Absinthe Heart: Kiss Them Black For Me

Release the bats and paint the walls black, its not Halloween just as yet (that falls on 31st October) but rather, World Goth Day which falls on 22nd May every year and while it is a great way to meet up with friends and dust off the old Siousxie vinyls to play Christine once more, is there a need for us to adhere to organised events such as these as part of our love towards the subculture? Or is it just another marketing strategy cooked up by event oragnisers to lure a niche crowd into spending copious amounts of money and gain huge profits in one night?


(Smells like commercialism? Shirts, mugs and keychains are the order for the day)

After all, there is Halloween after all and for years it has been a commercial success from costume sales during the month of October to the big scale parties that are being held, giving people the chance to dress up as their favourite horror movie characters such as Count Dracula and Freddy Krueger or to look out of the ordinary and bring in some laughs Whatever the case is, the true meaning of Halloween has been completely masked by candy and theme parks which is highly upsetting to some goths as the significance of Samhain is totally lost and with the appearance of newly created events such as International EBM Day (celebrated on 24th February every year) and World Goth Day, there is a sinking feeling that the name of the gothic subculture and music in particular will be further dragged through the mud and dirtied by their hands whose motives are just as murky. Akin to staging a modern day concert, ticket prices will be raised and a variety of merchandise will be hawked for revellers to lap it up as a form of remembrance and as a sweetener, event posters will be plastered with big names to attract the numbers and bombarding various media platforms with incessant advertising to make it known but the question still remains: Does it matter if the ones attending are into the subculture and feel relieved to have an event commemorating a lifestyle that they have been steadfast to? Or is it just another party like the other ones last week which was billed as Bob Marley Day and The Tupac Memorial the week before?


(A poster promoting the yearly event on 22nd May)

Alternatively, one can make use of World Goth Day as a day where anything conventional gets thrown out of the window and give the routine life a much darker twist instead. It can take place in a variety of forms such as a small congregation at a secluded park and dance to death rock music on a portable music player with speakers or even call up your local radio station (as suggested by one such website promoting the yearly event) and convince them to play a track from the likes of Depeche Mode or The Cure, dedicating it to the day itself. It may be a few minutes of music to the disc jockey or normal listeners but to the older generation of goths have long hung up their Misfits jacket in the closet or the teenager who has yet to experience quality music, that one song could reignite past memories of having a devilock or a gateway to a lifestyle that exemplifies the unorthodox and beauty on the same page. While the likelihood of meeting new faces are minimal and getting the chance to see your favourite acts in the flesh, there are always other opportunities to do so in the form of music festivals and album signings so there is a silver lining at the end of the rainbow, as ironic as it might sound for a Goth

At the end of the day, World Goth Day is just there as a platform for like minded individuals worldwide to showcase their dedication and love for the subculture through various platforms and irregardless of scale or aspects, the bottomline is to have fun and yet at the same time be discerning of the ones that you attend on 22nd May 2010 which coincidentally falls on a Saturday. As for myself, I will be celebrating it at the comforts of my own lair with Danzig playing at the back before falling asleep. Like I always do for the rest of the year