Another thing that occurs to me about this (maybe linked in with the drug use) is that it seems to me that less places have a proper chillout area these days. It always used to be that you'd wander back and forth between the dancefloor and the chillout area and having a lot of people in that space meant there was space on the dancefloor when you wanted to dance.
...related to that i think is this post by Ali from another forum - i think the bit about smoking is relevant
I think that this was a really thought provoking thread. Having had nearly a week to contemplate it and read thru the other opinions I am kinda inclined towards supporting the previously mentioned theories - musical styles have changed, the new drugs of the 21st Century are about being mega wasted and are more sedating/less love inducing and don't create an atmosphere of community and solidarity upon the dancefloor, the Facebook Era means that many people are too uptight about being photographed looking silly to get free and let rip with some moves, dancing is an artfom as well as something we all do for fun, inhibition can kill a dancefloor as well as the wrong vibes. The cult of the DJ, I'm not sure people do take it seriously anymore other than, "I like this DJ, they play things I like so I go where they go cos I like the tunes they play, everytime."
Anyway, the only thing that noone else has mentioned that I think is of note is this: The SMOKING BAN IN CLUBS!
We now have a society where much of the socialising in a music venue happens away from the music - outside, maybe under a patio heater. Even people who do not smoke often find they have to choose between hanging on the dancefloor alone or with their smoking friends. Smoking is evil but it did have an upside in clubs, it created a dirty haze to hide behind helping people feel more hidden away, it literally created a smokescreen to get lost in, it covered up (with another grim scent) the vileness that is the smell of sweating, drunken, stale people and halitosis that generally repels rather than invites cameraderie.
These things add up to a situation whereby there is no way that clubs can get the same dancefloor atmosphere going, unless you have a massive crowd of confident, non smoking, sweet smelling peeps who turn up with no inhibitions and come only to dance - this is not most punters, this is the mindset of jazz dancers, street dancers, B boys people for whom the dance IS the reason to go out but most folk, they go for something to do, to hang with their mates, because it's better than staying in and watching X factor and so feeling full of hang ups, being scared that everyone is looking at you, not having the waves of love and brotherhood pumping thru the air from what essentially is a shift thru semi hallucinogenic drugs creating a sense of unity and free from judgement- no, that will never create the kind of dancefloor that we used to have but as long as there are DJs who play music to dance to and people who can't help but bust a move when the beats move them to, I don't think dancing will ever die, no.:
but ive been worn down, they're so common. I was still spitting blood when THREE people within my eyesight kept checking their emails/generally playing with their phones throughout the My Bloody Valentine gig a couple of months back. And a sea of people with their phones in the air filming something still gets my blood pressure up, but on the whole i've come to accept thats the way it is.
