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Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

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Re: Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

#271

Post by worklaptopacct »

pdntspa wrote: post #176
jliptzin wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea, 3 hour lines, and then they obnoxiously don’t let you in anyway, for no obvious reason. Not shedding any tears here.

The most likely reason is that you give off tourist vibes. My Berliner friend told me as such when I came to visit, we hit up some thrift shops so I could get some local threads and 'blend in' In fact, when I got in one club a very cute german girl tried to talk to me on the dancefloor. But I didn't speak any German and she got angry, shouting "aaauuggh!! tourists!!!" Also, for the clubs that forbid alcohol (hard dru…

The only difference with today would be that not speaking German no longer means that you are visiting. Boroughs such as Friedrichshain or Neukölln are full of expats, including young Americans who did not yet realize that they don't live in America anymore. Many people do indeed come for a few years to party their 20s away and move on with their lives into a different place, so they have no incentive in learning the local language.

I moved to Berlin to escape the political headaches in Poland while still being close to my family and friends, with no specific goal of partying here, as I've never liked clubs and dancing in general. But from hanging out with expats and sometimes joining them to themed parties in clubs, my takeout is that you have to spend a lot of money on clothing and appearance to show the bouncers that you really belong. Of course places like Berghain are completely random in that matter and the way you dress doesn't change anything (unless you really look like a tourist, I guess), but for most part it's a rich kids club.

Re: Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

#272

Post by yieldcrv »

RamblingCTO wrote: post #2

You also have tik tok ravers. A generation which built their own culture in isolation in the pandemic now flooding the dance floors not knowing anything about techno culture. For me it's a big part of not wanting to go anywhere anymore. Before, your outfit didn't matter, phones, photos and videos were discouraged. Nowadays these kids dress to impress and point there phones everywhere. They consume the techno culture…

ravers are amazing right now.

you guys can act nostalgic about $5 cover charges at farmhouses in the middle of the woods, but that stuff was objectively horrible. smoke filled, counterculture only people, dingy.

I love the crowd that comes to these $600 music festivals, they're sexy and maintain good jobs or wealth, good support systems, can talk deeply about many technical topics, second hand smoke is sparse, and the production value increased to match!

oh no, phones. like what? this didn't start post pandemic. you have a missing decade and I'm not even going to ask.

edit: saw some of your other comments on this topic, this category of person is a big matter of discussion in Germany it seems. I think its silly to just put Tik Tok as an adjective on everything you don't like because I see that in other fields too. There are certain behaviors it seems some people are doing that are different than the ones you highlighted.

Re: Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

#273

Post by yieldcrv »

makeitshine wrote: post #24
RamblingCTO wrote: post #2

You also have tik tok ravers. A generation which built their own culture in isolation in the pandemic now flooding the dance floors not knowing anything about techno culture. For me it's a big part of not wanting to go anywhere anymore. Before, your outfit didn't matter, phones, photos and videos were discouraged. Nowadays these kids dress to impress and point there phones everywhere. They consume the techno culture…

For many older people it died in the 90s. When people stopped dancing and treated the DJ like it was a concert I felt it had changed into something else. I watch some of the old VHS I took and people are crowding the speakers and the floor is alive, while nowadays so much of what I see is people all facing a DJ lit up by a spotlight and just standing their bobbing their head.

> while nowadays so much of what I see

there's your problem, you're not there.

there are other things happening in the crowd. all you see are tall guys with the longest arms holding up their phones taking videos of other phones.

Re: Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

#274

Post by worklaptopacct »

Blahah wrote: post #167
explaininjs wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bad to you perhaps, great for the people who take pride in being at "the most exclusive" places. Which is a not-insignificant amount of people.

That's genuinely nothing to do with why the Berlin clubs with strict entry policies are great. The experience inside doesn't feel exclusive, it's beautiful - people being free and really immersed in the music, supporting and taking care of one another, creating myriad moments of connection and joy, and a very much lower rate of people being obnoxious or in conflict than in a regular club. It's totally unlike being in…

That's 100% the thing. KitKat for example has recently been taking hits to its reputation because there have been instances of groping in there and they've been ignored by the club stuff. Now that they let Till Lindemann in a few weeks ago even though there have been active accusations of sexual harassment against him, they are completely done for with anyone who cares. In contrast, places like Berghain are blind to fame - there have been stories of celebrities like Björk being turned away at the entrance.

Re: Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

#275

Post by FFP999 »

PedroBatista wrote: post #136
FFP999 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll never be over--it's just Berlin will no longer be the capital of it. Actually would not be terribly surprised if the party moves to San Francisco next.

This type of cultural movements require some deep genuine ethos. Rich kids on Adderall who dream of startups and VC rounds do not qualify, no matter how much they pretend not to be finance jerk-offs in shorts and sandals, reality is not on the side of SF being the center of anything like this. Any Rustbelt city has 100% more chances than SF and California in general.

See comments below. You are talking about SF in the past ten years: I am talking about the next ten.

Re: Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

#276

Post by FFP999 »

bowsamic wrote: post #241
FFP999 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll never be over--it's just Berlin will no longer be the capital of it. Actually would not be terribly surprised if the party moves to San Francisco next.

This is very naïve. Berlin had the perfect storm required for this to work: a strong counter culture, post-wall joy, and a lot of cheap old abandoned buildings. It really isn't just something that can happen anywhere, hence why it hasn't...

Many places have abundant abandoned buildings and a strong counter culture. Very few have a Berlin Wall, I'll grant you, but the spark to set this off could come from elsewhere.

Re: Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

#278

Post by FFP999 »

local_crmdgeon wrote: post #126
3seashells wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It goes were cheap space exists. So SF not, rust belt yes, eastern Europe yes..the gentrified poker chip stack cities of the investors can not host vibrant nightlife..

Buffalo

Ah yes, the place where Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo.

Re: Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

#279

Post by rchaud »

nicbou wrote: post #39
rchaud wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article definitely felt light on facts. For example, by how much did they increase the cover charge to deal with falling numbers? Also, didn't it occur to anyone that charging regulars more to offset loss of business from casuals would drive the regulars away as well?

It went from 15 to 25€, roughly

That's helpful! Have to say, 25 EUR feels quite cheap considering it's storied reputation.

Re: Berlin's famed nightclubs, losing customers, face an uncertain future

#280

Post by [deleted] »

vinckr wrote: post #267
projectazorian wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Magical thinking and crackpot beliefs about being able to read into people’s souls with a single glance? Seems pretty spectrum-y to me. At best.

If you ever worked a club door you would know that you can very quickly categorize people into "fits" or "doesn't fit". It does not have anything to do with magical thinking or beliefs, its years of experience and a deep understanding of the culture and clientele that visits your venue. Of course you don't have to participate if you don't like it, there are plenty of clubs (in Berlin too) where you just pay entry and…

[deleted]
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