pop, like a robot

thanks to popscene for the flicks

so on saturday, nina and i went to popscene on the cheap - we used the time out night pass to get in for free, drank free water most of the night (except poor nina payed £3.20 for a can of carlsberg sheiße) and danced like idiots - it was a fucking ball!

so much fun that i decided to post about it.

the fact of the matter is, i love dancing. it's fun, energetic, an opportunity to be as ridiculous as you please, so long as you're in time with the music, and an opportunity to listen to toons at 180dcb. the other great thing about music in clubs (with at least half-decent djs) is that you get to listen to music that is either good but not good enough to make it into your collection (like that one song from the second stokes album) or so good that it's a soundtrack to life.

in fact, i kind of took for granted how much it's a huge part of my life, until i moved to london. every week at the poxy oxford tavern in wollongong, my friend lulu (alana) and i would invariably choose our fave toons on the jukebox near the pool tables and dance the night away. we always had our favourites (because jukebox tunes are a category all on their own). most of the time it included i love rock'n'roll, some madonna, (kriss cross'll make ya) jump jump, boys don't cry by the cure and take on me by aha. they're not the best songs in the whole world, but they were awesome to dance to, especially at 1:30am, after the bands had finished. we really didn't give a toss about what anyone thought of us and by the time it got to jukebox time, most of the pub was too smashed to really care about a couple of broads doing hardcore moves to aha's take on me anyway.

so, moving over here it took me a while to find a club that a) i liked, that didn't cost the earth to get into and b) someone to go dancing with.

last month i went with dear friends alan and cath to club kali - the gay asian night at the dome in tufnell park. it was fucking awesome and i didn't get home until 4am - with sore hips from all that bhangra action. i had never danced to bhangra, but thanks to alan, got taught some basic moves and had the time of my life. i danced with loads of gorgeous gay indian and bengali boys and didn't care what others' opinion of me was. it was loads of fun and gave me a thirst for the dancefloor again.

and so, back to popscene on saturday night. being an indie night, there were loads of tunes i didn't know, but they were still ace fun to dance to: the gossip's standing in the face of control easily the highlight. i was slightly disappointed that they didn't play some of the older obvious indie tunes - even a bit of the cure and the smiths wouldn't have been that out of line*. and i felt really old when, instead of playing prodigy's firestarter as the kick off for the house dj, he played smack my bitch up.. the poorer and younger cousin by a country mile. we knew then, it was time to leave.

on the funny side, i discovered a mating ritual of the clubbing english male which involves them standing beside you until you talk to them, which was quite puzzling and so odd to me. in fact, i was so oblivious to it most of the time, i ignored them for most of the night - ha! poor dears.

but it did make me realise that future boyfriends will definitely have to love dancing - it combines all the great character traits: ability to make a complete arse of oneself in front of crowds, in style; love of music, especially up loud and played on vinyl, a bit of fun and fashion sense (although not so self-centered that they're stuck on the side of the club more concerned with how their shirt looks, rather than a cracking tune), and rhythm. and if you ain't got rhythm, you ain't got rhythm - if you know what i'm sayin'.

i was, however, shocked and amazed that most of the kids (ie boys) on the dancefloor were all young enough for me to be helping them with their homework! what happened to those around my age? when they turn 30, do they all just stay home and watch re-runs of the fast show? is dancing a female-only past time after the age of 26? does the fact that i'm even asking that make me ancient? have i become one of those horrible oldie types that is clinging to the vestiges of youth, while screaming out for some long-forgotten track by some obscure band?

oh god, i think i have.


*i'm not strictly a smiths fan, but will allow it in a club, especially an indie night. and if you feel the need to argue about the smiths, go to rob's blog, where he'll happily join in.