyes' by Ultrabeat).
Look at Ibiza; Manumission has actually started up a night based on rock - still the same great clubbing crowd full of the extreme intoxidants Ibiza loves, but with The Killers and The Bravey as a back beat. This is the future!
'House' clubs now are filled with the kind of shite clientel that was frequenting the student clubs (and I'm thinking of the Top Rank Suite here...) when rave was underground. However there is hope...
As learned friend has already said, Brighton still has the best house clubs to go to. The Honeyclub on a Saturday restores all that pent-up frustration you have had with the best sets, the best crowd and just-the-right door policy so that all the airheads have to bugger off to Creation.
House hasn't died, it fragmented into underground once more and 'popular' (think 'Pretty Green Eyes' by Ultrabeat).
Look at Ibiza; Manumission has actually started up a night based on rock - still the same great clubbing crowd full of the extreme intoxidants Ibiza loves, but with The Killers and The Bravey as a back beat. This is the future!
wanty1974 said:
D'you remember when this was Tom Toms?
'House' clubs now are filled with the kind of shite clientel that was frequenting the student clubs (and I'm thinking of the Top Rank Suite here...) when rave was underground. However there is hope...
As learned friend has already said, Brighton still has the best house clubs to go to. The Honeyclub on a Saturday restores all that pent-up frustration you have had with the best sets, the best crowd and just-the-right door policy so that all the airheads have to bugger off to Creation.
House hasn't died, it fragmented into underground once more and 'popular' (think 'Pretty Green Eyes' by Ultrabeat).
Look at Ibiza; Manumission has actually started up a night based on rock - still the same great clubbing crowd full of the extreme intoxidants Ibiza loves, but with The Killers and The Bravey as a back beat. This is the future!
There's a few of us still out there keeping it chunky!
www.undergroundhouse.net/
Basics@Rehab (Leeds), Fabric, The End still rock - good age-range to keep the more mature (ahem) punters happy.
The Bomb in Nottingham was the local night - alas closed down - I believe the venue is now a binge drinking beer monster RnB gaff!
i dont usually go out anymore except for socialising such is the state of things. i save myself for my annual ibiza trip and various other "big" nights around the country which still have the spark
the clubs play music to fit the times, and the music of the past few years has been hip hop and rap. now that whole culture is dying and people have had enough of it, the clubs are just playing it to fill the slots whilst they wait for the next wave of music. it leads to a cr4p atmosphere but give it a couple of years and something else will be big. probably indie/rock
i do recall how people were saying the same thing about the atmosphere 5+ years ago when house music was dying
>> Edited by paulhol on Monday 22 August 00:27
the clubs play music to fit the times, and the music of the past few years has been hip hop and rap. now that whole culture is dying and people have had enough of it, the clubs are just playing it to fill the slots whilst they wait for the next wave of music. it leads to a cr4p atmosphere but give it a couple of years and something else will be big. probably indie/rock
i do recall how people were saying the same thing about the atmosphere 5+ years ago when house music was dying
>> Edited by paulhol on Monday 22 August 00:27
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