T2KAZUYA HYPES UP the crowd during his set. One of the four DJs at the Genericon Dance, T2Kazuya’s set brought the biggest crowd of the night to the dance floor.To those of you who were burning the midnight oil in the Rensselaer Union on Saturday, March 14, 2015, I’m sorry. I apologize to you because you missed one of the most uplifting events all year. I’m sorry that you didn’t come and enjoy yourself with the many Genericon-goers as they danced the night away in the McNeil room. And most of all, I’m sorry about the bumping, bass-boosted, and, most importantly, loud music that enticed many to get on the dance floor. But it was for the best, because the Genericon Dance at this year’s annual RPI-hosted convention was definitely the best dance put on by RPI yet this school year.
The dance had a line-up of four DJs, hailing from the Northeastern area. Each with their own style, they brought raging music with some serious twists. Up first, DJ Scratchin’ kicked the show off with a set of smooth dance tunes with hard bass lines that had the crowd jumping. His stage performance could use some work, but for the most part, he did a great job opening the show. Next up was T2Kazuya, who has been to Genericon before. T2Kazuya was definitely the most engaging DJ of the night and his mix was the most energetic, with faster builds, more ruthless synth, and an overall more cutting edge sound. The third DJ was Michael V, who brought the hardcore sound to the show. Accompanied by a megaphone and face mask, Michael V crushed a long set with some surprise sounds, such as tracks with Japanese vocals and some sweet interludes. Closing out the night was MaidenV, an all-around DJ, who finished off the night with what I thought was one of the best sets of the night, topped only by T2Kazuya and his spot-on energy builds. MaidenV brought out many different styles of dance music and brought the crowd back together after a particularly low attendance of Michael V’s set. The four DJs rallied on stage to finish off the show with a crowd-favorite remix of Caramelldansen by Caramell.
Genericon planners this year expected a mere 40 or fewer people to show up to the dance this year. The crowd that showed up Saturday night, though, was several times that size. It turned out that an estimated 200 people made their way in and out of the doors to the dance. The crowd was littered with dancers in an array of costumes, from Raven of Teen Titans fame, several Homestuck characters, and four or five people in full fur costumes complete with ears and tails. However, none of the fandoms mattered when it came to dancing, as the crowd would shake it with just about anyone who joined them. The night saw a conga line, the Macarena, and numerous dance circles break out and unite the crowd. The number of dancers fluctuated between sparse and severely crowded on the floor, but no one seemed to mind at all.
I didn’t participate much in the dancing so much as just listening to the music, and watching so many people have a genuinely good time made me really enthusiastic about the whole thing. It’s always heartening to see that it doesn’t matter if you’re different; you can have fun all the same. Because under the capes, furry ears, and makeup, under the masks that are put on, we’re really not that different after all. Thank you, Genericon, for making Saturday night one of the most fun nights that you could have at this institute.