What's Happening to the Goth Scene?

During the last two or three days of July, unsubstantiated rumors began making their way through social media stating that Alt-Fest, a U.K.-based event billed as a new-metal festival, had been cancelled. On August 1, event organizers release an official statement,
which verified the veracity of the rumors. The concept of this event, which had been considered unique by many, had been cancelled.
Had Alt-Fest occurred, it would have been much more than simply a metal event as plans called for four musical stages. The main stage would have featured performances by Marilyn Manson, Fields of the Nephilim and The Cult, to name a few. The other three stages had each been devoted to providing musical performances exclusively in the electronica, metal and goth genres.

In their official statement the event organizers pointed out that cancellation was necessary because they hadn't sold nearly enough tickets to cover band and other expenses. This admission seems to have set off a lively debate on social media as to whether or not Alt-Fest's demise reflects a slow demise of goth culture as a whole. The Vampire Freaks social site released its own Ode to the Organizers,
which concludes by speculating on the possibility that our culture and scene are slowly fading away. Others of course, argue that Alt-Fest was simply a first attempt by its organizers who sadly, were likely inexperienced and found themselves in over their heads. And let's not forget that there are still some highly successful festivals, such as Whitby, which occurs twice a year, and Wave Gotik Treffen. Then again, Prague Gothic Treffen, is set to take place at the end of this month in the Czech Republic. So, the scene is certainly not dead.

Still, Alt-Fest's demise and the ensuing discussions have me thinking about how the scene is faring, not only throughout the United States, but locally and regionally. In my last post, which I entitled The Demise of a Venue,
I mentioned that The Stolen Glass, that very accessible and likely, reasonably priced venue at which we had been holding our Darkness Resurrected Dance Nights, had closed its doors. Further, the Ravenwood Gothic Community had been planning to hold its annual reunion there as well. At the time, I considered the club's closing a bad omen indeed.

At about the same time, I noticed an event promoter in the Tulsa area bemoaning the sometimes low turnout for his events. He moved his affair to Oklahoma City and apparently, enjoyed a successful first night. The question is, will attendance remain high for the next event, and the one after that? Only time will tell.

There's a theory that keeps popping up and it's based upon the belief that musical preferences are slowly driving scene members apart. The argument goes like this: The more traditional folks, who tend to be older, prefer the music that the scene was originally based upon. They want to hear bands like The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy or even newer dark-wave/industrial groups. Younger people, on the other hand, tend to enjoy electronica more. My observation is that at times, various event organizers seem at a loss to bridge this gap. Quite frankly, I think Darkness Resurrected handled things well by playing the more traditional material during the first hour before focusing more on electronic music later on. I'm not sure if that's the answer for everybody, but it might be worth a try.

All things considered, it's hard to tell what might be happening with our sub culture. I know that nothing can remain the same and yet continue being vibrant. Things have to change somewhat; stagnation isn't good; and that most definitely applies to music. Yet, I also realize that things can change to the point that a sub culture is no longer recognizable. In places such as Germany, the United Kingdom and yes, even the Czech Republic, Goth is still doing well. But I am concerned about things here in the States and particularly, here in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

While working on this post I took a break for a minute and jumped over to Facebook, where I found a new post by Darkness Resurrected. Due to the closing of The Stolen Glass and other reasons, Darkness Resurrected Dance Night is being relocated to Little Rock for the next two or three years.While I totally understand the reasons behind the decision and I wish the event organizer every success with his endeavors, I have to admit that I've been overtaken by a cloud of sadness. Little Rock is about 175 miles from where I live and I seriously doubt that I'll be able to make it down there very often, if at all. At the moment, I'm taking solace in the fact that at least the metal scene is thriving up here. Still, metal may be my music of choice and a lot of neat people attend metal events, but it's not the same as going to a goth event.  I'll most definitely miss attending the latter as well as seeing the new friends I'd made.

As for omens, I think really do portend the future sometimes.
 
Photo source: Gothic Pictures Gallery
Artist unknown 
   

The Demise of a Venue

On Friday, May 23 Darkness Resurrected Dance Night celebrated its first anniversary with its first live show featuring Tulsa's Axis and Kansas City's Razorwire Halo. Unfortunately, that event wasn't attended as well as one would hope. More likely than not, this was because that Friday signified the beginning of Memorial Day Weekend, a time when Fayetteville's population is temporarily reduced by close to half, with lots of local folks heading out of town to camp, float the rivers, or whatever.

Little did we know that night that our anniversary celebration would be the last Darkness Resurrected event to take place at The Stolen Glass, a venue which struck me as a perfect fit for Northwest Arkansas' Goth community. On June 30 The Stolen Glass closed its doors forever. No one seems to know why, but such things are not exactly unusual around here; especially, as regards smaller clubs.

Still, this was a venue with a stage large enough to accommodate whatever a promoter wanted to book there, whether a band or deejays with lots of equipment. The Glass had a decent dance floor, a free pool table and sometimes sold test-tube shots for a dollar each.  I'll definitely miss those sweet but potent drinks. I also suspect that booking an event at the venue was a reasonably priced affair, due to its location outside the main entertainment district. I don't know that for sure though.

Now the question is, where do we go from here? I do know that the Ravenwood Gothic Community had been planning to book its annual reunion at The Stolen Glass as well. Now reunion promoters are looking for an alternative venue at which to hold the event. I can think of some possibilities, but wouldn't be surprised if a few of them might be considerably more expensive than we've been used to. Others might be more comparable to what we've been used to.

So, that's where we are this summer. As for me, I'm just hoping that something will eventually work out and that we'll find a new venue. I'd kind of gotten used to attending our Darkness Resurrected Dance Nights every few months or so. And even though I can't say that The Stolen Glass was a regular hangout, it was close to perfect in accommodating our needs. Farewell Stolen Glass. Thanks for the good times. 

Gothic Summer Reading

Yes it's true. Even during the bright sunny days of summer I still enjoy delving into a good, dark novel--and did I ever cross paths with one recently!

It all began back in the end of May when I learned that the local public library had scheduled a book sale for Saturday, June 1. It was just my luck that the sale was planned for the same day that the Confederate Cemetery, one of the two that I take care of, holds its annual vesper services. No, there would be no going to the sale for me; at least, not until the best offerings would likely, already have been purchased. Although I wasn't exactly grieving over my bad luck, I was bothered enough that I spoke to my friend Jeff about it one afternoon.

"Watch," I told him. "I'm probably going to miss out on some good Anne Rice because of this."

As it turned out, he was planning on attending the sale, so I asked him to keep his eyes open for certain  novels written by her.

"If you happen to find Merrick, Blackwood Farm or Blood Canticle, could you pick it up for me?" I asked. "I'll pay you back."

Needless to say, I never made it to the library that day, but the next time I saw him he mentioned looking for the material I'd asked for.

"I didn't see anything by Anne Rice," he told me. "But I did pick up something I thought you might like. It's out in the truck."

So, when he was ready to leave, I followed him to his vehicle where he handed me a book entitled, Lord of the Vampires: The Diaries of the Family Dracul, by Jeannie Kalogridis. I was already intrigued by just looking at the title and the book's cover. Somehow, I just knew it was going to be good. I thanked him and shortly afterward, took my new possession home.

I was still reading a collection of short stories and so, wasn't quite ready to start in on my new acquisition. Still, as I read the cover description of the story upon getting home, my interest only grew deeper, and once I delved into the publication, it didn't disappoint.

Now, I need to point out that this post is not an official book review. As a matter of fact, I'm only about one-third of the way through it. Further, Lord of the Vampires is apparently, the third and final installment in the Diaries of the Family Dracul trilogy. Considering how much I'm enjoying this book, I feel some sense of loss in my not having been aware of this series beforehand. In that case, I'd have started with book one. Still, the story is very much holding its own as a novel in its own right and I have no complaints.

The story, which is told in diary form, opens in the late fifteenth century with the appearance of none other than Vlad the Impaler as he faces military defeat. Determined to attain to a state of immortality, Vlad enters into a grotesque pact with a being called "The Dark Lord." You can probably guess what he becomes after making that deal.

The reader is next moved ahead in time to the late nineteenth century with the written words, first of Abraham Van Helsing and then the vampire Zsuzsanna, who has already gained my sympathies. Vlad now calls himself Dracula and his evil and cruelty seem to have no bounds. Oh yes, he's in his castle in the Carpathians and a good part of the tale is taking place there. Dracula is scheming and has even brought the vampire Elizabeth Bathory into his plans. Will she go along with him?

Between events taking place in the dark castle, a generous helping of romance and eroticism, Van Helsing's tribulations and a plot that complements but does not alter Bram Stoker's original tale, this book has it all. My nighttime reading is transporting me into a wonderland of Gothic imagery and story telling. I can't wait to continue the adventure this evening!

Yes I know. I'm horrible at cropping and the above photo of the book proves it. Still, I'm sure you can get the idea of what the book looks like. I think I'm going to remove the outside cover until I'm through reading it too. It's already getting funky and it's far to attractive to see ruined.

Sitting on the Fence

It's a very quiet and enjoyable Sunday afternoon here on East Mountain. The skies are darkening, the wind is kicking up, the temperature is dropping and the sound of thunder is in the air. A brief but refreshing summer storm is bearing down upon us and it should be raining in moments.

Things quiet down here during the summer months. The university students are gone and there's less traffic on the roads (yea!). Summer activities are in full swing though. On weekends folks seem to flood out of town to the lakes, rivers and favorite campsites. But in the world of Goth, there's really not much going on. As for my own personal life the last event I'd been looking forward to, The Vore 20th Anniversary Show is now a couple of weeks behind me. I don't mind; and as a matter of fact, I always enjoy these quiet times. Still, there is one opportunity that now presents itself that is both very exciting and disturbing at the same time. I'm really sitting on the fence over this one and it's a situation that only an introvert such as myself ends up in turmoil over. 

There is a non-profit organization here in town that has for years, talked about getting the rights to operate a low-power FM radio station. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave approval to some 2,000 organizations to operate such broadcasting facilities. The local group has both received approval and chosen a frequency. They are waiting for the FCC to complete certain paperwork and the issuance of their call letters. After that, they'll be cleared for broadcasting. 

Low-power FM stations are licensed to broadcast with a power output of between 10 and 100 watts. When you consider that our local public radio station broadcasts at 100,000 watts with a signal that reaches well into Oklahoma on the west and Missouri to the north, and way below the Arkansas River Valley to the south, you can begin to appreciate that 10 to 100 watts is not very much. The signal strength must be adjusted according to the height of the transmitting tower and how well the signal is able to bypass neighboring hills, buildings, etc. All things considered, Fayetteville's new all-volunteer community radio station will have a signal that should serve all of our community and will likely be one capable of extending outward for a few miles, thereby reaching, at least partially, into neighboring towns as well. 

Community radio stations determine their programming according to the needs of their respective communities as well as according to the interests of those actively involved with the station. At this point in time, it looks as though Fayetteville's community station will be focused primarily on talk and discussion shows. There will be a smattering of musical venues, which may include cool jazz, bluegrass and heavy metal. 

Heavy metal you ask? Yeah, that's me. Back in April I signed up to do a metal show and since that time my mind has been working overtime in terms of how I'd like to not only mix the music, but also incorporate the occasional horror theme into the programming. As I mentioned a bit earlier, this whole thing is, in many ways, a very exciting prospect. I love mixing music and I feel confidant that I'm capable of creating an excellent program--all with a classical but spooky touch. 

All I want to do however, is have a two-hour weekly program and otherwise, slide back into life as usual. After all, it's not like I don't have important personal projects and other responsibilities. But when I attended last week's open house I quickly came to realize that if I want to do this show, it's going to take a much bigger commitment than I'd bargained for. Before I knew it, I was on the programming committee; and although I'm not even sure what that will entail, I was asked to sign a skills list. Do I have construction skills? Got a truck? Can you write news or do web work? How about getting into fundraising or public outreach? By the time I left the place I was already free-falling into a funk--in other words, a depression.

There are three meetings set for this coming week that by all rights I should attend. I have to mention here that years ago, I swore off meetings and promised myself that I'd never attend one again. I absolutely loath them and truly don't like being thrown into groups of people that I'm suddenly supposed to become close to and work with.

I'm sure you can see where I'm going with all of this. If I want to do my metal show it's going to take much more of a commitment than I was expecting. I don't mind helping out a bit, but jeez!  

The rain has ended and the sunshine has returned. It's probably like a steam bath out there but I think I'm going out for a pale ale and a cream stout. I have a few more days to sit on the fence and put off any decisions. I'm still in the information gathering stage. I'll let you all know how things turn out somewhere down the road.