Do you think when you're Dancing? And related questions.

IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
I got lost in a rather meandering and directionless post in another thread, but I thought that there were more interesting questions in the vicinity if I, or, more likely, someone else, could find them.

First off though, when you're dancing, and really when I say dancing here, I'm talking about dancing all night to techno or house etc I'm not talking about a dance with prescribed dance moves that one must think about in order to perform correctly. I'm asking, if you dance from midnight until six am or later, possibly on drugs and so on, what is in your mind as you do it? Do you just zone out, do you think about the music that is playing, or do you compile a shopping list? What is your mind doing for those six or seven hours? Is it working or is it resting - and is that good or bad for it?

And also, if one can ask all those questions of an individual, what about the crowd as a whole? Does that have thoughts, and if so are they simply an amalgam of the thoughts its constituent members have? Or are they something more than that... or less?

This arose cos I wondered what a crowd "thinks" if you transplant a tune from another genre and play it for them with tempo adjusted to make it fit the genre you're playing. Does the crowd notice that the song is different? On a conscious level or not? Or is it just that some individuals do and some don't.

And I didn't actually start this thinking like a DJ trying to gain an advantage by psychoanalysing the crowd... but I wonder, are there DJs who profess to work in some way from the thoughts of a crowd (I mean beyond really obvious reading of the vibe that every DJ does)?

Anyway, loads of barely coherent ideas splurged out there, now can a few of you sort of neaten that up, work out what I was trying to get at and maybe come back with a few brilliant and thoughtful answers much better than anything that I said deserved. Please.
 
R

raljax

Well-known member
Love this question and have often thought about this.
So last weekend i went to ALFOS in Derry on friday and then again in Belfast on the saturday.
Both nights/sets were brilliant and i kept track of what i was thinking about.
The most interesting thing by far was:

RED O - i kept thinking about a large red O (as in the letter) but simultaneously i was thinking and at times saying in to myself "redo" as in the keyboard shortcut but also as in relive...make better.

It was very strange but enjoyable and felt very familiar.

This happened on the saturday might when i was fairly enhanced.

On the friday when i drove to the gig and was not enhanced i just thought regular thoughts:
- it's nice and dark in here
- how has Sean Johnson found so many tunes with these crazy drumm or vocal loop rolls?
- is this a Weatherall remix i don't know?
- is that lad a dealer?
- will i get chips on the way home?
- is my wife getting totally hammered?
- why aren't there more people here?

I asked Sean about this - how has Sean Johnson found so many tunes with these crazy drum or vocal loop rolls? -after the set on saturday...he smiled and pointed to a filter knob on his mixer that he opened and closed - i couldn't hear properly but he said it was some kind of reverb...
It was a very funny moment and illustrated how good a dj he is as doing that - and he must do it alot - never felt overkilled or intrusive at all. Those rolls he creates for buildups e.g. are so crucual to the sound he plays and to why i love stuff like Sabres of Paradise. It was a great moment of clarity.
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
The interesting thing about this for me is that the 'ideal' that I'm striving towards on a dancefloor (unconsciously) is an absence of thought. The more I get into the music, the less I'll be thinking about other things, whether that's my life or how annoying that tall drunk person is who's just appeared in front of me, etc.

I always used to enjoy clubs more when they were very dark, like Plastic People e.g. You'd necessarily be less concerned with your surroundings and the other people and be more locked in to the overwhelming sound.

I used to listen to this quite a lot, a comedy program from A.Iannucci on the difficulty of transcending one's surroundings when attending a classic music concert—I related to it a lot, that frustrating feeling of wanting to be taken away by the music and being constantly dragged from it by audience members etc.


Should add, lest I seem too mistanthropic here, that of course a big part of the enjoyment at clubs can be watching other people, or dancing with your mates, or whatever. Shared appreciative glances when a big tune drops. etc.
 
D

DannyL

Wild Horses
I have definitely found myself having familiar thought loops provoked by the dancing context. There's a particular conversation I had with a cousin of mine that I found myself replaying years and years later because of where I was. I noticed this lasting for some years. I don't know if it's still there because I rarely go dancing anymore sadly

Other than that I think my customary thoughts were "Fucking hell, she's fit" or "when will my eyes stop shaking like this/is my jaw okay?/can I stand up for much longer?"
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
thirdform said:
I am a rationalist. clubs should serve coffee.
Click to expand...
Electrowerks always used to serve tea during the Bang Face nights that were held there. Nothing better than a hot cup of tea when you're on some good strong pills. I actually converted a few skeptical people who saw the light after I persuaded them to try it.

Can't imagine wanting to drink coffee under the same circs, I have to say.
 
T

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
Mr. Tea said:
Electrowerks always used to serve tea during the Bang Face nights that were held there. Nothing better than a hot cup of tea when you're on some good strong pills. I actually converted a few skeptical people who saw the light after I persuaded them to try it.

Can't imagine wanting to drink coffee under the same circs, I have to say.
Click to expand...

nah coffee on pills is gorgeous.
 
T

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
Mr. Tea said:
You'd want some gum or mints afterwards, though. I can't stand having lingering coffee-breath-taste even at normal times, and I imagine it'd be even worse while high.
Click to expand...

nah, I like coffee breath. especially as I quit tobacco so it fulfils that craving. Black.
 
R

raljax

Well-known member
CBM - cofeebummouth.
Mixed with the stench catarrh creates along with Boost (cheap energy drink) and smoking = jesusmaryandjosephine breath.
These are categories from an optician i know. He has to endure breath at work.
Kimchi or Miso/Japanese cuisine a dangerous antagonist
 
shakahislop

shakahislop

Well-known member
went 'raving' for want of a better word a couple of times in a few days, and been to a couple of gigs in the last week as well. it's interesting how even without taking drugs or boozing how it turns my brain to mush. the late nights untether me from my normal routine. it gets to 10pm and my body is still awake, looking at the 10pm sunday night subway with the same eyes as 11am on monday. there's a biological change that runs through into subjective experience, derived from the change in sleep, movement, getting pounded by drums and bass waves, the rave elation and rush. navigating from a different map.
 
luka

luka

Well-known member
a few times ive taken drugs and my body has been inhabited by a god dance instructor and ive danced
i guess better than anyone ever alive. their divine beings who intersect with your consciousness and do the moves through you.
 
T

thirdform

pass the sick bucket
luka said:
a few times ive taken drugs and my body has been inhabited by a god dance instructor and ive danced
i guess better than anyone ever alive. their divine beings who intersect with your consciousness and do the moves through you.
Click to expand...

You should do more of this tbh, you're too enslaved to the irrational, lethargic and superstitious Christian nature of alcohol. Enough of that though, without sufficient dancing one cannot become war-like! And how will you ever be Turkish if you don't embrace barbaric discipline and militancy in all aspects of life? Look at what's happened to Catalog, the six music devils have corrupted him ever so much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top