more immersive club experiences... VENT, the TOWER, and OFFLINE: LOCKER ROOM

20 october 2025 - monday

awhile back, my homie chilly went to japan for a trip. on this trip, he had gone to several raves and music experiences in the country, one of them being an underground club in shibuya called VENT. after his trip, i remember that he was working in a flurry of inspiration to get that club venue recreated into virtual reality. upon entering this venue, you are surrounded by thick, concrete walls, all closing you in to this tight, small space. walking down the narrow corridor leads you to a room with a tree inside. as the event starts in this venue, the concrete walls turn open to reveal another room with the DJ decks, speakers, and the dancefloor, real-time lights moving and illuminating the room in time with the music.

chilly told me that the IRL venue in japan had a focus for techno and techno adjacent music, which is so ideal for me as i love anything techno. for this event, chilly and i each threw down hour long sets of minimal techno, hypnotic techno, and hardgroove. this venue is so perfect for that. due to the brutalist aesthetic and minimal decoration, attendees are forced to focus on the following aspects: the music, the lights, and the people. worlds built around these aspects are really fun to be in, as it further immerses me personally to take in the world as if it were actually tangible. the scale feels realistic, so everyone around you feels like an actual body right next to yours. the more fantastical elements of virtual reality are sort of smoothed out in venues like these, where even those like myself with furry or non-typical humanoid avatars feel like we fit into this environment.

admittedly i was not paying attention to the crowd. LOL. hardgroove has been one of my deep loves this year, as i have played set after set after set since this year's spring full of that kind of music - fast, funky, danceable, and perfect for parties! i get way too absorbed in playing this music, and i sweated up a storm during my hour! my homie nonny told me afterwards that the venue got quite full, and there were many dancing all over the venue. hearing so made me quite honoured - i am not really a DJ that reads the crowd well, i admit. i just hope that everyone in there is in the mood to throw their bodies and thrash around!

one of the aspects of this world that i mentioned earlier was its lights. this world includes DMX lighting, which is a system of stage lighting that uses data signals - like audio - to change how light moves. before my set, i sat next to my friend nonny and discretely watched as his avatar was repeatedly illuminated by the blue lights above us. it made him and our fellow rave goers look super cool. it felt like we were in an actual underground rave, which is a sentiment i have often nowadays in virtual reality as the standard of immersive venues seems to go up and up and up.


any time i'm in an elevator in virtual reality, i feel like the doctor from doctor who. that is how the elevator in THE TOWER makes me feel haha. there's this animation that plays when you get into the world's elevator, where you get in and then it takes you up but it suddenly shifts and then shatters into pieces, turning your screen to black as it does. you then spawn near some stairs that take you up to this wide dancefloor with the ceiling being the video screen. honestly, this description doesn't give it enough justice as i write it out. it's definitely something people need to experience themselves fully in VR!

earlier i sung the praises of the tightness that VENT provides, but THE TOWER provides immersiveness thru its entry sequence and the lighting of its dancefloor. by allowing the floor and the ceiling to be the main sources of light, there is contrast between people's avatars and the environment that create dynamic moments. light flashes above and below you in time with the music. as i found a place to settle, chilly was throwing down some more hardgroove for the masses.

i like that this world does not put its attendees in complete darkness when the music dies down from its intensity. while i think there are some venues that complete darkness works well in them, this venue really highlights the dancers with its boxed-in interior and realistic scaling, similar to VENT in that regard. it was a joy to watch people get excited with the music and have space to move around each other and towards the DJ. there was also plenty of room for those like myself who were on desktop mode on the outskirts. i thought to myself for a bit that maybe providing this much space could be a little less immersive, but i was happy to be proven wrong. if there was a space to move up, i would see a dancer move up. people beckoned their friends to get up and move with them. this is also why i love virtual rave venues - you'll see more people on their feet compared to an open-decks at a local bar! hehehe.

next time this event happens, i'll be sure to join in VR!


when it comes to the folks at OFFLINE, they really know how to throw a party. our homie ray played a set along with dubsu and solace that evening and it was a packed venue from the very beginning. the venue itself, LOCKER ROOM, quite literally /is/ a locker room - the decks are set up in the middle, benches are close to the lockers and you can see some marks on the lockers as if they had been used. between all three of these venues, the common theme seems to be all of their uses of realistic scaling. the lockers, benches, and decks didn't feel disproportionate to the attendees and vice versa. the screens above us on the ceiling on closer inspection had LED detailing to them, as if they were real screens!!

dubsu started off the night, the energy palpable in the air as people readily let loose to his music. some stood on the benches to throw ass, others got right up close to the decks to yell (positive) obscenities towards the DJ. the crowd had to squeeze into this venue, 80 people flowing in and out throughtout the night to listen to some heavy bass music.

rayman is one of the most energetic DJs i have had the pleasure to know and become friends with. he has introduced our friend group to so much new music, but tonight was no exception. ray ripped an incredibly unforgiving set, people on their feet as he played banger after banger. at one point, he played a justin bieber remix that had people screaming in joy, bodies thrashing as the excitement and nostalgia rained down in the club. i got tired quite fast because of this set, but it was well worth it. ray had an amazing VJ named chelz alongside them, appropriately providing a vibe that matched ray's set with the visuals up on the ceiling's screens. the LED effect of the screens along with the visuals was hypnotizing.


if you would like to checkout any of the venues that i have mentioned, below i will provide info on each of the groups in VRChat. thanks for reading!