---
title: "Disco Sucked!"
abstract: "New Years Eve experience"
authors: ["nikomas.md"]

---


ꜱᴘɪᴠᴀᴋ, ᴍɪʟᴛᴏɴ ꜰɪᴇʟᴅꜱ, ᴀʀɪꜱᴛᴏᴅᴇᴍᴏꜱ, ᴍᴏʜᴀᴍᴀ ᴛᴀᴊᴀʟᴏꜰ, ᴊᴏʀᴀʟꜱᴋʏ  
Coronet club   
31.12.2018 / NYE


I think everyone learned something from ‘DiscoSucks' this year; at least I hope so.

It was a big night, and a bit strange; I left at midday thinking 2018 never ended. Whatever happened at that little ritual in the basement has taken us into a different timeline.

It was the third edition of the ‘DiscoSucks’ series, and the pattern has become clear now: the night begins on high energy, transcendental disco beats (you know euphoric stuff), then at around 8am the lights go out and the remaining people are taken on a strange, mysterious sideways journey (I might be tempted to call it K-hole Disco). It's a good concept.

Actually, everything about the night was good, conceptually. Holding a disco party in the depths of Coronet club in theory is very cool; repurposing/liberating spaces that have a historical relationship with toxicity & controversy, and filling them with radiant euphoria.

Yet, the character of the venue is hard to ignore; it's a bit damp, with claustrophobic corridors, and in general, not such a pleasant place for a lot of people to trip together. There is an eeriness imbued into the dust. This is likely to be an intentional part of the experience though, it's not out of near-sightedness or ill- planning, but it did put a weird spin on the night experientially. The dance floor area isn't ideal either, as the central raised area creates a division between the audience.

But despite everything that 'wasn't nice', the whole experience was... authentic, vivid; it felt really ‘out there’ that night. The visuals were stunning, shifting from deep blues and reds, to a sharp, lusty pink - the ceiling of mirrors in Coronet is amazing - you could watch the entire night through that warped lens, lost in the reflections.

The atmosphere was chaotic and psychotropic; the venue was totally full, with a breakfast banquet in the backroom; overall it was exciting but tense. One minute ꜱᴘɪᴠᴀᴋ was playing a really suave cyber-disco warm up, next minute ᴀʀɪꜱᴛᴏᴅᴇᴍᴏꜱ was euphorically peaking, and suddenly it was 10am and the remaining people were sent to another world with some very special material. Everyone played well, with each artist delivering a unique take on the concept, but ᴊᴏʀᴀʟꜱᴋʏ's set most captured my attention.

After hours is a special time, the state of mind that people end up in after hours and hours of dance music is a very sensitive one. The minor details of tracks become delicious, and the vibe/ essence of a track can really blossom; after hours are golden hours.

This after hours set was really unique because the ‘essence’ was very consistent but the aesthetic was completely undefinable; the micro-rhythms were nonstandard, and there were strange organic elements shifting around, creating really exotic 'spaces'. While we know that the first hour was problematic, once the DJ found his form, the set became powerful. As the rhythms were more complex, they were harder to keep in order, and this had a peculiar effect on perception. Each time one rhythmic element seemed to pop out of place, everything started moving in slow motion (musical strobing effect?), and as ᴊᴏʀᴀʟꜱᴋʏ clicked it back into place, time would click back into regular speed; it was surreal.

I honestly have no idea what to expect for round 4 next year, which is exciting.

Thank you to those involved for such a dramatic and interesting experience. As an end note, I wish to extend a personal message to everyone; be careful with what you're playing with. Everyone in the scene should be looking out for each other, and we should all take a moment to ask ourselves "do I know what I'm doing?". Have fun, but be safe.
