If the excitement and buzz of the con didn't thrill you during the day then perhaps you're one of those nighthawks the ones just itching to grab up a glow stick (or ten) and move your stuff out on the dance floor.
Anime Expo is one of the largest, if not the largest, convention in North America and as we assault the streets during the day with our massive lines outside any place that serves food, awe residents with gigantic lines spanning down city blocks all waiting to get into the greatest events we also make sure to leave plenty of time to live it up on the dance floor or.
As the line to get into the dance begins to fill a small lobby and people begin cheering, clapping and attempting a linear wave the music begins to play in the background. Sure enough the heavy beat gets some of the ladies dancing in the line and shaking their stuff as guys just watch on.
Little red bands around your wrist signify you're over eighteen a must for this event. As you hold yours up to the staff member checking at the door you gain access to the dance, where people are already moving to the beat of the music, dancing behind the shadow box or awing those watching with the glow stick techniques they might have learned at the convention's glow sticking panel.
My first entry into the room brought me back to middle school where guys put their clothes on backwards and jumped to the beat of "Jump Around" by House of Pain. It seemed like this was going to be a trip down memory lane as the songs continued to live up to most of the 80-90s theme but it seemed as though that would be shortly lived.
Dancing with friends soon became standing with friends as the DJs began mixing the music to this almost rollercoaster ride beat. At one point we were moving as fast as our bodies would take us and seconds later it felt almost like we needed to slow dance before suddenly it'd go back to the fast movement.
The music began shifting some of the more modern techno/rave music and more people began massing in the middle of the dance floor almost like they were waiting for the beat to change so they could move with it again.
Five our more DJs were dancing on the stage and at one point one of them began to sing. However rather than sing the actual words to the song he changed them up causing even more people to just stare up at him wondering what the hell was going on.
At this point my friends and I had decided it was time to get a drink. Unlike previous years where there was water provided within the room, we had to leave the room and seek water elsewhere.
Outside the dance room there are still people in a line waiting to be allowed to trickle into the room, dancing to the music just outside and laughing it up with friends and as you watch this realization hits you, you have to go through that line again. Admittedly the line wasn't nearly as long as it was to get in, in the first place, but it seemed almost like an unnecessary inconvenience just to retrieve some water.
Once we were back in the dance room though we found a few more good songs but it wasn't enough to keep us there much longer. We left the dance and headed back to the hotel a little disappointed with the DJs performance.
While the experience was fun the music could have used some improvement, perhaps then more people would have been moving to the beat, and less standing there as if they were at a concert and not a dance.