It's the scent of different brands of perfume mixed with the smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol. It's the different ways of styling hair with gel or mouse and the variety of snazzy, dark and bright colours of clothing around you. It's the non-stop chattering about past, present and future, about who's going out with whom now, and who's no longer together.
Since the time when the Village People made disco and the clubbing lifestyle popular in the 1970s, clubbing has become an essential component of gay culture.
But are lesbians as enthusiastic about clubbing as most of their gay brothers?
The answer is: Not as much.
Not going unnoticed is also the fact that there are more clubs that cater to gay men than lesbians.
"It's because the lesbian club scene is not as sophisticated as the gay club scene," says e!, from Singapore. "This is also because gays tend to be more sexually liberated than lesbians." True enough, men in general are more liberated about sex than most women.
The clubbing scene allows gay men to get together with friends, cruise the local gay community, and hopefully pick up Mr. Right along the way. And they have no qualms about doing all this in a public place designated for them only.
The boys then, are seemingly less concerned with what others think, and more concerned with what they can get out of the clubbing lifestyle.
In more open countries like Australia for example, you have gay clubs where lesbian and bisexual women are still more than welcome, and the gay clubs usually have a specific area where queer women will get together while their gay brothers party the night away. The term 'gay club' then, would not only mean a club for gay men, but lesbians as well.
In less open countries, however, lesbians are less likely to go to clubs meant for the boys. This is perhaps because there is less chance of meeting Ms. Right in a place where 90% of the patrons are gay men. Unless you're the type who fancies a really gorgeous cross-dresser that is.
The lack of clubs catering to the lesbian crowd is further exacerbated by the risk of coming out of the closet. In more open-minded countries, you will find a mixed blend of the GLBT crowd, with a few straight people thrown in as well. Nobody outside will bat an eyelid the moment you step out of one of these clubs, since chances are that you might not even be queer. And even if you are, so what?
However, in countries less open to the homosexual culture, if you are caught stepping out of a gay or lesbian club, you will most likely end up being branded as People Like Us. Worse, in a small country like Singapore, there is always a high chance of someone known to you knowing everybody else.
According to DJM, who is based in Beijing: "Clubs are places to relax after a hard day at work - so it is a time to relax and catch up with friends". So then queer women go clubbing for the same reasons as everyone else - to take some time off the every day hassles of life to just sit back and chill out with friends.
So is there a hidden agenda for lesbians who go to clubs? "It depends on whom you're with when you go clubbing," J from Perth explains. "Some friends may not be open as I am about chatting other women up, or they may just be there to catch up and relax. But it's really all about networking in the hopes of hitching up with someone nice."
Unlike some lesbians like J, who are not shy to admit that they do go to clubs solely to pick up girls, most lesbians deny this and contradict J's opinion by insisting that they only go clubbing for the social aspects.
"Just to catch up with friends," says Sharon from Melbourne. "And if I go with my gay friends, and we need to split up, we always arrange to meet somewhere at closing time to leave together."
In the case of some avid clubbers like W, it is the dancing that is the main attraction of clubs, where they vent out their frustrations on the dance floor. "It's better than aerobics," says W. "You dance away your excess kilos, and the bonus is if you know the right moves, you just might be able to attract the right person!"
Right. There's that hidden agenda again.
But while there may be the hidden agenda of meeting Ms. Right and riding off into the sunrise with her after a night of bacchanalian revelry, the overall agenda of the clubbing lifestyle provides for most lesbians a place and a chance to, as Melissa from Singapore would put it: "See girls, dance and have fun with my friends."
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