So what do goths do for fun nowadays? Well, since the subculture has immensely changed over the years, what the group of people found themselves doing has also evolved. Beforehand, in the 80s and 90s, goth clubs and hangouts were not uncommon. There are several stories detailed by goths about magical experiences in random abandoned warehouses in the middle of the forest, where hundreds of alternative people would show up to enjoy themselves peacefully. But since then, times have changed. And these kinds of occurrences have not only become slightly illegal, but scarce due to the density of alternative goth people in certain areas. "The Count" - the main speaker - from the podcast, "Cemetery Confessions", a podcast about the goth lifestyle, explains his theory as to why this scarcity is an issue. In his experiences, it not because of a lack of punk, goth, and alternative people that causes the social community to downfall, but a lack of people wanting to go out in general. He explains that he's noticed that these communities are thriving on places such as the internet, where people can hide and watch the countless goth Youtube vloggers in peace. You can't help but hear the desperation in his voice when he pleas with people to go out, rather than seclude themselves in their room. That, and many of these people are deciding to "dress up" only on the weekends, as their jobs do not allow them to express themselves in such a way, or out of pure laziness. This is the theory as to why many people will say, "Goth? They still exist?", because if you are not looking for the subculture, it's very easy to forget about it.
Even I, experienced this myself on a journey to try and find a local community in which likes the gothic scene. I knew that it'd be hard, and wasn't close-minded in trying to make friends who enjoy punk music or alternative music either, for I as well enjoy those types of music. What I found myself concluding to what a facebook page, "Sacramento Goth / Industrial Clubs". And, although the page posts often about events occurring, not even more than fifteen people will give it a "like".
I found myself wary, but also curious. And knew that in order to accurately represent my findings, I'd have to attend an event in order to view our local gothic scene communities. I was extremely nervous, so I stole my friend (I give thanks to her as she's not affiliated with any type of alternative scene), put on my platforms and headed my way towards downtown Sacramento.
Upon arrival, it didn't seem like a complete flop, there were about ten people outside the club, smoking and talking to each other about who knows what. But were they dressed to fit the part? Perhaps. They weren't too outlandish, as I was expecting something that I was used to seeing on the internet, but they were definitely dressed different. Some ripped fishnets here and there, but most definitely an industrial type of feel, just by approaching the venue. Seeing these people outside released some fear out of me, as I somehow felt a sense of community with "my people" for a half a second. Upon arriving, the fee to getting in was fifteen dollars, which ouch, hurt my wallets a little for it being such a small venue. But we forked over the money, as we could hear the lingering music and see the dark flashy lights from a room behind the man asking for money.
After that, my friend and I found ourselves in the single-use bathroom, checking our makeup and clothes, but mostly trying to muse up the courage in each other to enter the mysterious room, in which boomed against the wall of the bathroom we were in. We're both a little shy and anxious when it comes to these sorts of social situations, and we weren't ready to be judged by the much cooler goth people. Finally, we sucked in our breath and opened the door to the mysterious club room and waded into the smoke emitted from the fog machine next to the door.
It took a moment for our eyes to adjust, as the lights at the main DJ flooring was red and flashy, and the music took us aback a little. And what we found? A flop. An empty, large floored room with about four other people on the large, barren dance floor, probably intoxicated and having the time of their lives... with themselves. There were also a couple of groups hidden in the dark corners, talking to each other. I was a bit disappointed, felt awkward and guilty that I pulled my friend down to Sacramento in order to see this "cool new goth club". Also, I knew we were both a bit embarrassed for ourselves because we were so afraid to enter the room only to find five other people, thrashing to an industrial dark-wave type of song.
The music wasn't bad at all, in fact, if it weren't for the empty dance floor, I would've probably done some funky side-step dance to it in order to get in the mood. But the entire feel of the club was stale, tense, and embarrassing. I didn't want to be one of the only people dancing, and neither did my friend. So we sat on the side, on a couch in the corner, away from the dancefloor. I took this time to observe. What I've noticed that most people were not traditionally goth, which I wasn't expecting from such a variety of music being advertised on the facebook page. They did wear dark clothes, and there was one thirty to fourty year old man with a trenchcoat, stomping around drunkly on the dancefloor. But besides that? There wasn't much to see. The people stuck to themselves and their acquaintances, as it wasn't much of a place for socializing. And after maybe fifteen minutes, my friend was asking if we could finally leave. It took me a moment, as I hoped that a huge crowd would just burst through the doors ready to dance, but it never came about. So I finally begrudgingly nodded, and we left silently. We did have a nice laugh in the car on the drive home, at least.
So where are these goths? What happened to them, if they're even around still? Well, like The Count said, they are still around. But hiding deep within their rooms, and instead outletting themselves to the internet. To forums for discussion, Youtube, Instagram, and Tumblr. Which doesn't allow a lot of space for real-life social interaction and communities. And allows the outsiders to believe that goth is a washed up, irrelevant subculture consisting of Satanists and murderers.
Besides the internet, there are still places in which this subculture is flourishing and more popular. And that is Europe. Just like it's original birthplace in England, goths tend to subside themselves in the crevices of European counties more than anywhere in the world. And after that? Surprisingly, probably Japan. Because the Japanese are still very fond of movements like visual-kei, and Japanese rock, and their ideologies of gender roles, goth-like fashion is more common than one would think.
The largest Gothic music festival actually takes place is Hildesheim, Germany every year, and is called M'era Luna. It's a two day event where people are able to buy plots of land and camp out for those days to attend the festival. Overall, it's very burning man-esque, but instead with industrial and gothic people. There are also many vendors selling their own unique and handmade goods, along with live music, beer and the opportunity to creating a plethora of friends. Although held in Germany, it is very English friendly, which allows people from all around the world to visit and enjoy each other. The famous music festival was estimated to have had around 25,000 attendees this year. Although that doesn't seem like a lot for the world's most famous music festival of the sort, it does exclude many people who would attend from places overseas.
The popular Gothic youtuber, It's Black Friday, a Kiwi whom situated herself in Germany with her husband made an excellent two part vlog on her experience with attending M'era Luna this year. She's quite lovely and has made a lot of friends and a sense of community through her vlogging channel. Her video does a wonderful job at demonstrating the existing modern goth scene.
