After a year at home, coming back overseas warrants a bit of shock in the essential differences between clubbing/dance music cultures. Even though we are all listening to the same music, there are a few huge differences in Dutch clubbing culture:
- The age range is astounding. You get everything from the barely legal to people pushing 60. Everyone dances together, without judgment. Everyone dances like no one is watching.
- There was an astounding lack of costumed kandi kids, or colored anything for that matter. In the US, most folks would assume that everyone was a matter of the techno black shirts club at first glance, because grey/black is the norm. No skimpy dresses, no heels. People were just there to dance.
- Drugs are abundant, but regulated, and there is a very apparent lack of “cracked-out” kids. There are simply zero cuddle puddles, light shows, or prominent drug culture at all.
- Bars usually utilize tokens. This seems like a strange extra step, but it takes the guesswork out of drink prices and gives you a greater advantage the more tokens you buy. It’s also better for the bar, because they don’t have to worry about running out of change.
- DJs do not mix from one headliner to another. Even the second DJ of the night gets a pause and a proper introduction before his or her set, plus some proper applause at the end. This really only happens back home at a big festival, when the previous DJ (if the act before is actually a DJ) is a different genre of music as the one before, or if the headliner has a fancy intro. Every. Single. DJ. Gets. An. Intro.
- Bathrooms are mostly paid. I seriously hope you saved your half token or 50 euro cents to go wee at 2am, because there are no other options. Big, burly men guard the entrance to the hallways, blocking you from sneaking past them. Ensuring you don’t lose your pee-token is the whole purpose of that tiny pocket in the right pocket of your jeans.
- People are amazingly polite. Want to go to the front to catch your favorite DJ and have him sign your shirt? Walk up there. People will move out of your way, and will even apologize if they bump into you or realize that they are blocking your view. As some of our staff members were NOT the average 6foot+ height, this was a constant, pleasant reminder throughout the nights.
If you haven’t bothered to leave the country to go to a club/festival/rave/whatever, DO IT. Every party we have been to overseas, even the ones that get inclement weather issues operate like a classy, well-oiled, dance music experience machine, no matter the size or scale of the venue.
Journalist/blogger since 2009 and music lover since 1980. Bex now travels the world and writes and takes photos of dance events, creates art in various media, sings quietly to her cat in the shower, and occasionally builds something that tends to involve a blowtorch. She can usually be seen hiding behind some sort of camera rig.
