Teen Gothic

This is what I observed from a year of going to goth clubs in the capital of germany. The age average is 40 mainly. I am in my 20s and I rarely see young people. I guess it makes sense bc people in their 40s and over were teenagers when the goth subculture was at its peak. These days not so much. Or maybe the young goths dont go to clubs and participate in the online scene instead?

I would love to see how others reacted when you introduced your friends and families to our scene of music. I’ve been lucky enough to have people in my life who are open minded to new experiences even if it’s outside of the comfort zone. I’ve invited my people, including my parents, to clubs, shows and other alternative/goth ventures. Lots of them really enjoyed the experiences and have come back for more, started listening to some of the bands. Some of the things they have said are along the lines of “I thought y’all listened to screaming music” and “I didn’t know goths like to get down” lol it’s always a good time to share our subculture with those who are only aware of it through it’s often faux representation in forms of media.

Basically what the title says, I'm moving to Washington state and I was looking for any concerts/venues/etc. in the Tacoma/Seattle areas to keep track of when I head over there. Bonus points if they're openly LGBT friendly!

This might be a long shot and idk if this post will be allowed to stay up (I didn't see anything in the rules about this 😅) but I wanted to know if anyone knows of an active goth scene in or around Springfield, Oregon. I've lived here my whole life and want to get more into the scene outside of the Internet, but haven't found much. I know there's stuff in Portland, but it is too far away for me to feasibly go there for any goth events more than once every few months, and my car currently can't make that drive.

Does anyone know if there are any active goth clubs in the Eugene/Springfield/surrounding areas? We have Old Nick's Pub, but it's more of a drag bar and the closest they get to a "goth night" would be their "emo" or "fetish" nights, neither of which are what I'm looking for. I want more friends who are into the same music and style as me, and to surround myself with people who have similar tastes and interests. None of my friends/family are goth, and while I love them all to death it does get a bit lonely to be the only goth I know irl. Does anybody know if there's anything in the area?

Much appreciated!

I came across this tiktok of a girl talking about how she used to go to a goth night in Fresno 10 years ago and that she went again this year and there were so many young people.

I'm 21 and I've only been in the scene since COVID restrictions ended, so I can't compare. What I did notice is that most people are in their 40s and then there is a handful of young people, in their teens to early 20s that got into goth in the past few years, but it is still a very small group and I don't think it's enough to make any difference. One of the djs told my friends and I that they hadn't seen anyone under 30 at goth clubs for years until recently.

People who have been in the scene for longer, did you notice an increasing number of young people at events as well? Do you think goth has the potential to be a youth subculture again?

Maybe this is petty and I should just leave people alone but I want to vent here because it’s been driving me insane since day 1. Our local “goth” scene has ALWAYS, at least since I started going to clubs 20 years ago, been exclusively industrial music. Not industrial mixed in because we’re a small city. Industrial ONLY. For the most part it’s dead because they’ve completely failed to attract fresh blood and almost everybody else has kids and other things keeping them at home but it does seem like they’re trying to hang on with occasional events. And still, it’s all industrial. If you request Siouxie or Sisters of Mercy or something they’re unlikely to play it. It’s very grudgingly. Some old friends are taking up DJing and posting videos and it’s the same exclusively industrial playlists they’ve been playing since the early 2000s and probably before. Now when someone posts about an event or DJing it’s really hard not to say “so is there going to be any actual goth music this time or….?” I already know the answer. “Industrial is goth!” -_-

It’s hopeless and stupid and I just needed to get that out.

I went to see Sisters of Mercy last night and, while there, my friend (another goth) and I tried to make friends as we don't have a big scene where we live. Mind you, it wasn't like we were harrassing people during the show, we were making small talk at the bar before the show. The overwhelming experience we had was negative. Most people seemed genuinely upset that we spoke to them which is something my friend and I had never experienced. My friend asked someone about their hair color because it was similar to hers, and the goth she spoke to seemed annoyed. We gave up right before SoM came on and just kept to ourselves but it definitely left us feeling dejected.

Is this a normal experience in the goth community? We don't have any goth bars near us so this was really the only chance we had to meet other like minded people in the scene and I guess I'm just a bit sad with how it turned out.

This question has been asked before but I'm finding it hard to get any clear information. I'm planning on moving to Denver in 3 months and am wondering how active the goth scene is there, not just with shows but also with the clubs. About how often would you all say the city has goth nights/dance nights at the various clubs? The two Facebook groups I found seem to not post all the events.

Currently in my city there's dance nights about 3 times a month + about 2 shows a month all at just one club so I'm imagining it's at least more than that lol.