I Went Clubbing in Virtual Reality: Raves of VRChat

Though virtual reality is a niche today, it might be the norm in the future. Meet the creatives that invented an underground dance scene in the metaverse.

Audio description is available for this video. Go to Settings - Audio Track - English Descriptive.

Using the platform VRChat, people can design unique worlds and avatars. These avatars can also track to a user's full body movements. With this new technology, dance scenes began to form in 2018 starting with the club Dance Dance VR. In this episode of Subcultured, Josef Lorenzo spends three weeks visiting these underground dance clubs: Shelter, Rizumu, Club O, Beat Syndicate and more! We also learn from the people that put these events together: Electro, Ru, Aliquem, 2TD, and Kye.

*****
*****

00:00 Let Me Introduce You to the Clubs of VRChat
01:02 Understanding Virtual Reality and VRChat
02:00 How I Got Into the VR Club Scene
03:08 Meet Ru, a VR DJ and Musician
04:40 Why VR is a Safe Haven for the Queer Community
05:50 How These Metaverse Spaces Started
06:38 Understanding How VR Clubs Operate
07:23 How the Pandemic Caused VR to Grow
08:09 Experiencing the Immersive Club Called Shelter
09:30 Everything in this World is Made From Scratch
10:30 Why the Relationships in VR are Real

Subcultured is a part of PBS Digital Studios. Keep up with us!

#SubculturedPBS #VR #VirtualReality #Metaverse #VRChat best vrchat worlds audio description documentary descriptive audio vrchat rave

[pbsvoices]

Every episode of Subcultured has audio descriptions! Go to Settings - Audio Track - English Descriptive.

[Straszfilms]

As a creator that has been documenting VRChat via video for almost two years now, the best compliment I can possibly give this is that I'm jealous I didn't make it. This accurately (and perfectly!) captured the spirit of not just the VRC rave community, but the whole VRChat community. Rad stuff.

[RysnSparkle]

This is such a breath of fresh air. You’re the only person I’ve seen take the time to understand our world inside VRChat from the outside. Most people who do “Metaverse” stories just focus on Meta and other corporate stuff, but you actually went to the people who LIVE in this community and highlighted what makes all of this so special to us! Really amazing 💙

[Joseph-Tapper]

I've been DJing in the VRChat scene for over a year and ahalf now, and I cannot even begin to describe how it has changed my life, not only as a producer and a DJ, but as an individual. Some of the single greatest friends, colleagues, and talent I have ever met in my entire life. Thank you for sharing a little bit of our story! Can't wait to meet you at some point and dance with you!

[morganiteproto]

"This is our metaverse, and nobody is stealing it"

What a line. The VR dance community is something else. I've learned to DJ through VR and went from doing small shows in VRChat to performing on-stage at conventions. Thank you Josef and PBS for telling our stories. And shoutout to Ru and TOTC, who were two of my inspirations to pick up DJing. <3

[transversewithru]

Thank you Josef, Electro, PBS, and all my VR family. PBS has been a huge part of my life for 40+ years. I'm honestly humbled to be part of this, and show our world and family to everyone. Everyone is equal, and all are welcome. ♥

[aliquemlive]

Sorry it took me a bit to respond. I was in complete denial of reality when this became something tangible. I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing us to really explain everything that this means to us and what it is. And we love you for getting in the headset and living out some of those hours with us to really get an idea of it.
The lore, the community of creators, dancers, DJs as well as all the people who come to share these experiences with us are a big family who make this the amazing thing that it is.
Bless everyone for making this as great as it has come through the years. Thanks for being a part of our story and our legacy for years to come.
Electro, Ru. Krisu, VRC Devs and everyone who just simply comes to be with us, you helped us shape this into something wonderful. Jojo and your team with PBS thank you so much for helping us open this door to the world ♡♡♡♡

[TUBEVRCLUB]

Good to see a solid representation of VRChat. The VR clubbing community is incredible! <3

[BombalurinaAI]

Finally, a news report about VRChat and VR culture that isn't saying it's taking over reality. I've been playing since day 1 of VRC and it's an amazing platform. I've learned how to make avatars in unity, learned sign language ASL and seen the deaf community grow, played D&D, went to bars/clubs with friends in the peek of the pandemic, meet some amazing people... it's just magic.

[ElectroVRC]

It was such an honor to help out on this episode! It turned out great, thank you so much Josef and PBS for showing your viewers our little VR community ☺

[Lilithe]

Another thing VR can be to people, is an accessibility aid, and a fascinating study into how accessibility concerns affect those who are in VR.

I was speaking today with someone who did most of his VR in a wheelchair. To me he appeared as any regular person would, able to interact and play games just like the rest of us.

That thought alone was really humbling and powerful.

[TheVirtualRealityShow]

This video is awesome! Thanks PBS for featuring our community :) I just made a similar video feature on my channel, too.

Last month, me and fellow VR YouTuber Thrillseeker held a giant collab event at one of these clubs called TUBE. It ended up being the BIGGEST VRChat community event to-date with over 1700 users dancing along at the SAME time. So crazy!!

Hope more people get to see how exciting this scene is because of your video!

[ironbiscuit]

It's so wonderful to see our community be portrayed to the outside world in such a good light. VRChat raves are truly something special to experience and we hope to see you soon!

[TDmusic]

thank you for shining a light on our small and wonderful space <3 can't wait to keep bringing you more experiences!

[xxmusic]

Very well made episode! really enjoyed it! VRC is truly something special and im glad im part of it

[kaiba]

This was amazing. Thank you so much for taking an interest in the VRChat community and representing us in such an honest way.

Everyone who was featured in the video: you're all absolutely legends and I love you tons <3

And Electro, you're amazing. Thank you so, so much for helping make this happen.

[rragle]

I think one of the things not mentioned in the video is that Joesph is “Jojo”, an amazing DJ in his own right that started Radio Book Club with Tinzo. Be sure to search for him on YouTube, great sets!

[LhunVideo]

The comments here are packed with so many names and icons I recognize, thank you for doing this community a real solid for once, this is a good example in classic media of what it's really like "in here" for us. A lot of negativity and FUD around vr journalism in the last 6 months, and this is a breath of fresh air.

[PhyshStycc]

I was one of the first founding members of DDVR. I remember talking with Trigshot and Venerac and it came up "Hey, we started this new club thing last week, wanna join?" Up to that point there was no precedent for the VRC club scene. We literally wrote and pathed the way for the coolest VR experiences to date.
TOTC is one of my buds and his entire map was inspired by the psychedelic experience that was WaveVR before that platform got shut down. His map is the inspiration to continue that aesthetic. Building things that are physically impossible to create IRL.
VRChat, it's communities, and the friends and experiences I've made along my 5 year history of enjoying this new reality has literally changed my entire life permanently, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[thedukeofweasels]

The second I saw the concept of a virtual reality nightclub I'm like this place is gonna be full of trans people and furries I just know it!!! The Internet allowing us to transcend physical forms and enter a state of pure self expression is amazing! I'm FTM and I use gaming to cope a lot and basically live my life online where my circumstance doesn't matter because people only know me as who I choose to be it's so liberating!