Clubbing with dignity at an advanced age

Backjob

Well-known member
Can it be done?

I met a gay dude in his 70s at a club in Tokyo last weekend, with a long wispy grey beard (as per the regulation "old asian guy" stereotype). He was shirtless and really going for it. He was actually so old that there was no way it would be anything other than cool, but what about in those grey middle years?

I reckon pretty much the only way to do this is to be a "character" - like this guy that used to always turn up at places in Edinburgh in the 90s - he wore black tights and a black "doublet" type garment, and had one of those King Charles pointy-beard and 'tache combos. He danced like Jethro Tull, except to techno, and was probably in his late 30s.

Please no "but it doesn't matter how you look, just enjoy the music, maaan" answers...
 

Melchior

Taking History Too Far
Backjob said:
I reckon pretty much the only way to do this is to be a "character" - like this guy that used to always turn up at places in Edinburgh in the 90s - he wore black tights and a black "doublet" type garment, and had one of those King Charles pointy-beard and 'tache combos. He danced like Jethro Tull, except to techno, and was probably in his late 30s

Yeah, but said 'with dignity', not 'looking like a freak and scaring all the young women', which is what most of those people seem to do.

Mostly, clubbing as you get older seems to be going to different clubs and not trying to pretend you're younger than you are.
 

jimet

Active member
I reckon pretty much the only way to do this is to be a "character" - like this guy that used to always turn up at places in Edinburgh in the 90s - he wore black tights and a black "doublet" type garment, and had one of those King Charles pointy-beard and 'tache combos. He danced like Jethro Tull, except to techno, and was probably in his late 30s.

See also the "Bishop of Brighton" who used to turn up to the Zap in full episcopal regalia.
 

luka

Well-known member
don't. i stopped at about 21. after that once or twice a year is alright so long as you don't take drugs or dance.
 

martin

----
Backjob said:
I reckon pretty much the only way to do this is to be a "character" - like this guy that used to always turn up at places in Edinburgh in the 90s - he wore black tights and a black "doublet" type garment, and had one of those King Charles pointy-beard and 'tache combos. He danced like Jethro Tull, except to techno, and was probably in his late 30s.

.

You didn't see him back home at 3am, sobbing in his bathtub and listening to the first New Order LP at full blast.
 
Just move down to Brighton, It's very common to see people in their Teens, 20s, 30s, 40s and over regularily mixing on the dance floors with no shame. (I'm hitting the 'three - O' quite soon, some of my best friends are in their 40s)
 

bassnation

the abyss
Chewshabadoo said:
Just move down to Brighton, It's very common to see people in their Teens, 20s, 30s, 40s and over regularily mixing on the dance floors with no shame. (I'm hitting the 'three - O' quite soon, some of my best friends are in their 40s)

i'd like to do it more often, if only for the music - but full-on rave sessions like i used to in my twenties which lasted from friday night right through to monday mornings are a thing of the past.

if i have a mad one, it literally takes me weeks to recover which doesn't work out when you've got kids to look after, responsibilites.... etc

i have to say though, i'm probably deeper into dance music (if you can still call it that, now its seemingly fragmented into urban and whatnot) than i've ever been - certainly from a djing and production perspective. but isn't this what happens to most aging ravers? from punter to producer....
 

stevienixed

i suffer rock
Reminds me of my parents, in their mid-30s, taking me to the New Beat club The Boccaccio when I was about 14/15 yrs old. It wasn't so much the club/music itself but the fact they had friends working there.

Japan seems to be more openminded about age, fashion and so on. I could be wrong, but from my numerous visits to Japan, I remember seeing old ladies in clothes I wouldn't even wear at age 30.
 
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"i'd like to do it more often, if only for the music - but full-on rave sessions like i used to in my twenties which lasted from friday night right through to monday mornings are a thing of the past."

I guess in that respect you could say I've always done it with dignity, I'm just too aware of my body to want to try and extend a session for days at a time. A case in point: tonight I'm going to a friend's night up in London where he has arranged an after-party from 4am-1pm. By about 6, unless I've found somewhere to crash, I'm going to be crawling back to Brighton to sleep on the train home and not think about clubbing until next week (Yes, I know - I'm a lightweight!)

I suppose it's because I've always come towards clubbing as a music fan first, rather than as a way to party, although there is nothing wrong with that and I find that part is very enjoyable too, I just don't have the same stamina or will to abuse my body.

Haha I'm sounding like a total "life and soul of the party" here aren't I?
 
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LRJP!

(Between Blank & Boring)
jimet said:
See also the "Bishop of Brighton" who used to turn up to the Zap in full episcopal regalia.

I wish the Zap had been that interesting when i worked there a couple of years ago.

Being a parochial kind of guy my perception of aged clubbing is skewed by the time i spent working in a club in my home town (Whitley Bay) the crowd was usually containing many over thirties to the over fifties. Sometimes this looked fun, though usually it was just depressing.

Actually i think this skewed my perception of clubbing period. ;)
 

wonk_vitesse

radio eros
i take the point about how 'recovery' takes too long......but strangely I find it much easier to stay awake for the night now. If it's a good night, i'll happily make it till dawn, when i was youngster i think i would've crashed v. early. Once you've seen the sun a few times u can psychologically make yourself stay awake.

reminds me of the time walkin down Kingsland High Road in a glowin morning with my mate who had had his trouser leg torn off by a dog at this squat do. Obviously a poor make of jean ;)
 

dominic

Beast of Burden
jimet said:
See also the "Bishop of Brighton" who used to turn up to the Zap in full episcopal regalia.

Brighton must produces these kind of characters . . . . Back in 92/93, when I lived in England, I used to go down to Brighton on a regular basis. There was this guy named "Perv," perhaps 35 or 40 years old, if not older. Hard to say. (I was 20 years old at the time.) In any case, Perv wore a belt with a big buckle that said "PERV." Supposedly arrived at a club one time on a white horse, which he then disembarked and tied to a post. On another occasion, he was attacked by a woman on the dancefloor. Too much the gentleman to defend himself, he suffered a brutal beating at her hands
 

DavidD

can't be stopped
luka said:
don't. i stopped at about 21. after that once or twice a year is alright so long as you don't take drugs or dance.
Haha crap in the states most people dont even START clubbing until they're 21.
 

Diaz

Well-known member
david, where you from? i remember going to my first club thingie at 16 with an even younger girlfriend and nearly getting a curfew ticket, and i'm practically a goodie two-shoes!

i think you are absolutely not allowed to be hunting for sex if you're doing this, which may be lame and ageist but the only person i'd know who'd complain about that is old and goes to parties all the time and she only trolls me and my friends for sex, so its ok.
i think it would be really awesome to have a bunch of people bring their kids to the right kind of thing. finally have people who act their age at a club, and they'd be a better crowd than any possible set of west coast hipsters. we can't smoke indoors here in l.a. anyways.
 

mms

sometimes
i used to do the door at the soundshaft for a night years ago, which is the club at the back of heaven .
one night an old jamaican guy turned up dressed in military uniform a la haillie sellasie , he suddenly decided to check out what was going on there after about 20 years, apparently the club had a night specifically for gay men dressed in army gear, a very long time ago, it was very coded back then, and he was a bit wary.
he was ace and made benny hill like comments to any young man who spoke to him.
 

jeffthedeaf

Active member
You could always try moving to the East End - Jim Branning (at least 70 odd) turned up to the new club opening last night on Eastenders with no shame and only a flat cap to cover his dignity, and no one batted an eye lid! Not sure if i'd like to bump into a face like that, imagine seeing that after dropping a few... :eek:
 

DavidD

can't be stopped
david, where you from? i remember going to my first club thingie at 16 with an even younger girlfriend and nearly getting a curfew ticket, and i'm practically a goodie two-shoes!

When I was 16 I lived a couple blocks north of chicago! hardly isolated...we had parties and everything there just wasnt much clubbing going on. I don't know many clubs that would let people in underage...haha except for zero gravity in naperville (a far fucking drive too) http://www.zerogravityclub.com/
(I can't imagine many ppl from my high school would be caught dead there.)
 

Diaz

Well-known member
oh man, i forgot about retarded meat market clubs....if that's the topic, then i think poor backjob is screwed, but only a technicality: i don't think anybody can go to one of those places with dignity, regardless of age.


fake ids are fairly common and it's not hard to get them, but los angeles also has a fairly decent number of underage (or at least 18+) clubs and venues, which i think gets a lot of people burnt out on clubs and such pretty early. you either just start going to bars or "industry" parties after a while. what industry that refers to depends on yer personal level of dumbassitude.
 

DavidD

can't be stopped
I've always looked so young for my age, fake id's never worked. Ever. I mean, dudes who normally let people in underage thought i was a magnet for busts i'm sure. Anyway now I look more my age, and im 21 and don't need a fake any more.

I grew up in evanston which is a weird area, really "liberal" because its one of those decaying inner-ring suburbs that just started to build a bunch of condos in order to keep the decay at bay. the public high school is about 40 40 20 black white hispanic, (although white is dropping, hispanic rising, black staying steady) big on "celebrate cultural diversity," economically diverse (I think 40% were on school free lunch program, including myself) but really middle-class oriented city government (we dont celebrate economic diversity). It was a dry city for a long time, and there aren't many liquor stores and only a couple bars. A lot of my friends would hang out in chicago for that reason but it was hard when yr single mom is a bit protective to be out riding the El at all hours in high school. Yeah. We had "holiday" and "spring fling" parties which were run by "parents organizations" that back in the day I'm sure were held so you could have parties that excluded minorities but nowadays are (more) diverse (plus there's the "ebony ball") and important bcuz they let kids show up trashed whereas at the public high school (3,000 students strong) we have these huge-ass security guards about to regulate on ehhrybody at the school get tips'. They were invitation only parties and there was always drama about who got invited and who didn't. They were raunchy ass parties too. And shit did get rowdy sometimes at homecoming parties and shit like that. There were always house parties too, the north side of the city by NU is pretty wealthy in areas and someone whose parents would "travel" would host big parties although i never really went to those bcuz i wasn't down with that "crowd."

I'm not sure what this has to do w the original topic but i guess the point is we got to dance and have fun and everything but clubbing was never really a part of the culture.
 
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