A few Saturdays ago, I went to a nightclub. I dressed a bit on the casual side, donning a multicolored sweater, jeans, and sneakers. When I arrived, it was nighttime and the sky was purple, dotted with stars and wisps of cloud. I heard the booming music before I entered and there was no line at the door. It seemed fairly standard and strangely reminiscent of careless pre-COVID times, but I wasn’t going to a club in the real world — I was going clubbing in the metaverse.
A brave new world Nightlife is experimenting with the metaverse for several reasons. Its foray into digital platforms was amplified by the pandemic, said Mirik Milan, the former night mayor of Amsterdam and co-founder of VibeLab, a nightlife consultancy agency. Yet even before COVID-19, there was an interest, particularly through musicians who wanted to reclaim ownership over their work through NFTs and use the blockchain to sell directly to listeners, bypassing corporate record labels.
Finding the hotspots After my less-than-stellar introduction to the metaverse at Amnesia, I was keen to find a more happening spot, and much to my surprise, it wasn’t easy. I stopped into a casino with Pepe the Frog avatars walking around, a vacant jazz club, and another eerily empty club venue complete with an NFT art gallery. So far, my mission was unsuccessful. Going in, I thought Decentraland would be a vibrant, weird, exciting space with lots of activity, but it was mostly just dead.
“I myself have a little bit of anxiety,” he said. “I don’t really know where it stems from — apparently it comes from the military … In real-world situations when I’m around a big group of people, my anxiety flares up. So when I’m in the metaverse, it gives me an opportunity to be around hundreds, if not thousands of people at once and not feel that overwhelming sensation I would normally feel in real life.
Once inside, I wandered my way to the Sirius XM Stage, where a psychedelic rock band called Hippie Hourrah played, surrounded by a Martian landscape. Concertgoers showed their enthusiasm by spinning, blasting off, or releasing a spray of hearts. Unlike the Decentraland metaverse, which felt like an exclusive club for diehard crypto enthusiasts, I felt more comfortable in NOWHERE.
Here’s your medal: 🎖
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