>You don't need a "uniform",
Everybody says you need to wear black. Even the tourists have wisened up to that.
Beyond the outfit you are also most likely to get in if you are clearly bringing your personal uniqueness and energy to the place rather than expecting an experience, and if you show respect for the culture, everyone else present, and that you are able to handle something out of the ordinary.
Are you gonna have a good time in there and not ruin anyone else's time? You'll get in.
The culture in Berghain (and many Berlin clubs) is amazing - and part of the reason is the selectivity!
That is false.
Look, if you just made it for everybody, it would no longer be a club with an underground image. Berghain is a tourist magnet because it simply is an unbelievable location straight out of a Mad Max movie, paired with a Funktion-One sound system that fits your head like a headphone, featuring the best techno DJs in the world, and you can spend your whole weekend there without ever leaving the club. They surely do not struggle financially, on the contrary, the owners are probably swimming in money and only still do it because it's fun.
Besides, let me say there's lots of other clubs in Berlin you can go to. The article is correct that there used to be much, much more, but the main issue for clubs is not attendance, but like pretty much in every big city: rising rent and neighbors who complain about noise and garbage.
It is clearly not underground because everybody knows about it. It only achieves the "image" through arbitrary discrimination. That is the least punk as you can get.
None of what you said makes Berghain great goes away by letting more people experience it. The sound system and DJs will still be there.
I guarantee if Berghain stopped trying to be techno Mecca, the riff raff would lose interest, and you wouldn't need the picky bouncers. There's a particular club I go to in London that this works perfectly well for.
In my experience there is no "right way to look" when going to Berghain, most people online have no idea what the club actually is and just keep repeating the same old tired clichees - like the fantasy that you have to be dressed all black or something to get in.
In my experience the bouncer just sees if you will have a good time at the party or not. And that is what they select on. Once you worked some years at a club door you can see instantly who should get in and who shouldn't. Clothing is an indicator but its not the important one. Its about the look in your eyes.
that sounds so lame tbh. i thought most people left behind this social scarcity shit after sixth form.
Almost like actual adults who still sport non-drug-addled brains should run away as quickly as possible.
From what I see a lot of people have these desires but rarely act on them. People often tell me in confidence when I mention what I do.
I think it's a lot more normative than people think.
It does not have anything to do with magical thinking or beliefs, its years of experience and a deep understanding of the culture and clientele that visits your venue.
Of course you don't have to participate if you don't like it, there are plenty of clubs (in Berlin too) where you just pay entry and thats it.
And thats fine! I do too. But to claim it's impossible just because we are not good at it would be absurd.
It’s really a great example of the narcissistic desire for power and control that drives the behavior of a lot of people in the scene.
And yes, it is possible to quickly assess someones P(an issue) after a career of observing tens of thousands of people and whether or not they were an issue.
These things can both be true.
[And keep in mind a false-positive matters not-one-bit-at-all, whereas a false-negative is (quite literally) an issue.]
We're supposed to believe they're engaged in some sort of vibe curation process to attain the perfect crowd for the night. There's this weird purity aspect to it that is more than a little problematic.
It is the fool that tells the industry-proven expert that they know better.
It's amazing brand strategy but that doesn't mean it actually is the best thing going, of course.
I trust the Berliners I know (and those who have posted here with similar opinions) who don't view it quite so favorably. From them I hear it's a very good club but usually not worth the hassle of the lines and the arbitrary door policy.
This rings true with my own experience as someone who has been to Berghain multiple times over the years - I've never had a bad time, but it's gone downhill, and other Berlin clubs offer equivalent or better experiences without the annoying exclusivity.
Punk isn't punk anymore. When Google & other major corporations espouse the same core tenets of inclusivity, you're not rejecting or rebelling against anything. Perhaps Berghain and other exclusive clubs do not care about a 'punk' identity.