We Were at Dinner and Nobody Knew Where to Go Dancing. So We Built an App.
We Were at Dinner and Nobody Knew Where to Go Dancing It started the way most great ideas start — with a real problem that nobody had solved. A group of us were sitting at dinner on a Friday night...
We Were at Dinner and Nobody Knew Where to Go Dancing
It started the way most great ideas start — with a real problem that nobody had solved.
A group of us were sitting at dinner on a Friday night. The food was done, the energy was high, and someone asked the question that every music lover has asked a thousand times: "Where should we go dancing this weekend?"
And then the usual chaos ensued. Someone pulled up Instagram to scroll through promoter pages. Someone else opened Resident Advisor. Another person started texting friends who "always know what's happening."
Twenty minutes later, we still didn't have a clear answer. What's playing tonight? Where is it? What genre? What time does it start? Is it close by?
That conversation — that frustration — became an app. It's called LitMap, and it's one of the most exciting projects I'm a part of.
From Napkin Idea to the App Store
A friend of mine took that dinner-table frustration and turned it into something real. The concept was almost absurdly simple: a map that shows you every EDM event happening near you, right now or in the coming days and weeks.
That's it. No scrolling through social feeds. No texting your one friend who goes to everything. No cross-referencing three different event platforms. Just open the map, see what's happening around you, and go.
The fact that this didn't already exist is one of those things that seems obvious in hindsight. We have maps for restaurants, maps for gas stations, maps for parking spots — but nobody had built a map for live music and parties. The data was scattered across dozens of platforms, promoter pages, and word-of-mouth networks.
LitMap pulls it all together into one visual, intuitive experience.
What started as a napkin sketch became a real app in the App Store. And watching that journey — from "someone should build this" to "we built this and people are using it" — is one of the most satisfying things in my career.
How LitMap Works
You open the app. You see a map. On that map, every EDM event in your area is marked — tonight, this weekend, or weeks out. You can:
See what's happening right now — perfect for spontaneous nights when you just want to go somewhere
Browse upcoming events — plan your weekend before it arrives
Filter by genre — whether you're into house, techno, drum and bass, trance, or anything else, find exactly the vibe you're looking for
Check set times — know exactly when your favorite DJ goes on
See the exact venue location — no hunting for addresses or trying to figure out which warehouse the after-party is in
It works across the United States and now globally. The app pulls data on the best events in your city, wherever you are.
The Athens Moment
Here's a story that captures exactly why this app matters.
I landed in Athens, Greece. No plans for the evening. Didn't know the city's nightlife scene. Didn't have local contacts who could tell me where to go. In the old world, I would have spent an hour Googling, checking Instagram stories, and probably just ending up at whatever tourist bar was closest to my hotel.
Instead, I opened LitMap. And right there on the map — Monolink was playing that night.
Monolink. One of the most incredible live electronic artists in the world. Playing in Athens. That night. And I would have completely missed it without the app.
That's the magic. It's not just convenience — it's discovery. How many incredible nights have you missed because you didn't know they were happening? How many times has a world-class DJ played in your city and you found out the next day from someone's Instagram story?
LitMap eliminates that. You always know what's happening. Anywhere in the world.
Why This Matters Beyond Music
LitMap is a music app, but the story behind it is really about something bigger: ideas become real when someone decides to build them.
Every person reading this has had a "napkin idea" — a moment where you saw a problem, imagined a solution, and thought, "someone should make that." Most of those ideas die at the dinner table. They get lost in the noise of daily life, filed away as "maybe someday" projects that never get started.
LitMap didn't die at the dinner table. Someone took the frustration, turned it into a concept, built the technology, and shipped it to the App Store. And now thousands of people are using it to find experiences they would have otherwise missed.
We live in an era where the tools to build are more accessible than ever. The gap between "napkin idea" and "app in the store" has never been smaller. If you have an idea that solves a real problem — even something as simple as "I don't know where to go dancing" — the only thing standing between the idea and the product is the decision to build.
Find Your Next Party
If you love electronic music — or if you just love spontaneous nights out in cities around the world — LitMap is the app you didn't know you needed.
Open the map. See what's happening. Go have an incredible night.
Download LitMap: install.litmap.co
And the next time you're at dinner on a Friday night and someone asks "where should we go?" — you'll have the answer in seconds.