#nightlife at amsterdam

[sir20]

Cristmas decorations, Amsterdam by sir20

[minarachelle]

Amsterdam, Nederland - 2023

[life-spire]

Amsterdam, Netherlands (by Dan Asaki)

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[gxbtx]

Weekend in Amsterdam: Feeling Thru the Music

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June 21st-23rd

Ciao! This week my studies brings me to Amsterdam, the notorious city with loads of history, culture, fashion, and modern art. This weekend happened to be Summer Solstice, in which every day the sun was out for the most time available during the year. Additionally, the Euro cup held the Netherlands competing against France, in which colors of bright orange were found all over the atmosphere. All of these come together to brew up a perfect storm for my three days in this city.

To start, the first night was spent at the Generator hostel built inside an old university building. The area was a park with several historical classroom buildings, and the inside was beautifully renovated to keep the essence of the once lecture halls fused with the night life in your young adult years. Underneath was a club in an opened up concrete room. There was a bar, in which the workers were already jamming out to the heavy techno. Their was a mix of graffiti as well as some plants around, giving the vibe of an overgrown train station. The event held was the "Mediterranea Summer Solstice Edition" held at the Oosterbar. I walked in to the techno set of COSMIC SAB, a French DJ deep in the Rave scene. His music brought up the lively energy and opened me up to start getting comfortable on the floor.

I am progressing my dancing to improve my knowledge of the rave and electronic culture, as I know dancing is a big deal. Ever since Diplo at ACL, where I saw people dancing for the pure sport of it, I have been trying to get more comfortable with my moves. A major step in dancing getting over was how you are perceived. I find that wearing sunglasses in the club helps with this, as you look confident no matter how silly you think you look. Finding my internal tempo was what I began to learn with this set, and getting more comfortable with my arms was my biggest progression this weekend. Observing an older gentlemen who was so smooth with his robot-like moves inspired me to be more comfortable with my arms.

The next duo up especially helped with this, having a mathematical electronic set that at points were hard to figure out. loosening up felt difficult with such concrete bass, but when I solved the mental puzzle of the beat I shined. After the show I had a conversation with the aforementioned older man and shared that he was helpful for me. He was ecstatic, instantly giving me a hug and sharing a conversation with me. His journeys were plentiful and fulfilling, having spent many years in Amsterdam and living in numerous places across Europe with his wife. The moment felt surreal to me, giving me joy that I could share my journey with another soul, and vice versa.

The next night was a bigger event, being the 10th Year Anniversary for the hipster-coated hotel "Volkshotel". This 10 story building held parties in the hotel unlike anything I've ever seen before. On the top floor, there were open patios accompanied by DJ sets, giving us a view of that Amsterdam sunset at around 11 PM. We continued down the floors to a DJ set of this vibrant soul, singing along with his music giving the bubbly set a flair of passion. His energy transcended amongst the crowds, allowing me to forget about everything else in life for the moment. The art of DJing is better appreciated being in the crowd; I believe the skill individuals have as they invoke emotions into crowds of people through music is an impressive one. It is for this reason I believe that the culture of music and creativity creates a more fulfilling life and sense of content for these locals, as they all seem to know each other and do these events on a regular basis.

I ended the night I faced the "boss level" as me and my roommate put it: Floor -1 - DOKA. This is where the music was playing until 7 AM, that of which I knew I needed to visit before passing out on my 4 hours of sleep. After tapping out my roommate, I went to face the epitome of raving head on alone. The moment I passed the entrance on the basement floor, I was hit with a humid cloud of smoke, sweat, and bodies. Coming in at ~4 30 AM, I had come to the depth of the night and felt the beats shake the room of dancing souls. After shimming my way down to the middle, I danced amongst people all doing their own thing. While a couple was making out in front of me, I could appreciate the tenured sound of the older DJs. Wanting a closer look, I shimmied my way up to see the four DJ boards being shared between two gentlemen. It was surreal, I was looking at the equipment of Amsterdam, being used to keep an entire crowd going into the deep hours of the night. This was it, the reason I travelled all this way to Amsterdam. 5000 miles away and I was viewing the heart and soul of the night life in Europe.

After having enough sweat reach my eyes, I walked outside to dawn approaching, and felt accomplished. I had just partied all night until the morning in Amsterdam. I sat outside and observed the drunken adults, sharing cigarettes, conversations, and stories from all over. So many accents surrounding my soundscape, I was star stricken at the diversity, coming to appreciate a major factor of Amsterdam: People come from all over the world to unite through the love and power of music. This is reflected in its citizens of the city all knowing each other through partying. While I understand this scene comes with a less-than-ideal world of bad decisions, there is a human nature aspect that draws us all to continue coming back: that is music, the real addiction.

Leaving Amsterdam was the only pill I had to swallow, this city was a delight to visit and I am very grateful that my life led me to this opportunity, I certainly have an aspiration to move here in my future. What I can take away to America from this trip, is the power of music and toleration. The culture from a glimpse seems to be friendly, content, and connected, and I believe I can implement some of these traits into my personal life coming back. May music heal us all, and until next time,

GV

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