I just arrived from another planet. I hear some young people say they’re “going clubbing.” What activities, processes, venues, cost, clothing, consequences, exactly, does that entail? Details, please. Hypothetical situation descriptions encouraged. Is this something YOU do? Is it “fun”?
Nanoo-nanoo.
Have you ever seen Jersey Shore? That is the trashy version of it.
You get pimped or whored up with a group of friends, typically drink a lot, and go to one or more dance clubs often to “hook up” with a random person of your preferred sex. You throw yourself into dance club culture while you are there where the norms are a little more loose than conventional society.
Is this a real thread, or a parody of all the “Please tell me what life is like” threads that seem to crop up around here left and right?
Around 40 years ago did you live on a planet that had discos? It’s about the same. It’s hard to believe, but the kids are even dumber now.
Activities: dancing, drinking, hitting on members of the preferred sex for hookups.
Processes: Erm, like… Hruh?
Venues: Clubs, or bars that feature a dance floor with a DJ.
Cost: Depends on your gender. Sometimes there’s no cover. LOL. Okay, that doesn’t happen anymore. There might be no cover charge (to get in the door) for women. There may be free drinks for women. Men are expected to show up in droves and make up for lost revenue when the women aren’t charged anything. I’ve spent only the cover charge and then drank water, because I’ve actually gone to dance. Generally, straight men like to buy drinks for straight women. In gay bars, GLBTQ people like to buy drinks for GLBTQ people. Aside from clientele, there is little difference between a gay club and a straight club, with the possible exception being that the dancing is better in gay clubs. For some reason, some straight white people tend not to have much rhythm or coordination. I don’t encounter that as often in clubs where the clientele is culturally mixed or GLBTQ.
Clothing: Usually whatever people define as “slutty.” Or as potentially attractive to the preferred gender.
Consequences: Depends on how drunk you get. You could pick up a stalker. You could wreck your car and die from drunk driving. You could spend the night in jail from drunk driving. Or, you might go, dance, have a drink or two, drive home just fine, not pick anyone up, and sleep really well that night because you tired yourself out dancing. You might OD on drugs done in the bathroom or parking lot. Or you might not.
“Clubbing” is something I used to do, somewhat frequently, when the mood to dance struck. I no longer do this anymore, for several reasons.
I hate most of the DJs because a good bit of what they play is, to my ears (and trained feet) completely undanceable. Utter crap. Note: Squatting down like Wonder Woman taking an invisible shit and popping one’s booty for hours on end does not constitute “dance moves”.
Usually, it’s so loud in there, I can’t hear myself think. Generally too loud for any manner of conversation with previously mentioned potential hookup mate, including “WHAT’S YOUR NAME?” (All capped for the hearing-impaired. ;))
If ladies aren’t drinking free, the drinks tend to be overpriced and watered down. Too expensive, even if said potential hookup mate is doing all the buying. If ladies are drinking free, then the place is filled with smarmy, creepy, sketchy dudes looking to hookup with some plastered soror-i-slut. Sorority girl sluts can be identified by their mating call, which is, “I’m SO drunk!” If I just want to dance and have a good time with my girlfriends, I have to fight off armies of octopus men who think, because we’re in there, they are entitled to wrap all eight of their tentacles around any body part they can get their tentacles on. This is why I tended to go to GLBTQ clubs, where I would essentially be left alone to dance my little feetz right off, unbothered by frat-tastic tentacle men.
Did I mention that the music sucks in those places?
I still, on very rare occasions, may find myself in a non-club, regular, plain, old bar which might offer a DJ on certain weekend nights. When drunk enough, I will still dance on a table or three. I am occasionally dragged out dancing with my dancey friends.
Only once, about 20 years ago, have I ever actually picked up a potential hookup mate in a club. We ended up dating/hooking up for several months until he moved to another town 3.5 hours away. That was an unexpected positive outcome.
Usually, the idea of going clubbing does not sound fun to me, but once I manage to get out of the house, I tend to have fun and not suffer any majorly negative consequences, aside from a hangover.
As a middle-aged guy, I sometimes miss clubbing.
Shazbot.
Cover can vary from a couple bucks to twenty depending on the place and your gender. There are lots of variety- from what I observed gay clubs tended to charge less for cover and drinks. Latin clubs have the best dancing going on, in my opinion. If noise is an issue, some 30 Db rated earplugs do a good job of bringing it down to a sane level.
Common clubbing tactics include getting buzzed ahead of time to save money on drinks, bringing someone who cant/wont drink so they can be the designated driver, and going on a day/time that mitigates the cover charge if possible.
Its not everone’s cup of tea but personally i’ve found that the more friends you go with, the more fun youll have. Going alone is kinda depressing.
Clubbing is not some mysterious thing. You get dressed up, or don’t, dance, or don’t, drink, or…no, you have to drink. And then you all scream at each other because that’s how you get heard over the music.
I think it’s a little different for everyone, depending on your objectives. I genuinely like to dance, and since there aren’t that many Zumba classes on weekend late nights, I sometimes go clubbing.
Generally I’ll meet with friends beforehand for a few drinks and to chat. Then we’ll go to a nightclub district. We usually only go to places without covers (for either gender), and generally we’ll hit up a couple clubs over the course of the night looking for the best music and dancing. I’m partial to cheesy pop songs and 90s hits. The single girls among us may try to find a guy to grind with and/or make out with, but on the whole we don’t do a lot of going home with guys at clubs. After dancing until we are exhausted, we grab late night pizza by the slice and head home.
This is absolutely real. I’m not saying I’ve never been to a bar in my life and I’ve been known to drink, but when I hear/read about clubbing, I picture going from bar to bar, probably with friends, spending a lot of money on alcohol, maybe there’s some recorded or live music, it’s loud so you can’t talk, these days probably not much smoking, and I guess the possibility of sex with a stranger looms at the end of the evening if that’s your mission… I dunno, I wondered if there was more to it than that. A colonoscopy sounds like more fun.
I also never went to discos back in the day, but I believe dancing was a *major *part of that scene, so that makes a little more sense. Yeah, I’m older than your mom, but even when I was 20, this sort of activity did not appeal to me. And when I was drinking (I was *quite *serious about that for a while), I preferred drinking at home where I could get more for my money. Just wanting to understand. Dogzilla gave the answer that most matched what I *thought *it was all about.
Thank you for humoring me.
I never could get into clubbing, not the baby seals and not the other type. Have never liked dancing. I recall once in the '70s being turned away from a disco for being inappropriately dessed (blue jeans). I returned on another night slightly better garmented and ended up drinking watery drinks while watching odd people dance. That may have been my last attempt. I’m more of a bar person.
I’m glad you asked this, since I never knew what the difference was between a bar that had a dance floor and a “club”
I still don’t but that’s OK.
I sort of get it.
Some places are more bar-y or clubby than others, but there’s not really a difference.
I see. Well for the most part, you go to a room full of music and you dance. Many people like this “dancing” because it produces a sensation called “euphoria,” which can be loosely translated as “enjoyment,” or “fun.” Engaging with people you find attractive is also fun for most people.
Clubs are usually free to cheap for ladies, as are drinks. Flirting is usually on the menu, finding someone to go home with also happens not infrequently. I will point out that clubs have a rep for being skanky hook up places, which isn’t entirely unearned, but they don’t have to be. Dress is often pretty casual, as in jeans are okay, but often teamed up with a nice top and nice shoes, and are mainly just places to dance and have a good time. The older the crowd, generally the less hookupy it is. Some clubs are all out peacocking skin fests, and then there are also the upscale clubs, which I find to be ridiculous. If I’m going to a club, I’m going to dance, and I’m probably going to sweat. I don’t want to dance my ass off in my fancy pants.
I generally don’t go to clubs anymore, but I used to have fun. These days, I prefer the regular seedy pub. I talk too much and I like getting drunk, so a cozy room full of booze to have a chat in is up my alley.
Pssh, find me a club spinning old school hip and and it’s on.
I’m not suave enough to be successful with the ladies in an environment where it’s so loud they can’t hear my witticisms. I envy the dudes who are, though.
It’s been several decades since witticisms were suave. Hell, since being suave was suave.
Try looking into their eyes and licking your eyebrows.
You sound envious.
Seriously, that shit makes me stop and stare in slack-jawed astonishment. At least the asses that “pop” like they have little engines under the cheeks do. It’s almost unhuman. Not exactly attractive; but impressive nonetheless.
Pro tip: guys who can pick up chicks in clubs aren’t suave.