For my 40th birthday ( I’m over 50 now) I went to see Armin van Buuren at the Warehouse project in Manchester ( don’t worry I’ve since attended trance addicts anonymous and am now cured and back on the techno for over 10 years) anyway I was the oldest person there dancing and the youngsters thought it was hilarious and then started jumping around with me laughing, all good fun but I’ve not been to the warehouse project since, felt a tad out of place , I’ve been to other gigs where the crowd seem a bit older eg Richie Hawtin etc, however at said Richie gig I noticed an undercurrent of behaviour I didn’t like, young lads pushing to the front of the bar and insulting older women and being downright aggressive and intimidating and groups of unsavoury looking individuals looking for trouble, respect has certainly disappeared and I feel sorry for the younger generation having to deal with this shit
Yup. I’ll be 47 in March and I still (and always will) enjoy dancing. I’m not particularly fond of the music the newer generation is playing at dance events though. It’s a lot of what they call ‘Deep House’ that is anything but. It’s like shitty, derpy, vocal tech house garbage. 45 minute sets with DJs playing on ‘sync’ and bouncing around like they’re whipping a 10K person festival into a frenzy. Every event photo looks like it’s the best party on Earth. But, when you’re there live, those people only go into ‘party-mode’ when the camera’s on them. Not at all my scene. Kudos to them for doing a thing though.
So, finding shows that play music I like to dance to is the most challenging bit. We’re all old school ravers. Some people in our crew are just stuck in the past trying to re-live old memories by playing a ton of old rave music. It’s boring and played out. Some people actually play really good music but they don’t get booked because they don’t play the derpy shit and the old-school rave DJs just want to play old-school rave.
Conundrums.
But, when there’s a good drum and bass show, which is (sadly) rare, I lose my shit. I’ll be on the dance floor until close. If ever there were proper techno, I’d also lose my shit.
My knees also aren’t as healthy as they used to be but that’s from being idle since I moved to this city. It’s changing and I don’t think I’m done with the dancing that I like. I just need to take it easy until the body catches up again.
./endrant
organise 50+ squat parties, show those kiddzz!!
Dude just enjoy yourself. Have a good time and don’t care too much.
I read an article a few years back where people were throwing Sunday morning events. No booze. No drugs. Just water/fruit juice etc. Family friendly but not “lame” in any way. I think it started reasonably early and went into the afternoon. A place where you could go with kids and meetup with friends to hear good music on a good system and just…dance. 
I’m sure it was in the U.K. somewhere. Maybe there’s something like this near you? If not, do you know some old rave heads that still poke at the decks? Might be worth gauging interest to see if a monthly Sunday morning “Rave Church” type thing could be organized. <3
also there some pretty cool festivals (parallel, labyrinth, some psy festivals and many more) that embrace all ages. maybe that will suite you more than dirty, dark, loud night clubs
i’m turned 30 last october and always prefer festival season. though i’d take a few club nights during winter
im done partying at night. how about a day-club? noon dancing with a strong mixed drink chillin enjoying some house. something like a Boiler Room but day time. and still got enough time at the end of the day to jam.
I was speaking to my daughters boyfriend recently and he said he wanted to go to a rave (he’s 27 and never been) and showed me this video of Fisher at the warehouse project
I said that’s not a rave , it’s just 100’s of people putting their phones in the air, filming for whatever reason and I showed him a video of Shelley’s in the 90’s, of which he laughed at and was completely uninterested
Yeah, but at least there’s life beyond the “EDM” festival circuit.
I do wonder why people end up at boiler room style events to “be seen” but waiting in line at clubs in Berlin and watching clots of entitled shoutylads and “woo girls” people get rejected it seems people want the “social cache” of subculture without having to understand why it existed in the first place.
Being an old, uncool goth and caring about things pays off for once!
Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable I felt there (beyond not having a good strategy for the strata of ciggy smoke) with the crowd, everyone was good vibes and the floor was good.
ouch! LOL
Well, joke’s on them. I thank my lucky stars I didn’t grow up with smart phones.
Maybe y’all have “ecstatic dance” in your area. It’s pretty sweet. My local one is at least half people over 40. And people dance hard!
Hah, the phrase brings up “cult frontgroup” in my head but it makes sense 
I did do the inevitable paper in my youth undergrad on techno and trance states…
My big issue with dancing these days is finding a place to do it safely (masks are not enough.) Need to intersect with forest parties instead of my preferred sweat-on-the-walls dives I guess!
Same here plus great exercise! Hoping end to pandemic lockdowns and dance clubs open again in Sacramento area so I can my groove on and jam out live.
At 48 I still go out to see shows and dance if the feeling moves me.
I got a lot of DJ friends so I can always find out where the party is at.
I’m in Texas tho, can’t speak for Leeds.
There’s definitely other old mofos out there too
Ok, a couple of suggestions in the Leeds area.
Beaverworks has loads of good stuff on. Rejuvenation is supposed to be particularly good. https://m.facebook.com/141935672484309/
Digital society run trance nights: https://m.facebook.com/126549667355469/
.<
This is a thing! Good lord. I was ordering gin and tonics for a show we were at but I think he just heard ‘gin’. I swear it was just a rocks glass full of booze. No complaints though!
My man!
i call me group of friends The Old Guard, we range between 35 and 65 years, we don’t go out every weekend (electronic music events) (except Guy, he is out every weekend, who is the oldest 65 yrs - dancing keeps him young he says ) but we try to meet now and than to party, in Belgium we also have like “Thé Dansants” which are parties on Sunday afternoon , also when i have a gig they try to be there, allthough they have a family life, they make time 
they are the best
I’ve been to enough raves and parties with Belgians to know that Belgians do not stop.
Yous are savages.
i directly blame the vast amount of stomping i used to do at festivals on bumpy fields in heavy boots for the destroyed cartilage in both my knees. i totally feel this. and im only 27 