When in doubt......dance!

So last Wednesday night a couple of friends and I decided we would go clubbing. neither of them had been to dance clubs in SL ever before and I hadn't done it in ages, so we got dressed up and tried to head out.

First, of course, all the clubs that I had landmarks for had gone completely, so I had to resort to search....

Oh dear.

No, I don't want to see strippers, no I don't want "free sex" - that seemed to rule out about 90% of the hits that I got when I searched for "dance". Take out the jazz clubs, the goth clubs (I like it, but I had a feeling my friends wouldn't) and the heavy metal rock clubs....

Ok now go down the list.
Nice shiny empty club....

Tacky-looking empty club....

Empty club...

Empty club...

Dance club with people in! YAY! TP my friends in. They're playing super-minimalist hardcore euro-house with a 20 minute mix that consists of a drum beat, some distortion and random bleeps. Now I love dance music but this is a little too far for my tastes. but the dance balls are good (they got one in the ceiling and a different set in the dancefloor).
After a while we realise that the back half of the room are all camping pads and all the people there are AFK. In the other half is one person who seems determined to tell her lifestory to anyone who will listen (and a few that won't) - full of drama and slagging off previous boyfriends (no idea whether they are SL boyfriends or RL) and a bunch of newbies that seemed to want to hit on my two friends, and weren't very charming about it. I had one guy who just stood right next to me, staring at me, without saying a word... Oh and everyone else just doing silly wooting the whole time, like they thought it was cool.

So then we decided it was time to move on...

Increidbly complex and stylish empty club...

Empty club..

Oh cool rock club. With a DJ! They actually interacted with us and had cool poseballs. I made sure I left them a good tip, but boy were they having problems with their sim - music only played half the time and the dance balls only sometimes worked. It kind of spoiled the experience, which was a shame.

Empty club...

Empty club...

We gave up then...

So.. (and here comes the question) how does a girl go about having some good, non-sexual, non-romantic dance fun? Like in RL, the trendy clubs come and go, and I'm sure that some are only busy at certain times. I love a lot of the dance music that is out there and would love to just "get retarded" once in a while on a dance floor. Is there some sort of SL "Clubber's Guide" website that I can check out for tips? I don't want a long list of ads that turn out to be empty clubs, I want to actually cruise around places that have people in them....

So I'm not really asking for specific tips, here, more of a general "where is the resource for..." type of thing.

Clubs seem to be a money pit - they rely on tips and I'm sure there is a lot of turnover, so shouldn't we as residents be trying to highlight the really cool ones and support them?

Well, there is The Place That Must Not Be Mentioned, where there's usually dancing going on at pretty much any time of day and night. Lately, Friday and Saturday evenings are really hopping. It's more of a chat-slash-dance place but the music is usually very good - some mainstream, some blues, some alternative, depending on who's fiddling with the jukebox.

There is also a place called The Pier or The Dock which has this sort of music mix but it's small and sometimes inaccessible because of numbers.

Please let us know if you find any other spots - I've gone though a number of these threads where people list their favourite places and, like you, have ended up disappointed once I got there.
Keep in mind that the time of day you visit has a lot to do with finding people there or not.

B.

If you like Blues, you should definitely check out Toby's Juke Joint. It's pretty much the only club I ever go to (not that I go to clubs more than once a week or so). There are odd exceptions, such as when I'm invited some place else by a friend, but otherwise it's all Toby's!

Couple of my friends work at Sanctus Aeternum, which rocks in my opinion.

Went there the first time last night, and loved it.

Sanctus Aeternum is an awesome goth club, with a really nice environment (Well..really dark and awesome), and awesome music.

Liquid Rock - in Golem

Krysta is always on just about every evening, there are almost always events, and fun and conversation is pretty much a guarantee. Oh and they now have a Russian Roulette table!

Great times there.

Toby's Juke Joint Blues and Junkyard Blues are the first two clubs to which I go to dance. The music is usually dancable blues-rock, and they both have dance poseball sets that include dances other than the usual assortment of slow dances and ballroom dances. Each usually has a decent crowd.

There are a few jazz clubs I like too, but the OP has expressed a disinterest in those. I've acquired a little bit of a taste for jazz, because in SL, if one wants to go to a club to dance with mature people and not have strippers about, one needs to acquire a taste for jazz.

There are probably some good, stripperless clubs besides the blues and jazz club, but I'm probably a little too old to appreciate contemporary dance music.

I don't like the dance/strip club mixes either. And I don't like all the "formal" clubs. I'm not into wearing formal gowns. Getting one to fit me is a terrible experience.

A couple of nice places we've found lately in addition to our regular favorites (which are mainly jazz and ballroom, so will leave those out)...

*Cleopatra's - They have a different theme every night, including changing the entire club decorations to match the event. (My front profile pick shows us there on "Speakeasy Night." Depending on the theme, they play a wide range of music and the people there are really friendly and welcoming.

*Aladdin's - The type of music playing depends on the time of day/night, but there are usually a number of people there. It is known as the "Home of the Dating Hud" which was kind of interesting when I read the info on it. (Pairs up people available to dance.)

Use the events search. In the category dropdown box pick "live music" or "nightlife/entertainment". (and pg/mature whatever you prefer)

There are plenty of events going on every night... So have fun

Heyas!

I´d suggest checking the live music listings under events. If you want DJ events, there´s plenty of those listed there as well and they generally include a brief description of the type of music you can expect. If you then check the location of the listing on the map, you can even see if there´s a crowd there or not.

Also Doubledown Tandino has a blog on the subject:

http://djdoubledown.blogspot.com/

Have fun

Would be nice to know which term or key-word to use in Search to find non-stripper, non-romance type dance clubs.

ETA: Oooh... of course - Events...

That's what I was going to suggest...use events search...night life/entertainment.... you'll always find something going on. Clubs are only going to be full if folks know of a planned event....there's just too many clubs and too many time zones for all places to be busy all the time. The only exceptions I know of to this rule is Juke Joint Blues and Junkyard Blues...always seem to be people there.

Also...another neat place to hang out is October Country.... they have live streaming of radio dramas all the time and folks sitting around the campfire listening and chatting. It's pretty neat and the sim is one of the coolest I've seen in SL.

More specifically, the live music option in the dropdown menu. Coz `events´ as a whole is prolly not gonna help to be honest.

Kalderi do a search for a club called the pharm

I go to Club Deranged all the time. There is something going on there at all times with plenty of DJ's and contests.

I also go the the Whiskey A Go Go in the Hollywood sim. Its pretty neat and there are some people there but not so many that the lag kicks in.

If you like couples dancing, your chances are better. A few places off the top of my head...

Franks
Bogarts
Avilion Castle
Moonglow Ballroom

Make your search on "ballroom" rather than "dance club".

As for clubs, there are very few that are ALWAYS hopping. Most are empty, most of the time, unless there's a specific event going on. That's why searching on Events is more productive than "places".

A lot of non-dance places have dancing occasionally, such as private parties. This is why it is good to join a group or two of socially-minded people. The Forum Cartel just sort of springs to mind, but there are others. Celebrataunts has their ear to the ground for parties and events, too, and sends out notices.

Live DJ's was the first thing that got me hooked into SL... here are a few recommends for you..

Club Tricky - events 2-3x per day with super cool dj's and host.. even the owner is usually hanging out dancing.. plays anything from house to techno and more.. most events I see 10-20 people there, and no camping.

Kromatic - not sure when events are, but every day seems to have a few.. minimal techno, elektro, trance, etc...

Pirahna - usually some good psytrance and more..

I'm pretty sure I found out about all of these thru the Live DJ/Turntablist group.. I get a dozen notices a day from them no difffernt venues and events, and have yet to be let down. I can give you lm's for all these once I get in world, but my net has been iffy today and can't log in right now.

Hot Licks Rock and Dance Club... No strippers, no free sex thing, no camping, no jazz, no goth, and NO screaming metal... just rock, from classic and 80's to current. DJ events most nights from 8pm SL time to midnight. Event listings aren't always posted in search, but they DO get announced in group announcements. Drama free zone.

Bubblegum Music Factory in Torva.

Live DJ's in two-hour sets from at least 4-10slt every day of the week, a few days a week even earlier and later. Rock & Classic Rock music mainly, but just about anything can be heard depending on the event. Requests usually welcome too. Usually several free-to-enter contests each day, many using fun sets specially built for the event. Friendly atmosphere, DJ & host/hostess join in the banter and are eager to help any way they can. Overt sexual behaviour, swearing, harassment etc are frowned upon by both staff and regular patrons.

Overall a great place to be

I really appreciate all the recommendations, but I guess my question was a bit broader, because as someone said, that is just a snapshot right now.

And DUH the events thing - why didn't I think of that. I guess I just never thought of a DJ playing at a club being an "event".

I don't do "blues" - maybe I'm not old enough yet to appreciate it or something

And being single, I'm not really looking for "couples dancing" - standing around like a lemon waiting for someone to ask you to dance ain't really my style

If I had more time I would try to organise some sort of website resource for this sort of thing....

I liek Blackhearts...if you're into 80's music. I've never seen it empty and most evenings they have live DJs. I haven't been there in a long time and I know they moved to a new sim, but I'm sure they're easily accessible in search.

No, there is nothing more organized than Search that I know of. You may as well throw darts at a map .... as you have found out.

For a disorganized method, just ask on Resident Answers
More like to get informed opinions of currently active places.

And I don't think anyone mentioned it, but "Badgirls" is a rock/techno place and really not the stripper club it sounds like (or looks like from their logo).

And don't over look the club at NCI or the Forum Cartel Hangout.

And finally, if you are female and want to go club danceing with your lady friends, there are several Women only places. You don't have to be lesbian or bi, but you have to be a woman AV at most of these. I know the clubs on A Womans Touch 2 and Mysteria usually play disposible corporate techno-thump that seems popular at hip-hops now. Not sure if it's what you are after or not. To me it reeks of computerized disco but YMMV

Yeah OK you know I'm going to have to recomend somewhere and I just happen to work there. It's called Waves, 3 live DJs sessions everynight and each one has their own tastes from 80ties to hard rock, pole dancers that keep their clothes on (fantastic poles as well from Sine Waves) and a new comp with each session and they are usually something everyone has in their invent ie best in uniform and lots of lindens to win BUT it's mainly because people come and stay and come back time after time. Like Cheers it's nice to go somewhere where people will say hello and invite you in with no pressure.

Oooh disposable corporate techno-thump - I should add that to my preferences in my profile - that pretty much sums it up, yup! *nods*

You'd be surprised how quickly someone will show up and ask you to dance. It's a surprisingly good way to meet new friends. It seems that the ballrooms attract a better class of avatar. YMMV, of course.

Good evening Lindal. You look stunning tonight. Would you like to dance?