2001-07-21 - 5:07 p.m.

Club Night Like Any Other

So last night was time for Redwood and I to hang out with Particle again. Now I really wanted to be in the Bay Area to hang with Shells. She went to a private party that I was invited to as well, so I'll just have to ask her how that went.

But I also wanted to hang out with Redwood. It has been a long but mostly good week. Good news: the exam, finished some things at work, spent time in Santa Cruz with Shells. Bad news: waiting for a phone call. Bah, it isn't that bad, just makes things easier to put into perspective. OK, I'm trying to convince myself, but I'm almost there.

Sanctuary

So Redwood, Particle, and I went to Sanctuary. Particle finally bought some BDUs and was wearing one of my old pairs of boots. Damnit, it does have an incredibly rivet look.

I spent the first 1/3 of the night mostly watching Particle and Redwood dance. I remember a year ago when Redwood was afraid of the dance floor. I'm so proud of him! :) He tears up an empty floor or a crowded floor, gets plenty of respect. And to watch him tear into most anything Apop or Project Pitchfork is simply amazing. You can tell that he knows the music. In fact, he really probably knows it better than many DJs! He is musically talented, but I just don't get to see that at work.

The vast majority of dancers just don't have energy. They might have grace, but never that much energy. In fact, I've noted that energy tends to be something that little rivet bois or graver chicks have, but goths just do a lot of stepping around. Mind you it is pleasant to look at, and it is still active, but they hit every other or every fourth beat. The high energy dancers sometimes hit every beat. Redwood sometimes strikes the floor twice per beat! OK, not sustained for that long, but even then he slides back into one step per beat, and has incredible STOMP timing on 2 and 4. Then on the music he knows, he'll catch the off beats. Simply put I could watch him for hours, and that is something to say ... I don't even like watching cute women that much.

With a Few Exceptions ...

Every now and then comes the graver girls. Again their lust for energy or rather their ability to dump it out stuns me. And there is one girl who is simply beautiful to watch. Where Redwood stomps with precision, she had grace. Same speed, same energy. I guess I just like how fluid she is. But not repeative like what I would say most goths (including myself) can often be characterized.

There are plenty of good dancers, but of all the people I've met I would say that Sanctuary actually has in my opinion the best dancers. San Francisco dancers just aren't that good. They are good, but not in the same class. And this girl (whom I've watched before) is incredible. Sanctuary also has plenty of great male dancers. San Francisco has a few guys who are fun to rivet dance with, but it ends there. I've yet to see any guy in the Bay Area whom could slow dance with grace (again I'm including myself here).

Rivet

What is a Rivet? By know you've probably lost interest if you don't know, but a rivet is a person who likes industrial music. Hmmm, I'll make a glossary.

Anyway, it also is a game that I've invented with Redwood. Goth / Industrial clubs are terrible about having a gothic top 40 played. Even DJs who have divergent tastes sell out (which means I loose some respect for them ... they care too much about impressing other people, even if they pretend they don't). Anyway, be it Assimilate, Sanctuary, the Box, Shrine, or Death Guild (damn Death Guild is actually probably one of the worst clubs about playing the gothic top 40), you pretty much hear the same music in Northern California G/I clubs. The order and volume are about the only differences, unless you have a DJ who can beat match and then you actually have something interesting.

That said, our game R.I.V.E.T. is like BINGO. Basically you have a 5 x 5 board with 25 squares filled in with the names of songs and the bands that play them. As a DJ plays a song, you have to mark the stupid thing off your card. When you get 5 in a row, you scream RIVET. The sad thing is that with all the wonderful music out there, that people will be scoring multiple RIVETs in one night.

I'm going to one night distribute these cards and talk to the club owners to see if they'll give people prizes.

DJs

Some DJs will appreciate that this is just a fun joke of sorts. In fact, DJs that club spin could easily (and should know this) go to radio to play experimental music. These days in clubs it is all about a new term I've read online called Future Pop. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. It just seems that in order to get club kids coming back to your club, they either have to be dating your staff or you have to play the same limited music. I say just tell your staff to be sluts and trick people to always wanting to sleep with them. ;) [I'm teasing, seriously if you go to a club to hear something obscure, many times you should listen at home instead and not get upset.]

That is why I had so much fun. I danced 1/3 of the night, talked to the Davis Rivet Kids, and watched my friends dance.

Now only if a shy boy could somehow meet the woman he wants to meet. :)

-=-

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