i don't want to hang out in places that organize people into hierarchies or judge people according to status. in fact, i would prefer to avoid these kinds of spaces. if your bar has a vip section, i don't want to go to it.
i don't want to hang out in booty bars or meat markets that people go to in order to pick up and get laid. i'm not into disco...
what i seek is a traditional rave environment where people are into the music and a set of basic democratic principles: equality, acceptance and respect. the basic premise of electronic music culture is that we're all equal on the floor; entities contradicting this principle, for profit or for status, are co-opting the culture for their own ends and should be denounced and boycotted. the reason that people go to the kind of parties i want to go to is not to be seen in the right place or to find somebody to have sex with but to do drugs and dance in an introverted daze. the ideal is for a room that is full of people lost in their own heads, happy to be stuck in there and disinterested in escaping.
the first bar that i went to this weekend is somewhere i'd been to previously and seemed to be a moderately open rave hangout, but has proven itself otherwise over the last several weeks. they've actually been giving me a hard time for a while. it may seem absurd on it's face for security at an all-night dance club to ask you to leave because you're dancing while drunk, but perhaps this absurdity is actually rooted in a contradiction of capitalism. i initially rejected the claim as preposterous, but perhaps i was giving the bar too much credit in the process of doing so. that is, perhaps the space is intended to be a more conservative environment than initially seemed apparent. that said, i still believe that the reason i've been harassed at this bar by security is related primarily to gender expression. when you realize that the space is intended to promote a conservative atmosphere, these factors are reinforcing rather than contradictory: an inebriated transsexual busting a move on the dance floor is an expected sight at a rave, but remains taboo in a business-normalized, corporatized environment where everybody is expected to be predicable and fall into defined roles. i just would have never gone to this space in the first place if i realized it was meant to uphold a business-normal atmosphere. in my defence, the place has a reputation for being a dingy dive bar, not somewhere teeming with security intent on enforcing hierarchy. i suppose that the bar is transitioning; my experience may be a harbinger for others.
the second bar that i went to was more like the kind of place i'd rather be at. it's a shame that it's geographically located on the other side of downtown. it's also a shame that the police are keying on the place that has a more open atmosphere, forcing it to close early while the business-friendly bar can stay open seemingly indefinitely. but, this is again consistent: the reality is that security at the works is giving me a hard time for exactly the same reason that the cops are trying to shut down grenadier.
i state in my vlog that i should have ended up at grenadier or marble anyways; the works was just more attractive due to cost, hours and location. so, i took my chances, there. and, to be clear: i enjoyed both nights i was there - except the part where security told me to stop dancing.
but, i've got the hint. and i'll adjust.