World Goth Day(s) Wrapup

You may have noticed that I added a tentative S at the end of the title. That's because I attended a celebration on Thursday, which was the actual World Goth Day, and again Friday night. My having two goth events to attend on back to back days made last week special indeed.

Thursday's event, as I mentioned in my previous post, was scheduled as a luncheon and photo shoot at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art,
which is located in Bentonville, Arkansas. You'd have to see this place to believe it; because not only does the museum exhibit some of the finest art ever created in the United States, but it sits upon a beautiful tract of land. There are some four miles of nature trails surrounding and leading to the museum as well as Crystal Spring, which runs alongside the building and creates a most tranquil setting for art lovers.

Dining in Crystal Bridges is a true delight as both sides of the cafeteria-like restaurant open to the beautiful landscape just outside its windows. Our hostess, Mimielle, saw to it that the luncheon would occur under a steel heart, which straddles the center of the dining facilities.

I always look forward to events orchestrated by Mimielle as her projects are always classy, relaxed and works of art. These events also showcase the another side of Goth. These are the times during which we like to dress up in our own particular styles while others gaze in our direction with curiosity. We often drink tea instead of alcohol and discuss our various creative endeavors.

It wasn't too many years ago that going to Bentonville in full goth attire might not have been a very good idea. Crystal Bridges Museum, a planned center for the performing arts and other cultural activities are transforming not only Bentonville, but the county it resides in. As during our first World Goth Day luncheon last year, we received friendly attention instead of hostility. Some other patrons not only approached and asked who or what we were, but asked if they could photograph us as well. 

I had a great time celebrating World Goth Day with this small group of friends and already find myself looking forward to next year. On the left is another photo of the group. This time you can see the steel heart.

Before retiring at the end of this wonderful day, I watched another episode of Dark Shadows. After all, that's what it's all about isn't it? 







On Friday evening those of us remaining in Fayetteville celebrated the first anniversary of Darkness Resurrected Dance Night.
I say those of us remaining because on three-day weekend holidays such as Memorial Day, Fayetteville really empties out. Nevertheless, there was still a lively crowd present at The Stolen Glass; after all, this was the first dance night featuring the sound of live bands.

The first group to take to the stage was Axis from Tulsa, which really warmed the crowd up with their unique mix of electronic, industrial, dark wave and welding. Did I just say welding? Indeed I did! As a matter of fact, I was playing a game of pool when I looked up at the stage and found Axis Stephen welding the 55 gallon drum that doubled as a...well drum. The sparks were really flying at the Stolen Glass that night. That most unusual of drums, at least in a musical sense, had a very unique sound by the way. I enjoyed it.

Kansas City's Razorwire Halo was next to take the stage and they really rocked. I guess you could call them a very energetic band--so energetic in fact that the group's vocalist somehow managed to completely break the top of his guitar. I'm not sure how that was accomplished but it was purely by accident.

Although the turnout for this event was lower than usual due to the holiday, there were some new folks in attendance, some of which I'd been looking forward to meeting.

In a nutshell then, I had the chance to attend two great events in the spirit of World Goth Day. Unfortunately, I have no photos from Friday night. My phone doesn't take very good photos in semi-dark environments and I've found that bringing a camera to such events is a bit cumbersome. Still, I'd like to offer my thanks go to Mimielle for her organizational efforts at Crystal Bridges as well as Axis, Razorwire Halo and of course, DJ Durandal whose continual work with Darkness Resurrected is greatly appreciated.