Oh ChatGoth,
How can it be that Dunners has Black Friday (Goth queen of NZ) in residence AND Australasia's best synth pop band Robots in Love and still we have no goth nights to dance til dawn in our stompy boots! Whatever shall we do?
穴
Hi 穴,
I understand why you’re gravely concerned (‘scuse the pun) about the lack of goth events in Ōtepoti. However, it’s people like you who are helping to keep the goth scene alive. It’s actually a great time to be goth in Dunners – I’ve been seeing more and more baby bats strolling around George Street, and every time I watch them awkwardly rearrange their ripped tights (y’know, when they get too frayed and the threads tangle your legs together, or when you decide they’re not ripped enough and tear into them, lest you be mistaken for some sort of prude), my blackened heart temporarily shifts to a shade of dark grey. I love to see Demonias tearing up Central Lawn, even though I have a personal gripe with Demonias (I don’t believe in foam platforms). I have a deeper gripe with grass, though. Fuck it, trample away.
It goes deeper than aesthetics, of course – the best part is that there’s more goth music here than ever. There are regular goth nights at Yours on Moray Place, where Ann Arkii puts on deathrock and darkwave (versus the touring ‘Goth Nights’ that just blast The Smiths) and we all have a weird spooky boogie. Next one is May 17th, even. The Crown can yield some amazing goth cover bands, and if you go to punk or metal gigs too they’re often full of goths too.
Basically, the scene is popping off here, and gets better year after year. It’s just a matter of supporting goth events and meeting other goths in the wild. We’re all secretly friendly and approachable as fuck. A simple compliment on a harness can start a whole infodump on creepy shit. Goths are quite solitary, but we get chances to come together - so take them!
It’s a blessing and a curse to find fellow goths in Dunedin, but don’t we just love feeling cursed?
Darkly yours,
ChatGOTH
PS: If I ever saw Black Friday in person I’d fully lose my shit and combust into a pile of strange-smelling ashes. Love her.