Welcome to the goth subculture! The goth scene is a music-based subculture that revolves around the deathrock and goth rock genres as well as some post-punk and darkwave. To view a list of my music recommendations by genre, click here. In this post, we will explore a brief summary of the community surrounding goth music and how it has evolved over the years. Wikipedia pages with additional information will be linked throughout the article (underlined and italicized).
The early goth subculture of the 1980’s coincided with the birth of rave culture and rise in popularity of DJ-hosted events. In the 1980’s through the 1990’s, major cities across the globe were home to dedicated goth music nightclubs which were integral to early growth of the subculture. These clubs served as a venue for live music as well as DJ sets and dancing. The most notorious of these clubs was the Batcave in London, England.
By the mid 1990’s, many dedicated goth clubs were no longer in operation. The live music and DJ scene within goth took the form of regular events in bars and smaller music venues.
In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, attendance at regularly occurring events had decreased likely due to many original members of the early subculture now experiencing increased financial and family responsibilities. As a result, many regional goth events combined with events in the rivethead subculture, which was experiencing similar decline in participation. This combining of goth and rivethead events has led to a common conflation of the two subcultures. This time frame also saw the birth of online goth communities. These communities consisted of chat forums and early social media sites like vampirefreaks.com, which remained operational until 2019.
During the early 2000’s, large-scale attendance of the goth subculture at alternative music festivals began to occur. Although members of the goth subculture had previously attended such festivals, this time period marked a significant increase in the scale of such events. Examples of some of the largest music festivals popular in the goth scene are the German festivals Wave-Gotik-Treffen and Mera Luna.
By the 2010’s, goth experienced a resurgence of popularity and growth. Movements like the deathrock Revial, which kicked off in the late 1990’s but grew to larger popularity in recent years, led to a younger generation gaining a greater appreciation for the early roots of the subculture. Not only did this time frame lead to an influx of new members to goth, but a large portion of long-time members from earlier periods of the goth scene had reached a phase of more financial stability and less family responsibilities. Some local scenes, especially those within major metropolitan areas, were able to gain enough attendance to host goth events without combining with other subcultures. Modern social media opened up the opportunity for online goth communities and content to gain more visibility and reach a wider audience across most major platforms.
***Kelly’s note: The above information is a very condensed and generalized summary of a subculture with 40+ years of rich history. Not everything expressed in this post rings true on a case by case basis, as the history of events widely varies by location. While I will continue to explore topics relating to the goth community and events on this blog, I encourage any interested readers to research the history of the scene and explore other content creators as well.
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