Would Garage Get Better

[DJ SILO]

If promoters and venues, re-installed the policy of sexy and stylish. What this means is shoes, trousers and shirts. Back in the day around 99, it was all about blazers, and looking sharp. Dressing up, meant you were going out to rave and have fun.
It seems to me that street wear, such as trainers, Averix, and hoods, only bring a street influence into clubs, kinda raggish and roar. You see, who would want to get get up to mischief, in their Patrick Cox's, and silk Versace shirt.

Just some thoughts I wanted to share with you, comments are welcome.

[light touch]

Garage would get better if producers produced better tracks.

In terms of trying to build a certain atmosphere, it comes from the music, not from how the patrons dance. I have seen well-dressed people scrap and get their $$$$ tore up -- I don't think being well-dressed is going to change peoples' mentalities.

But then, all the thugs over here are at the hip-hop clubs.

[Paul Rose]

Originally posted by DJ SILO
If promoters and venues, re-installed the policy of sexy and stylish. What this means is shoes, trousers and shirts. Back in the day around 99, it was all about blazers, and looking sharp. Dressing up, meant you were going out to rave and have fun.
It seems to me that street wear, such as trainers, Averix, and hoods, only bring a street influence into clubs, kinda raggish and roar. You see, who would want to get get up to mischief, in their Patrick Cox's, and silk Versace shirt.

Just some thoughts I wanted to share with you, comments are welcome.

No.

[J.K.]

I think it'd help, but you'd need more sexy and stylish garage music to match - there's still not enough of it.

Anyway, doesn't house music have the monopoly on pretentiousness these days?

[Paul Rose]

It always did really. Garage was never really that big apart from in certain parts of the south east.

[Paul Rose]

^ exactly.

[J.K.]

Originally posted by sstutter
i see where you are coming from, but i dont agree... organised football holigans use designer clothes as a part of a uniform inorder to differentiate between footy fans and footy thugs.

You could say the same for the Mafia. But be careful when you're talking about designers, cos I'm sure most grime listeners are just as - if not more - preoccupied about wearing the right labels as an old skool head wearing Versace.

Originally posted by sstutter
i think its more to do with the content of the lyrics and the association to gang violence... and its not just garage music that brings violence... just go out to any club in kent!!

It all comes together as one package really. Why dress smart to go out and listen to music that isn't stylish? And at the same time, you wouldn't go to a swish club night wearing a hoody. Wherever you go, people want to look the part. I think even the "casual" nights you're on about are affected by it, because people are still making a statement by doing the opposite of wanting to 'look the part'.

But all in all, I think Silo's missing the point a bit, in that dress codes are there to filter the crowd coming in. Most people who want to "get up to mischief" wouldn't give a $$$$ about an old skool garage night anyway these days, so you're not having to stop them from turning up anyway. So the question is, back in the day when everyone was suited and booted, was that because of door policy, or down to their own choice?

Also it's hard to distinguish being prententious from just taking pride in your appearance. I'd say a lot of nightclub violence happens between similar people, rather than someone getting others' backs up because of looking too smart.

[J.K.]

People fight in clubs because being drunk slows down the parts of your brain that deal with reasoning and leaves the reptilian brain to run things. Something that you might shrug off if you were sober becomes something worth committing GBH for.

But why people want to go out and get into this state is another question - probably answered best by Mike Skinner, or Fight Club: "We're the middle children of history man, no purpose or place. We have no great war, no great depression. Our great war is a spiritual war, our great depression is our lives."

[light touch]

Or maybe they're just idiots, and Darwinian tendencies are working themselves out.