Teen Gothic

Find these, on vinyl or cd, and if you can track down the book that went with Volume One, even better. Thank me later 😉

When I started being a goth when I was about 17 years old, it made me feel very comfortable and confident in my own body. However, once I fully embraced the lifestyle I noticed that I was getting stared at everywhere I went and just would like walk into a store and people were acting like they got an authentic picture of an alien or something. Is this a common thing? Or am I just unlucky? Because I don’t think I should be ashamed of how I choose to express myself and my style.

Hello (m23) so i went to my very first goth event in Paris last saturday. I was pretty hyped up because i never went to a goth event besides concerts. At first when i saw the ad i was a bit hesitant because it was literally made with A.I. So u got my ticket along with my two friends but before that we went to a bar and one of my friends told us that they went before to this event and it was filled with far right dudes and creeps and i was shocked because i always had this idea of goth places being critically safe (mind you i never went to a goth bar since there are 0 in paris lol) and i told them "i know you're joking" and they replied with "you'll see". When we got there around midnight it was nearly empty and slowly people were coming in. My friend is pretty known in the community here so they talked with alot of people and one of them was this 60 yo creep. When my friend went to the bathroom they met this 60yo creep that by my friend's words literally picked them up from the ground and i don't really remember this correctly but i think he kissed their cheek, i don't really remember if he did or no but just the fact that HE picked THEM up is just disturbing mind you my friend is 21yo, the day after she showed me screenshots of this dude literally flirting with them and triple texting them. Also my friends were right, the place is filled with fascists, there was this tall guy whenever he danced people literally went away i am not kidding and on everything i love. I asked my other friend because i always take things with a grain of salt and she told me she sees him in her university sitting with other fascists and they participate in such activities. I would lie if i said i didn't have fun because i did, i made new friends they are so lovely, the music was sooo good and it warms my heart seeing people having fun overall. I know that as goths we don't claim these kind of people but it makes me sad. Would i do this again ? 30% chance yeah i went for the experience.

Has anyone recently been to The Castle in Ybor and gotten drugged? I know my friend had only 2 drinks, now I know they are strong drinks but I've never seen a reaction like that from her while drunk before in the 8 years ive known her. It was scary. When we started to head back to the car she started running into walls and becoming incoherent and then violent towards us, i thought the cops were gonna get called. We were eventually able to calm her enough to get her home and the next day she told me she blacked out but she didnt just go to sleep when we got back like you'd think when drunk, she was still having a really hard time for like over another hour. The only think I can think it could have been was she was drugged. I saw a post from 10 months ago about it being a problem there but hadn't seen anything about it recently. I'm wondering if anyone else has had issues here?

Hi everyone, first time posting here. I have been a goth since high school, it shaped my worldview and life and "saved" me from a tough time in my life. Goth has been a very big part of who I am.

In my lifetime and place where I live, I have met very few alternative people, goths only a handful. I've had not so good experiences in meeting people "like me".

This early May, there was an event for World Goth Day in my city, I decided to go. I decided to participate, to finally join 'the scene'. I am very introverted and socially anxious but thought "fuck it, let's do it". I applied to put my art as part of the exhibition and I was accepted. I was thrilled. The day finally arrived and I was so excited.

The event went along and I got approached by some people (very few) to ask me about my paintings. That was it. I never got included in conversations, or any kind of socializing. The organizers seemed familiar with the other artists and said hi to them, talked and even included them in group pictures. When they passed by my side, nothing, as if I was invisible.

Fast forward to the day after, I see the event organizers put up a gallery of pictures on Instagram and a few reels. I am no where to be seen. They took pictures of the place, the decorations, the artists, the people… but in not a single picture or video am I to be seen. Not even my work was posted. It's almost the end of the month and I'm still wondering why I was not included in any of the pictures or videos of that day. Its like I wasn't even there.If not my face, then just my work, which was the main point of me being there in the first place.

I feel sad but mostly very very upset. I thought the "bad experiences" I've had before with people from the scene was just because of age (being a teen and all that). But no, grown ass organizers that are like 7, 8 years older than me are doing this. I also think if maybe it's just because they don't really know me?? and I am being silly or dramatic. But still, why was not even my artwork posted like the other artists there? Anyways, thank you for reading this and let me know if anyone has any advice or has experienced anything similar.

For context this was an all ages show that is part of the same tour they're on now. I am a big Then Comes Silence fan and my old high school friend putting on the show is a huge Vision Video fan. The band are so cool they make our podunk town a tour stop twice now over the latter friendship. This is admittedly more of a Then Comes Silence fan post. I mean no offense, I am just able to speak on their body of work from a fan's perspective. I offered to help as a Dj and run a goth night across town.

I met them trying to find the venue walking down the street it was on. It was already a pretty funny situation with people in black knowing to follow other people in black, before they even crossed the intersection to properly introduce ourselves. It was a time crunch with less than two hours before doors. So it was all about helping them load in ASAP and setup gear. I didn't actually tell anybody I was the dj except the driver/merch guy. I'm not sure why. Probably because I couldn't think of how to even say it without it coming off as pretentious. I was there to see the bands mostly and help where needed.

The whole crew are a bunch of lovely people. Their driver too! He tried to give me a free TCS 12" when he knew I was a fan and I insisted on paying and adding the newest 12" of Trickery to the bill. The band were sweet enough to sign both for me.

During TCS sound check downtime, I got to tell Alex (vocalist) that I was really grateful they were visiting our small town on this tour. I tried to keep the fan boy behavior to a minimum and express quick earnest appreciation. He was really happy I was already familiar with an LP that dropped weeks prior and was just a super down to earth guy. Really patient during a rushed along sound check too with my green sound guy friend on the controls. Total pros.

Both bands sounded great. I came out from behind the decks to dance my ass off during TCS.

Because the crowd seemed more familiar with the headliner, it was a situation where the crowd started a few steps back but TCS completely won them over within a few songs.

I played music between sets I thought the bands would dig, but low energy enough to make it easy for them to raise the energy when they started playing. Blitz, Killing Joke, 1919, Sad Lovers and Giants, Fad Gadget, The Damned and newer music like SRSQ, Dionysus, XKAT, Void Republic. TCS drummer Jonas came out from behind his drums after their set to shake my hand and properly introduce himself while I was in the dj booth to the side of people. The drummer from Vision Video asked me for a track ID of the last thing I played before fading out. Because he said he was trying to Shazam it on the drum stool waiting for his bandmates and was striking out. Unfortunately I was too focused on when to stop the music to remember what song it was at the time.

Playing Killing Joke also brought up fun conversations with Hugo from TCS about our mutual love for Geordie Walker. I helped them load back into their van and Alex asked for my number in case the hotel was lame. Since I wasn't far down the road and had room. Dusty and other Vision Video band members were getting lots of attention from people on a 1 on 1 basis after the show. So I felt it was important to give them all space.

Overall a lovely night. Both bands and the crowd seemed to have a great time and I hope a return visit is planned!

So, I've been interested in the gothic subculture for a couple of weeks. Being a goth has confused me and I say that I am in my school but in reality, I have no Idea. I dress up in black, I read a lot of gothic literature, and I am interested in many of the things I see about the subculture. I also listen to the music…or I think I do at least. I live in a small Christian conservative town so goth people are a rarity in my school (I think it is only me and one other person who can be even somewhat considered goth) and I don't have anyone to really talk to on this matter so I go online to do discover more. Every time I do so I fall down the rabbit holes of the 'sexualizing of goths' and the 'you're not a real goth if…' style posts and it always makes me doubt myself and who I want to be. I love the music but I don't know if everything I'm considering goth music is actual goth music. I'm still determined to learn more about the subculture and even if I don't become goth (despite me wanting to) I will still be a wholehearted supporter and lover of it. I don't expect any help from this post I just wanted to tell my story to people I know are true goths and who wouldn't judge me.

First pic shows Larissa hugging a fan. Before she hugged them, that fan shouted “Larissa, I love you!” and I remember seeing her smile right after. Someone also gave her flowers. She seemed super happy at the end of the show. It was quite a sweet moment.

So here’s the story of why seeing Lebanon Hanover was an exciting moment for me + the experience, I don’t mind sharing haha!

In 2017, I was 14/15 and discovered Lebanon Hanover through the magical Youtube algorithm. Although I would listen to other goth bands since I was about 10 or 11, I didn’t fully engage with the goth subculture until I heard “Gallowdance”. They were the more distinct bands that got me specifically into the music of the subculture. LH’s DIY production and homemade music videos inspired me to pick up bass and become a musician and I’m not sure what I would be without them (in the music department). So seeing them was like a Mecca for me.

Back in 2018, they announced a U.S. tour, which was news since they only did shows in Europe and later South America at that point. I rushed to check out the tickets and was bummed that the venue in LA was 21+ (I was a minor at the time). Then, that entire US got cancelled due to an apparent Visa rejection. I was also bummed that it could make them iffy about coming to the US in the future.

I started getting into the other bands and sorta forgot about their social media. So years pass and I get a tiktok mentioning LH’s current US tour. I paused and saw an LA show a week away. The LA show was in a venue that was 18+, so I’m glad I wasn’t a teen when I was LH’s superfan anymore, haha. When I bought them, the tickets were about $ 55 each; expensive for a niche band without crazy theatrics in a small venue but I still immediately copped. Although I admit I got the impression that they’re not great live, I was fuckin EXCITED!

I went with my mom because she’s basically my best friend and the only person I know who’d go to a concert with me. The tickets nor venue’s social media didn’t provide clear info about when they start so we assumed it was 6 (it either said doors open at 6 or LH’s at 6) and panicked when we were running late.

As we were pulling up, we saw a bunch of goths and immediately knew we weren’t lost. We line up and get ID’d, the guy working there marked my hands (assuming because I was under 21) and scanned our tickets. The security briefly checked us and right we go in the venue and upstairs to the “disco” room that their stage is held in. From about 6:15-7:30, there were DJs before the show, playing darkwave and industrial music so we were relieved we weren’t too late.

At around 7:30, the DJ set ends. A roadie came and tuned their instruments, checked the synths and electric drum triggers and the lights dim.

Lebanon Hanover enters. They open with “Alien”. It was an emotional moment for me because that song was extremely relatable and an anthem for me.

I mostly swayed but got really turnt (and unfortunately consistently sang along, loudly and terribly. Apologies to fellow goers) to “Kiss me until my lips fall off” and “Totally Tot” (which I just learned that “tot” means dead in German, I thought it was one of those fake words that songs use to for the sake of catchiness, so now I “feel” that song a little better).

Although I been to Molchat Doma and admit that their show was more put together, I still had a blast. The venue’s room was small, hot and stuffy. People swayed, sang along and were just as excited as I was. It was quite a raw experience.

They end their show with IIRC, “gallowdance”. Larissa handed her guitar pick to a girl and they leave with cheers. The fan who got hugged (pictured earlier) starts a crowd chant, repeating “encore!”.

We chanted until they got back up, people screamed! They play “babes of the 80s” and “Come Kali” to as their encore. Another fan hands Larissa flowers and they both thank us for being incredible a second time. The show ends.

I exit the room feeling renewed, in a sorta spiritual way. The line for the official merch looked too long for us so we left the venue. Outside, a lady was selling presumably bootleg tshirts. I regretted not getting the official shirt so I got the presumed bootleg to mark the memory and we head back home.

I’m so glad I got to see LH after all these years and believing it wasn’t possible. Would I see them again? I think once was enough for me but experiencing “Totally Tot” live changes that opinion.

Me and my bff (who's no longer goth) were reminiscing about our time as baby goths in the mid 00's as a teen. Boy did our experiences SUCKED. You got ridiculed in the streets, you got ridiculed by other goths (granted, starting with evanescence wasn't cool, but unfortunately it was the starting point in that era). If you were a girl, you became a lethal man repeller.

How was your experience?