Thursday, February 05, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Cover story: The Goths are alright

That kid in black PVC pants and a cape isn't as frightening as he looks

By Newt Briggs

Ever since Bauhaus declared "Bela Lugosi's dead" and the first of countless teenage boys took to painting his fingernails black, the powers that be have fretted over the debilitating influence of Goth culture. Since then, there have been many Goth scares--the most notable coming behind the black trenchcoats of Columbine--but apparently, never was the Goth menace greater than in 2002, when the federal government earmarked $273,000 of the budget "to combat Goth culture" across the United States.

At "Sacrilege"--Alicia Altentaler's weekly 18-and-over Goth event at Cafe Nicolle--it's hard to imagine what could have provoked Big Brother to such drastic action. With the exception of the young blond woman lashed to a bondage rack at the back of the room, the scene looks like a typical dance party. As old-school DJ Russell Scott pumps Assemblage 23's "Drive" through the P.A. system, a dozen young Gothlings--each adorned in a melange of leather, vinyl, lace and steel--writhe with the song's jackhammer pulse. Toward the rear, a pack of raven-haired Robert Smith look-alikes congregates at a table; and at the bar, longtime scenester Guff announces his plan to revive Las Vegas desert shows with his new "neo-political industrial metal" band Murder by Media.

Meanwhile, cafe owner Tony Golamis scans the room from his perch near the entrance. Swiveling between the dance floor and the bar, Golamis intermittently gazes at the bondage rack, where a middle-aged man in a skintight vinyl top gently flogs 20-year-old Circus with a pair of cat-o-nine tails. "He's not really hurting her. It's just pretend," says Golamis--seemingly as much for himself as anyone else. "This is the first time they've ever used that thing in here. I guess it's just a part of the whole experience."

It's a surprisingly open-minded attitude for a person who, until two months ago, had almost no concept of what a Goth actually was. "When they first approached me about having their party here, I didn't think it sounded like our kind of thing at all," Golamis admits. "But since we weren't doing anything else on Sunday nights, I figured we'd give it a shot, and so far it's been great. These kids don't cause any problems. They just want a place where they can get together and listen to music and dance and all that. It's really all very mild. It's probably one of the nicest crowds that we get all week."

As if to prove his point, a girl runs up to Golamis and snares him in a bear hug. "I love you, Tony," she says and disappears through the doors.

For 31-year-old tattoo artist Dave Garlitz, this kind of easygoing affection is the most appealing aspect of the Vegas Goth scene. "I like the culture, the music and the art, but I especially dig the people. Everyone's pretty laidback and cool and friendly. For me, it's a lot more comfortable than most other social situations."

As UNLV sociologist Matt Wray observes, this is exactly why most people are initially drawn to subcultures. "People want to express their individuality, but they also want to have a sense that they're not alone," says Wray. "It's something that affects everybody. It's not just something that Goths or punks or any single subculture experiences individually."

And if the entertainment industry can be taken as a barometer for social trends, it appears more and more people are turning to the gloomy depths of Goth for support. On the strength of quasi-goth rockers like Marilyn Manson and Davey Havok of AFI and movies such as Underworld and Queen of the Damned, Goth is quickly restaking its claim as a significant cultural force.

"Want proof that Goth is going mainstream again?" asks Altentaler. "Go to the nearest Hot Topic. You can buy bondage pants, fishnet shirts, corsets, vinyl--the whole deal. Back in the day, you couldn't buy stuff like that in the mall. There was absolutely no way."

Further proof of Goth's growing cultural cachet can be found in local high schools. Sensitive to the slightest shifts in the tectonic plates of cool, teenagers tend to be the first to pick up on embryonic social trends. And according to Patrick Jensen, a counselor at Las Vegas Academy, Goth style is on the upswing at the magnet performing arts school.

"Every day, we're seeing more kids--both boys and girls--wearing black, painting their fingernails and dyeing their hair," says Jensen. "The more extreme ones are even darkening their eyes with makeup and staying out of the sun--you know, trying to do the Dracula thing."

As Jensen is quick to note, though, he has yet to see any correlation between fashion preference and academic performance. Moreover, Jensen suggests that you can't even assume that a student who looks Goth is really a Goth. "Some of these kids get to school and see that the older kids are doing the Goth thing, so they jump on the bandwagon. It's not even like they really believe in it; they just want to dress the part. They put on the black clothes in the morning, and as soon as they get home, they throw the pink sweater on."

Of course, as with all emergent fads, widespread accessibility inevitably leads to a watering down of the movement's original socio-cultural motivation. According to Scott--a veteran of both New York and L.A.'s Goth undergrounds--the last few years have resulted in the decline of some of the Vegas scene's initial impetus.

Says Scott: "I've always been drawn to the whole Romantic spirit of the culture--that is, the love of poetry and literature and the visual arts. At the risk of sounding stodgy, I've definitely noticed a declining interest in that kind of stuff. I guess it sometimes seems like the younger generation is more concerned with the look than the substance."

Still, he's encouraged by the all-inclusive nature of the local scene. "The Goth scenes in big cities are among the most cliquish and elitist of all underground groups. In most cases, you're basically judged by how well you look the part. The Vegas Goth scene, though, seems to draw from a much wider cross-section of people. In that sense, it's quite unique."

Last April, Scott got to witness this uniqueness firsthand at Convergence--the ninth annual international goth convention. Convened in Las Vegas, the weekend event was attended by more than 1,000 Goths from around the world--many of whom were disappointed with what they discovered. "All of these people came to Vegas, and they were like, `What the fuck? Either this is the most diluted scene in the world or it just totally sucks.' It was as if they thought we weren't sophisticated or exclusive enough. At one point, I actually found myself having to defend the local scene because we didn't have enough guys walking around in dresses."

Regardless of its national credibility, Sacrilege continues to draw a considerable crowd and shows promise of additional growth. The event has also served to bind generations of Goths, bringing together first generation Sisters of Mercy fans with new-school Goth metalheads. The combination is not always ideal--Scott calls black metal "amplified masturbation"--but it has helped bridge the gap between Las Vegas' two primary Goth populations.

"Young and old, these are some of the most interesting people I've ever met," says Brian Packer, local businessman and creator of vegasgoths.com. "When I come here, I can talk about politics and religion and issues that are relevant to the world. When I go to Studio 54, that definitely doesn't happen."

And according to Altentaler, that was exactly the goal. "I've really tried to make the whole thing as accessible as possible. I've changed a few DJs and broken up some of the old-guard cliques. I really want people to feel like they can come down and just hang out."

Initially, it sounds strange to hear a Goth open her scene to the masses, but the act gives much insight into the nature of Goths themselves. Not the self-absorbed naysayers imagined by lawmakers and conservative figureheads, Goths have always sought to share their sadness (if not, there would be no records by Nick Cave and The Cure). The only reason they haven't been more successful is they've been rejected by society at large.

On a recent episode of "South Park," a young Goth summarized his Kafka-esque view of existence: "Life is pain. Life is only pain. We're all taught to believe in fairy tale endings, but there is only blackness--dark, depressing loneliness that eats at your soul."

Maybe he's right, but at least Las Vegas Goths can find others with whom to share their darkness. Perhaps that's all they need--that and a killer pair of New Rock boots.