That can be parks, museums, gym, hacker spaces and yes also clubs.
A new (ancient) trend, that maybe works for you, is called ecstatic dance. The basic idea is, no alcohol, no drugs, no talking (inside the main area) - just good music and dancing - till ecstasy. Expressing the language of the body. This connects people.
If there are no dancers and you get up there at all the band will probably love it.
They might just not play so mundane after that.
And others who may be the least bit inspired will often get right up there with you, hesitating much less than they would have normally done.
Even if it's all by yourself.
There's a song about that, Dancing with Myself by Billy Idol:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s2qZ6zc6ts
Where he basically draws the dead up onto their feet, he ecstatically blows them all away, they love him anyway and everybody ends up boogieing like zombies.
>You won't see me at a nightclub, a bar or any place made for people to socialize over inane discussions, alcohol and crap "music".
You won't see most people, they're usually hanging out socially with others they met like that or at equivalent places they prefer to gather whether or not alcohol was prominent, discussions were inane or music was crap.
Or whether there was anything like music at all.
But if there is music, you know what to do ;)
Trust me, I'm a scientist.
OTOH there's a lot to be said for striving to widen social circles using remote technology more so than direct contact. Haven't gotten around to that yet so I don't have much to add there.
EDIT added anyway: Helpful tip: It's probably better to leave your phone at home so it doesn't get broken while ecstatically dancing or anything else. People that are interested in what they see will often be understanding and more than willing to text your phone while it is still in repose back in its coffin. You can then power back up and raise the phone from the grave when the time is right. But it's well recognized that a lot of people need to raise their gaze and their fingers well above the plane of a touchscreen, to further points of interest more than they do.
They might just not play so mundane after that.
And others who may be the least bit inspired will often get right up there with you, hesitating much less than they would have normally done."
Definitely, but it takes a lot of courage to do that. I am a very good dancer and I often was the only one dancing - and yes, the band of course loves it and usually also most other people.
But it is always a struggle to really let go and ignore all the thoughts of what others might think and just take the empty space in front of the band and go wild.
Ecstatic dance in the way I experienced it, is specially made to not have that crowd of judging outsiders and rather tries to create a safe space where everyone can just move how he or she feels like without being judged. (also phones are banned there, so no fear that someone might take a video of you, which is something that defninitely happens when dancing in public spaces).
Every ecstatic dance I attended was different (also on different places, organised by different people) but all of them were worth it.