Chances are, you have heard of the goth subculture, a group of people stereotyped as moody, dressed in black, vampire-loving eccentrics who enjoy hanging out in all spaces haunted and eerie. But have you explored the music genre?
Whether you are already familiar with Goth music or have yet to explore the depths that it offers, I recommend Goth Night at 924 Gilman Street. Every few months, the venue hosts events where they play plenty of trad-goth classics by artists like Siouxsie and the Banshees, Clan of Xymox, The Sisters of Mercy. The setup was simple but effective: a projector up front playing a cult classic silent film, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” and the DJ hanging out in the back behind a large mixing board. This was reminiscent of classic old school DJ setups, where the crowd does not look at the DJ, but instead looks at the speakers in front of them. This style of setup helps encourage the crowds to dance more due to its simplicity. The atmosphere was welcoming, respectful, and wonderfully batty. The inclusion of the silent film was a great touch; if you felt like being a wallflower, you could hang back on one of the many couches scattered around and watch. 924 Gilman also always has zines in the room adjacent to where the stage is if you are big into DIY and art or just need to take a breather from the dance floor.
The DJ was Night Covers All, who was great at establishing a solid, danceable flow and effectively working with the energy in the room. The set felt cohesive, with enough variations in mood and style to keep things interesting. The pacing of different tempos and amalgamation of sub-genres worked well to build the atmosphere that the event was striving for, with some breathing room and lesser known songs mixed between the classic floor-fillers.
If you don’t know any goth bands, don’t worry. You at least get a cool nickname out of it — a newcomer to the goth subculture is called a baby bat! The DJ queued up a solid mix of accessible and classic New Wave: Depeche Mode, The Cure, and New Order for the crowd to sing along. As the final song of the night, the DJ played an honorary classic that goes platinum in goth clubs: “Rock Lobster” by The B-52’s, of course. Watching the crowd go down to the floor with the music (“Down, down!”), before forming a mosh pit was great fun. Furthermore, 924 Gilman is known as a punk venue, which has always gone hand-in-hand with goth, as they are both subcultures and have DIY aspects. Some goth music, like that of Bauhaus, even falls into the post-punk genre. If you want a low-stakes fun time to check out music, Gilman Goth Night is a splendid pick.
And lastly, here are some of my favorite songs that were played. Check them out! After all, there’s a reason why I go by gothgeologist:
“Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus
“Marian” by Sisters of Mercy
“Spellbound” by Siouxsie and the Banshees
“Medusa” by Clan of Xymox
