From what I hear, barn dancing is very "in" these days. It's high energy, easy to catch on to, live music, just plain fun. In Chicago it's attended by a fair percentage of the younger crowd. So if you're looking to meet people of the opposite sex, it's not a bad place to try. I did it for a while, but I don't anymore. For me the problem was the "easy to catch on to" part. The reason people can just show up and get through it the first time out is that there are only a dozen moves you've got to understand. Once you've got them mastered, you've got it all. I did barn dancing for about a year and got bored towards the end. It just felt like the same thing over and over again. But that's just me. All those other positives are still there. You really can just show up and have a great time. You will have a few things to learn, but they're learnable in an evening.
Have you ever seen a couple in ballroom position spinning around one another? That's sometimes called the buzz-step. In square dancing and barn dancing they call that the swing. It used to be one of the staples of square dancing, but at the clubs I've gone to of late I have found it to be in sad disrepair. Well, you'll find some great swingers at barn dancing. When done right, it just happens to be the sexiest, most exhilarating communion you'll ever get to do with another soul in public. When it's smooth and fast and you're really linked solidly together, it's heaven.
The music will be high energy. The people are nice. Good exercise. Better than sitting alone at home. (Get someone to teach you how the swing works.)