My body aches. My face smiles.

Three friends and I walked to Kompass Klub last night. Actually the fellow rode his bike … so slowly and skilfully to match our pace.

“Oh my God! I’m going to a techno club.”

I was warned about the incredible volume of the music but I had earplugs tucked into my coat pocket.

And I thought big EDM festivals like Tomorrowland or Core would be similar to last night. My friends smiled and shook their heads. They educated me about “beats per minute (BPM)”.

“Tomorrowland usually is about 120. Kompass Klub is 150 … sometimes way more. Get ready!”

I was ready. My friend the bartender had arranged for us to be guests = get in free. As so we were ushered through the gate.

Ahead of me were hundreds of tiny lockers. Two euros later my coat and valuables were safely stored away. I was light as a feather and ready to boogie.

Hanging plastic straps greeted us as we entered the dance floor …

Woh! More decibels than humanly possible smashed my ears. Strobe lights blasted. Red laser beams flew around the room.

My mouth dropped. And my hand dove into a pocket for earplugs. Finally inserted, the dampeners still left me with raucous sound.

My friends turned to assess my newbie face. “I love this!”

I looked around and maybe two hundred people were just standing there, jiggling a bit. “Where’s the dancing?” > “It’ll take awhile for them to warm up.”

Five minutes later, I was grooving to the music, my arms increasingly flailing. Let the others stand in place – I want to move!

Before showing up, I had a decision to make. My balance isn’t the greatest and I need really good footwear if I’ll be on my feet for awhile. I wear hiking boots every day. But can I dance in them?

Turns out, most of me sure could dance but my feet got stuck on the floor (those grippy soles!). So … down to my ankles I was free and easy. Well, not totally. I didn’t throw my hands over my head. They were doing their thing sideways. Guess I was worried about really standing out. Silly me.

When I thrust my feet out in random directions, I usually stumbled. Oh well.

I started dancing around midnight and pooped out at 1:30. Partway I took a five-minute break to walk my sweaty self outside – away from the noise, our mutual heat and my throbbing knees.

Gosh it was fun. There’ll definitely be a next time for this dancing fool. Maybe I’ll stay later so the “warming up” folks near me will eventually be in full flight.

I’ll bring running shoes and put my hiking boots in a locker. Then let’s see what my feet can do! If my ankles feel on the verge of collapse I’ll switch to the boots.

(Oh … I just realized that I didn’t think about taking pictures last night. All I could see was the dancing.)

***

A voice just invaded my head: “You’re too old”

To which I respond “B*l*s*i*!”

Watch me go!