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The Scene in Jan 2001 - Metal, Goth and Fetish
"The times they are a-changing'" - said somebody and that
just about reflects the situation in the alternative, goth and fetish
scenes at the moment.
Metal
Kero-scene aka K2 was the clear winner on the darker side of the Edinburgh
club metal scene in 2000 and remains the preeminent midweek choice for
clubbers.
Dysfunction Live was a clear winner for its innovative alternate free
Thursday Band nights at the Attic, hosting some great local and circuit
metal scene acts. Nightnews wishes them well in 2001. Deke and Michael
of Upstarts have worked really hard to bring free live music back to
a pub and club setting and deserve to have these nights well supported.
Dysfunction was kept alive by its flyer sponsors and almost died late
last year but has been given a new lease of life in 2001 - the club
plays the stuff K2 doesn't and if you watch alternative MTV you will
feel at home with the music policy.
Certain larger scale events continue but have sustained heavy criticism
in the past year for ambiance and music policy. Clubs that can't hack
it or play the music that they publicise themselves by are destined
to fail - yet they sail onwards, DOOMED, its not 'if' but 'when' with
these guys, a bit like the Titanic. If Rock floors fail to keep abreast
of the latest metal and alternative, then support dwindles. One ancient
Edinburgh club has recently had to change from weekly to monthly for
that very reason.
The scene is constantly getting a new intake of alternative, gothy and
vampy 18 year olds - ahem - and as the older dudes and dudettes drop
out these are the people that become the customer base. If the same
aging, tired old Goth and rock DJs fail to keep up with the latest flavours
- attendance's and support will drop off.
You cannot trade on the alternative scene being a community forever
- nor can you make disparaging remarks about young metal and gothy newcomers.
These people are your customers - you have to look after them and make
sure they have fun.
In addition certain club promoters running events that are past their
sell by date have also resorted to dirty-tricks against other clubs,
promoters and Nightnews.
This is not the way to go, harassment is a criminal offense in Scotland
whether by e-mail, mail, telephone, the postal service or by threats
of violence; malicious complaints to various authorities that come to
nothing are also considered harassment - no matter who passes them on.
Wise heads should steer clear of these types of activity and the promoters
concerned and their friends, should concentrate on improving their product
instead of trying to undermine other clubs.
Remember, a criminal record may interfere with your life somewhat.
Goth
Last years Goth Scene in Edinburgh was based largely around VAIN, Conception
and Ascension.
VAIN had a stunning couple of first nights but seems to have lost a
lot of momentum as well as numbers. Vain is also getting a lot of criticism
for its Techno influenced music slots.
Ascension started quietly but went on to report the largest attendance
with over 200 gothic clubbers at its last night in 2000. The club has
been around for seven years and has the largest and most comprehensive
bank of genre music available.
Conception by the EU Edinburgh Goth and Rock Society continue to run
well attended and quality nights but could do a lot more to publicise
them at street level. The club supports a healthy list based discussion
group that will give most clubbing issues a 'seeing to' - as certain
promoters have discovered to their embarrassment.
The 'new Mission' Goth floor has been reported to have 'lost it' completely
and the powernoise and techno influenced stuff that gets played there
is not to everyone's taste to say the least. Concern has been voiced
most recently about the volume of the music.
The fact that Edinburgh hosts a large 'auslander' Goth community from
the EC countries that is not being directly catered for has highlighted
the difference in gothy musical tastes and tendencies between UK gothies
and the auslanders. Nightnews is with the auslanders hehe, the UK scene
must not get parochial. We have Goths from France, Germany, Finland,
Spain, Italy, Scandinavia and the USA - they are a lot of fun as well.
The local Goth scene continues to develop and a new set of Edinburgh
Goth promoters emerged late last year and launched 'the Shed' - we look
forwards to their future events. 'Cyber-Lab' by Debbie ex Succubus,
was reportedly shut early by an unsympathetic management at Noa in Queensferry
Street.
There is certainly room for more Gothy events in Edinburgh and as Ascension
has proved, there are hundreds of goths out there who we don't even
know that will support a genuine Goth night.
The above comments are mostly about the Edinburgh scene and there are
more events taking place in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee. Bedlam, Elizium,
Sin and K1 all have links and information on this site and are all well
worth a lengthy trip for a visit.
Nightnews is proud to support Kero-scene, Ascension, Conception and
Dysfunction Events in Edinburgh.
Fetish
Eve's SIN started year 2000 with a few good nights that though well
supported in Edinburgh failed to take off in Glasgow. These promoters
are now reportedly in Australia developing other projects.
LASHED in Aberdeen seem to be a breath of fresh air in the Scene and
are too far away from Glasgow and Edinburgh to suffer harassment from
the 'usual suspects' running their 'rule or ruin' policy.
'...Music policy seems to be 50/50 lightweight fluffcore dance, with
the other DJ hitting some darker, harder, faster stuff (which seems
to go down damn well). ... the clientele seems to be the majority LGB
and a healthy chunk of Elizium regulars. Much gothies go and seem from
reports to be ..one of the few groups that actually do get fetished
up...' say our information collectors in Aberdeen.
Aberdeen 'mores' are not as advanced as London and so fetish in public
is understood to be a bit restrained there. Some goths and vampies are
into fetish and some are not, we recommend BEDLAM in Glasgow and ASCENSION
in Edinburgh as safe and tolerant environments for anyone who likes
to dress up to the nines in Gothic, Vampy or Fetish dress.
Other clubs and promoters purported to be pro fetish and to run fetish
events in late 2000 please do not be taken in, they were purely exploitative
and rip-offs, definitely 'Caveat emptor.' [The same people seem to be
about to try it on with purported 'metal nights' - so watch out clubbers.]
It should be borne in mind that the fetish market in Scotland is quite
small, the whole population is only 5m, four fifths of which may be
in Strathclyde region - but clubbing is still confined to city centers
in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and carried out on Saturday nights.
The alternative scene has always been larger than the fetish scene in
Edinburgh and the natural focus of interest for fetish tolerance as
it encompasses gothies, vampies, pierced, bme, tattoos etc.
In both Edinburgh and Glasgow there are big LGB communities and they
run their own stuff which is largely dance oriented. The LGB community
that frequent all clubs have no problem with the alternative scene,
but their are still elements of the gay scene that won't go to a club
with women there (regardless if they are gay, bi, hetero or not) - and
as for their fetish dress codes, as was patiently explained to me once,
they say, if someone's fetish is for shorts, white socks and gym shoes,
who are they to turn that person away...
There will always be more people willing to try to run clubs but with
the local fetish community being so small, we have to attract all alternative
and LGB clubbers. The usual business model pioneered by us under these
circumstances becomes an alternative or dance club that finances a strict
fetish Dungeon WITHIN its walls - attendance and admission to the dungeon
is optional and subject to strict dress code. Some readers may be aware
of the original Transmission, Eve's SIN did the same with a dance club.
As for Glasgow's Slave, the loss of their venue hit the Vampire and
rock scene quite hard in Glasgow. They were very hyped as overtly sexual
and fetish friendly but ended up by admitting all comers due to a lack
of effective marketing and the consequent need to make ends meet - they
are closed now sadly.
The main problem is a suitable venue to develop and persue the fetish
club scene - however most people that try end up being harassed and
the same happens to the venue. Its all nonsense but quite unpleasant
if it happens to you.
Under the circumstances prodommes feel the scene should be developed
further strictly underground in Scotland, by private parties and munches
etc.
Released 13 Jan 2001 Nightnews
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