The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones • Hacker News Board

Re: The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones

#21

Post by mellosouls » Sun, Feb 22, 2026, 2:26 PM UTC

whackernews wrote: post #14

mellosouls wrote: post #5

A non-paywalled discussion on the subject from a year ago: Nightclub stickers over smartphone rule divides the dancefloor (85 points, 91 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42352825 I've never understood the appeal of so-called "dance" events. Crowds of thousands like sardines swaying-at-best to the DJ being treated as a rockstar but without the talent and entertainment as far as I can see. Note: this isn'…

Just regarding the drugs: I can totally understand when people are anti-drugs. I’d say it still depends on someone’s personality though. I’ve always thought that drugs and alcohol don’t really change your personality they just amplify it. If someone’s not really a dancer and maybe a bit anxious (seemingly every kid these days) they end up taking a load of drugs to compensate but just end up vegetated. If you’re alrea…

Yeah my point is really about how the drugs now seem to be a necessary catalyst for the communal experience they are going for - but what they are going for isn't dance in the sense of moving about in creative individual physical expression.

Whereas the dance scenes I've formerly attended were heavy in drug use but the main thing people are there for is dancing.

Re: The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones

#22

Post by sandworm101 » Sun, Feb 22, 2026, 2:29 PM UTC

retired wrote: post #11

sandworm101 wrote: post #8

Search youtube for laserface and gareth emery. The sea of phones are all recording the stage. So they are the same color as the show. They turn the otherewise dark audience into a reflection, adding to the effect. This is not a bad thing. As for dancing, dancing is for clubs. Clubs are not concert halls. You dance at a club. You watch a show at a hall. Only DJ-types who are confused about whether they are record-spin…

Perhaps they could have communicated beforehand that the performance would be available for free on YouTube afterwards, so that people don’t need to record.

But the official footage will not be the same as the show as you lived it. The effects look radically different from seat to seat. And your friends wont be there either.

Re: The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones

#23

Post by thundergolfer » Sun, Feb 22, 2026, 2:34 PM UTC

thinkingemote wrote: post #13

The phone is a kind of shield for the person holding it above their head. It safely removes them from having to fully engage with what's in front of them. The camera both removes the person from the scene and also by recording enables the event to be captured in a format to be reviewed again. The videos are never actually intended to be watched again or shared with friends though but they are proof that the person wa…

Experiencing life not as living but as an anticipated memory.

Re: The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones

#24

Post by whackernews » Sun, Feb 22, 2026, 2:36 PM UTC

mellosouls wrote: post #21

whackernews wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just regarding the drugs: I can totally understand when people are anti-drugs. I’d say it still depends on someone’s personality though. I’ve always thought that drugs and alcohol don’t really change your personality they just amplify it. If someone’s not really a dancer and maybe a bit anxious (seemingly every kid these days) they end up taking a load of drugs to compensate but just end up vegetated. If you’re alrea…

Yeah my point is really about how the drugs now seem to be a necessary catalyst for the communal experience they are going for - but what they are going for isn't dance in the sense of moving about in creative individual physical expression. Whereas the dance scenes I've formerly attended were heavy in drug use but the main thing people are there for is dancing.

Yeh. I mean I ultimately completely agree with your last paragraph. Society seems to have shifted and no amount of lasers and drugs is able to make people move! Also to your point moving actually takes up a lot of space and, thus, less tickets. It’s really better for maximising profits if people don’t move and ideally advertise the event for you.

Re: The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones

#25

Post by pjmlp » Sun, Feb 22, 2026, 2:38 PM UTC

retired wrote: post #11

sandworm101 wrote: post #8

Search youtube for laserface and gareth emery. The sea of phones are all recording the stage. So they are the same color as the show. They turn the otherewise dark audience into a reflection, adding to the effect. This is not a bad thing. As for dancing, dancing is for clubs. Clubs are not concert halls. You dance at a club. You watch a show at a hall. Only DJ-types who are confused about whether they are record-spin…

Perhaps they could have communicated beforehand that the performance would be available for free on YouTube afterwards, so that people don’t need to record.

Here is the thing, I still remember when there was no recording, what happens in the venue stays in the venue, or gets talked with others that shared the experience.

Re: The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones

#26

Post by margalabargala » Sun, Feb 22, 2026, 2:38 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #22

retired wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps they could have communicated beforehand that the performance would be available for free on YouTube afterwards, so that people don’t need to record.

But the official footage will not be the same as the show as you lived it. The effects look radically different from seat to seat. And your friends wont be there either.

This assumes that the recording from the audience will actually be watched ever.

Re: The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones

#27

Post by OneMorePerson » Sun, Feb 22, 2026, 2:40 PM UTC

retired wrote: post #18

phrotoma wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went to a show at Fabric in London during Kubecon last spring and they did the same thing. I still saw the odd person who peeled it off taking selfies or pics of friends inside but that was definitely the exception.

Perhaps it can be enforced with a type of laser that doesn’t damage the human eye but completely obliterates a phone camera. As long as you keep the sticker on nothing happens to your phone.

I've seen this in Asia, there's an employee who basically is standing at a raised spot in the corner and if you take out your phone they shoot a small laser pointer right into the camera, it messes with the video. They can't get it on there all the time but a video where half of it (or more they are surprisingly accurate) is a strobing laser becomes pretty garbage anyways. While they are doing that another employee/bouncer comes over and warns them, have seen people get kicked out for pulling it out a second time.

Re: The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones

#28

Post by rayiner » Sun, Feb 22, 2026, 2:42 PM UTC

mellosouls wrote: post #5

A non-paywalled discussion on the subject from a year ago: Nightclub stickers over smartphone rule divides the dancefloor (85 points, 91 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42352825 I've never understood the appeal of so-called "dance" events. Crowds of thousands like sardines swaying-at-best to the DJ being treated as a rockstar but without the talent and entertainment as far as I can see. Note: this isn'…

My seven year old boy likes to spin in circles. I think he likes the stimulation from the inner ear fluid sloshing around. Dancing in a club seems similar.

Re: The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones

#29

Post by dangus » Sun, Feb 22, 2026, 2:43 PM UTC

pjmlp wrote: post #25

retired wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps they could have communicated beforehand that the performance would be available for free on YouTube afterwards, so that people don’t need to record.

Here is the thing, I still remember when there was no recording, what happens in the venue stays in the venue, or gets talked with others that shared the experience.

That was in the era of $10 shows.

If I am paying $700 to see Lady Gaga you bet your ass I’m taking some pictures.

I actually find k-pop shows somewhat refreshing because there’s zero negative stigma for wanting to record pictures or video. I can easily tell that Gen Z/Alpha has no problem enjoying themselves and even dancing while recording a video.

If a phone is blocking your view the venue is designed wrong, or you have the rare concertgoer who doesn’t know how to hold their phone in a way that preserves the view for others, which is rare for the younger audiences. (I don’t go to venues with flat floors anymore. Often they weren’t even designed for concerts in the first place).

Re: The dance floor is disappearing in a sea of phones

#30

Post by bjackman » Sun, Feb 22, 2026, 2:44 PM UTC

Er... Source for this claim?

If there are people filming on their dancefloor you're in a shitty club.

OK, so the author and a handful of people they quite (including some global superstars who obviously don't represent any kind of norm) seem to be finding themselves in shitty clubs more often than they used to. And therefore we conclude all clubs are shitty now?

Nightlife is the least heterogeneous and least globalised form of public life that exists in "the west". If someone thinks they can make sweeping statements about the state of raving writ large, I don't really take them seriously.