Minimum age for clubbing… “Those damn kids!” shakes cane in air
Look, I aint getting any younger and it shows. With hair migrating from the head to the ass among those things called “responsibilities” it feels like everyday I die a little more inside.
I have been clubbing for pretty much half of my life. I do it because I love it. I love dark places, crazy lights, loud EDM and all the good things that usually come when those conditions are met. Without getting into details, the result is magical.
Well, the new generation is coming in at what seems it’s like 500MPH and it’s getting easy to find them annoying. It doesn’t has to be about energy, but something more akin attitude. Maybe past years were more hazy than I thought but kids these days are more into the sketchy part of clubbing and frankly I think they “dont get it”.
Picking up fights, way too much into their own inner circles, getting outside looks (clothes/“style”) with too much importance… They way I lived it was different. With less people I was stoked to find other like-minded individuals and pretty much got to hang out with new folks every weekend, fashion was definitively more DIY so the best styles were correlated to creativity rather than all this Hot Topic, Urban Outfitters, already digested, corporate brands.
All in all, those were more simple times were the understood image was to congregate to have a good time and meet new people rather than go with the idea of being better then everybody and when not achiving it, fucking up somebodys night. So when I club I check age and if it’s at a minimum 21 then I go. If the age is 18 the line-up must be 99% perfect.
Like I said, I may be getting old, maybe kids are like that these days or it is something inherent to where I live.
Yes, it’s global. on the other hand, this is the way some of the people in our generation behaved before. It’s not new, just more massive enhanced by the instant gratification generation.
+1.
But my generation (born early 80’s) where to school for cool at it Drinking age was lowered to 18 in N.Z & Australia by the time I reached that age.
A friend & I did not miss one single weekend clubbing in a calender year.
Some of the things I remember I cringe at. Well tell a lie. I loved it.
I remember rocking round the clubs wearing my fathers blue blockers. dancing on the tables and making a complete fool of myself.
I do have to remind myself when I encounter the new lot coming through. that that was once me :eek:
However I do not remember being as agressive as some of the clowns out now. but hey, they will be reminising like us one day too. Times change, people change, change is what make’s the world go around.
I’ve been going out for way too long. The city I grew up in had after hours so it was all ages from 2AM-6AM. And I spent many a night in that damn place sniff
After hours got shut down once word got out that their kids were out having fun without them knowing.
Ahh the good ol days…
On topic though, I can’t remember the last time I even when to a 18+ club. A couple of shows, but they weren’t at clubs.
I rarely pay attention to the venue, and if I’m going out it’s solely due to the line up.
Yeah, I have a couple of 20yo American exchange students in the floor above me at college, and they act like silly teenagers who’ve just discovered what alcohol is… I swear they go out 4/7 nights a week. They give me hell trying to sleep too!
(should get some 18" subs + topboxes into my room, and crank it at about 8am the next day… )
I’ve been clubbing for almost 5 years, and what really drew me to the rave scene was the whole PLUR attitude. I could dance how I wanted, dress how I wanted, and listen to what I wanted without having a care in the world. Now, I have to watch my back because if I bump someone, or look at their girlfriend wrong there’s drama. I think the whole dubstep scene has really contributed to this agression (I do love dubstep mind you). It used to be people into EDM went to edm clubs, now its all the muscled jocks, and cliques that show up, and it gives the scene a bad image. I do agree though that as fads change, so will this crowd. Why fight if you are there for the music?
I’ve been to three 18/21 night in the last few years…the second was to see Sasha. It was fine. The first was like Calvin Harris or something, and I’ve never stopped so many fights in one night. And I think one of the nights we went to in Miami was 18/21, but it wasn’t a problem because drinks were so damn expensive that the underage morons couldn’t afford them and ended up keeping to themselves.
Oh, and I had someone arrested at the last all-ages show I went to. The guy was being a drunk a$$hole and thinking that hardcore dancing and threatening people for no reason was okay at a darkwave show. I would have just put his lights out myself and let the crowd surf him towards the exit except that I was responsible for a friend of a friend who didn’t have a phone, and I didn’t want to have to explain myself to security. So, I texted an ex-girlfriend who was working sound and 2 minutes later he was being dragged to the hospital in a wrist lock and being charged with assault. It was satisfying, and a much better resolution than the fight that was about to break out.
The problem isn’t the age…the problem is that the entitled douche bags that we call kids are all effing amateurs when it comes to liquor or other buzzes. They have no idea what they’re doing, and they have no regard for other people.
Enjoy yourself all you want. Get trashed if that’s what you’re into. But if you can’t see when your fun starts screwing up other people’s nights, that’s when you need to just disappear and never come back.
Pssshh, tell me about it. I went to an all ages block party a month ago and in line some 18 year olds were downing a bottle of vodka until one puked up what seemed to be gallons of vomit everywhere. Once inside a guy on who knows what pissed himself, then stripped down to his chonies and took a nap in his own puddle of urine. Step your game up kids!
What annoys me is the people who don’t respect anybody around them.
“oo, look, a really crowded spot, let’s go right through that with all elbows and shoulders out!”
“hey, let’s drink in a crowded spot and bitch at people who have little other choice than inadvertently bumping into your drinks!”
So, while douchebaggery has no age boundaries, it seems like it’s more present with the younger clubbers here. I know it can get quite cramped in there and this is is bound to happen no matter what, but that’s no excuse to not be a little bit careful.
Other than that, not that many complaints from me, where I go the most blatantly pre-wasted don’t get in and then the expensive drinks makes sure most don’t get TOO drunk. It’s more of a house/techno purist’s club, last time I checked it gets worse at other places where all the adhd-electro-house-du-jour kids go (because there’s more of them).
hehehe sometimes I’m glad I’m too old and boring to go out most nights.
My funny all ages event story happened a couple years ago at EDC in LA … Saw a few bad incidents, including a girl completely passed out and nonresponsive to people trying to wake her up, and a hell of a lot of kids rushing the gate and pissing off the security guards, and way too much foulness in terms of urine and puke and excrement all over the ground in certain areas. Had paid extra for VIP access because friends convinced me it was the only way to get to the bathrooms without lines but the lines were longer in VIP and the toilets were backed up and overflowing all over the place; ugh. No real violence that I remember I’m happy to say.
But the strangest thing was the large number of kids who looked in their teens hitting me up for “pills.” Like almost everywhere I turned, someone was asking me. I guess I’m asking for it, being probably the oldest guy at the rave and having dreadlocks, but I had no idea I’d be asked over and over like that. Funniest one was a kid who looked to be about 15 who approached me a couple blocks away as I was walking back to my car… he was like “Excuse me, sir, do you have any pills?” Really, bro?? First of all, the rave ended like an hour ago, but more importantly, if you feel the need to call me “sir,” I probably don’t have drugs to sell. jeez…
I’ve found that I still like going to all of the shows, but a lot more of my “crew” is falling into the “21+ only or I’m not bother to go out” mentality.
Hell, I’ve been going to shows now for 12 years. From the all-night no-drink events held at shady clubs to big festivals. I love it for the music and spending time with friends. I’m 26 now, and don’t go out as much because I’m honestly fucking busy as hell working full-time and going back to school in the evenings. But I still catch more shows than anyone in my immediate crew.
Things have gotten a lot more aggressive with the scene lately. The 18+ and all ages shows really showcase that. There are different drugs in the scene now, and people really don’t know how to handle their shit. Also, there seems to be a less overall friendly vibe in the younger crowd. “Back in the day” people would help each other out, even if they were complete strangers. Now, you’re lucky if someone even notices if someone is having a hard time of things. I’ve spent more than one evening helping a complete stranger having a bad night, and I couldn’t see that happening today.
Now the music? It’s gotten better. The scene has gotten bigger. I just wish people cared as much about the music as I do, and less about the scene or just the drugs. That’s the thing I most often see when I talk to people at shows. I’ll go on about how I like certain tracks, and I’ll only get back “Yeah I like Deadmau5 and that ‘dub-step’” and it infuriates me.
But hell. Only so much you can do. And at least now I can get drunk about it.
Drinking age was lowered to 18 in N.Z & Australia by the time I reached that age.
