Good music last night at Manray
2003-04-17 19:02:00
I used to go to
Manray on Fridays
(fetish night), for convenience. Lately I've been going on Wednesdays
(goth night), because more of my friends go then, it costs a lot less,
and I actually miss about the same amount of club time and get to take
the subway home instead of the night-owl bus.
I love dancing. A lot. Music is wonderful stuff. Due to my tastes in
music and dancing, I tend to have a very strong preference for the floor
at Manray that is sunken and does not have a stage. Unless otherwise
specified, my comments about music and dancing at Manray are very likely
to be specific to that floor (although I do, of course, dance on the other,
when it suits me).
It's been a long time - months, since I've been to Manray on a
Friday. I've been feeling less fulfilled, less sufficiently exercised
on Wednesdays than I did on Fridays. Maybe it was the extra hour late
it's open. Maybe the energy of the different crowd. But I've strongly
suspected the music. Music, I believe, has a more profound effect on my
dancing experiences than anything else. Yes, a good crowd - not too few,
not too many, all great people, is very helpful. But it's the music to
which I hand over control of my body. If it doesn't draw me in and keep
a hold of me, well, the DJ isn't doing his job.
One of the things I dislike about Manray is how unapproachable the
DJs seem. In Philly, at Shampoo (and The Bank, before), I was used to
being able to walk right up to all of the DJs and talk to them. Now at
Manray there's plexi-glass in my face, and I don't feel like I could get
the attention of the DJ if I tried. Last night I just wanted to say
"nice work, thank you" - and meant to try, on my way out, but forgot
in the dizziness of trying to find everyone I needed to hug goodbye.
Often I feel like I could help so much if I could just wave cue cards
at the DJ - "slow it down", "turn it up", etc.. Then for more detailed
feedback, I want an open line of communication to the DJs, and maybe
whoever picks them, like email addresses.
Oh, but the DJs here in Boston can actually beat match, and that is
a wonderful thing.
But last night was good. Early in the night, when nobody was on the
dance floor, they played music that was such high energy that it was able
to pull me in without anybody else dancing (someone else stepped onto the
floor just before I did, for presumably the same reason). I danced hard
enough that I decided to stop when I noticed myself not hitting a beat
because my muscles weren't quite doing as demanded due to exhaustion.
It wasn't till a few songs later that I felt like I'd caught my breath.
Obviously, I just need to get in better shape :)
But that kind of music doesn't keep a crowd on the dance floor.
A couple songs later, they started with just what was needed - a nice
slow heavy beat. A fast beat can be hard for anybody to pick up,
early in a night, without any warm up. A slow beat can pull anybody in,
if it's good. And that's what we got. Then gradually, throughout the
night, back up to the intensity that I started with. Yum.
Anybody know who was spinning ?
I sometimes consider being self conscious about dancing. Hell,
I'm terrified of enough other bits of human interaction. But years of
watching other people being silly on the dance floor and seeing that
it's all okay, and knowing that I must follow the beat, has made me
pretty comfortable. And this is clearly a part of life where conscious
thought does not belong.
I'm sore. The DJ did their job last night.
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