Make it make sense: nightclubs where you can only hear the drums of the music

So last night I was at a club, and for the whole night, really you could only hear the drums (maybe the bass too ?) of the music.

You know sometimes when you are standing outside a club and you can hear the bass and drums coming through the wall, but you only hear the details and the melodic lines when you go inside and are on the dancefloor? last night, was basically akin to standing outside and only hearing the bass and drums, even though I was in the middle of the dance floor

Sometimes I'd even close my eyes and really concentrate and see if I could discern any other sounds at all apart from the drums, and I could just about get the faintest whiff of something else, sometimes. Im guessing that a lot of the songs, if played at home and listened to on my headphones would have sounded fantastic.

What is happening here? Im guessing some people might answer that it's to do with the shape of the room, or the quality of the sound system, but could it also do with the sound system settings, like maybe they deliberately turned up the bass? Like, maybe its a choice and that's what some people dig? Or maybe some people's ears are built differently, and they are hearing something else? It is a well known club night, the place was packed and everyone seemed to be having a good time, so maybe its a 'me thing'?

Anyone else experience this?