Welcome to February 2024 and the DREADLINES, three stories summed up quickly for the goth news consumer on the go! Alternative fashion brand Killstar is in headlines and across social media posts after reports they’re commencing operations Brighton in the south of England – and asking staff to either relocate or quit. The formerly Glasgow-based clothing company enjoys a massive online presence with nearly 2 million followers on Instagram, but divides the goth community with those who embrace the more DIY and thrift aesthetic rejecting its slick, corporate style. Other observers have been obse ..read more

Established in 1994, Whitby Goth Weekend was a spectacular success story of an event that drew goths from across the world to the UK’s premier subcultural music event, held in the isolated Northern town of Whitby, for going on two decades. It seemed like it would last forever. It was so successful, it turned the biannual dates into a town-wide free-for-all of activity beyond the confines of the Pavilion. In doing so, Whitby the phenomena gained an intertia all of its own that outclassed the actual Goth Weekend event. How else could it survive the unseating of Whitby Goth Weekend, the promoter ..read more

Happy Spooktober! It’s that time of the year when goths begin rooting around in their cavernous wardrobes for their few remaining matching blacks, and disentagling their boot laces ahead of the journey to Whitby for the premier UK goth festival. Once again I’m looking ahead and giving you a roundup of the array of events on offer. The entire weekend has always orbited the live music at Whitby Pavilion – so let us welcome the new promoters behind Tomorrow’s Ghosts Festival (TGF), and give a heartfelt thanks to Kirstin and Paul who have understandably stepped back from running a massive music e ..read more

Forget the Batcave, Highgate or Camden Market, Leeds is going to embrace its dark heritage as the true capital of UK Goth with the welcome return of Goth City Festival in just a few weeks time. A smorgasbord of live music, DJs and traders catering to a vast influx of black-clad fans, it’s popular with old-school and bleeding-edge goths alike. I dropped GCF Comandante Joel Heyes a line to chat about the event, as well as challenging some old-fashioned thinking in the scene! Hi Joel, how’s it going? Very busily! But everything is on schedule, and the agony will be over again soon, so it’s jus ..read more

Happy International Women’s Day all! Every year, I relish seeing this awesome picture taken by rock photographer Michael Putland pop up all over the internet. A small but vibrant collection of alternative music makers from 1980, they stand out for being women playing in music genres dominated by men. They all left a visible legacy behind them of defying expectations and charting their own course, and we celebrate that every year on IWD as is only right. (L-R) Debbie Harry of Blondie, Viv Albertine of The Slits, Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie and the Banshees Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders, Poly ..read more

Welcome to the month-log celebration that is Halloween – from October 1st to 31st the world gets that little bit more spooky! Not to mention, crammed full of events for the discerning goth. I’m looking ahead to where I’ll be, and where I’d want to be if there was more than one of me! This very weekend, you are spoiled for choice in the North for events. The behemoth that is Carpe Noctum strikes back in Leeds, with its second gig and club night following the return from lockdown. Meanwhile in Newcastle, Grindhouse Rock Nights gives the punters what they want with a resurrected night from th ..read more

This morning, it was reported by Trancentral TV that Olli Wisdom of psychedlic trance outfit Space Tribe had passed away. He was better known in our subculture as not only the lead singer of pioneering goth/glam/punk band Specimen, but also the co-founder of the Batcave club night in 1982, setting the template for the burgeoning goth scene’s sound and style. Olli Wisdom and Jon Klein outside the Batcave, 1982 Image: Derek Ridgers Wisdom formed Specimen in Bristol in 1981 with Jon Klein and Kevin Mills, before relocating to Soho, London in 1982. It was here the Batcave opened in the upper store ..read more

Good morning readers, and apologies for the lack of updates recently. I had a vague plan to update monthly if not more often, but between a new job and various home upgrades, not to mention the devastating effects of a worldwide lockdown have all been massive obstacles. One happy break in this ponderous routine was Record Store Day on July 18. Like many other old goths, I made all haste for my local stockists – Beyond Vinyl of Newcastle – to pick up my first ever brand new vinyl by The Sisters of Mercy. It was such a revolutionary experience, it inspired me to record a short, light-hearted vid ..read more

We’ve survived obscurity, infighting and the monotonous breakups of multiple favourite bands. A little thing like a global pandemic cancelling all social events and travel on World Goth Day isn’t about to set us back anytime soon! Perhaps auspiciously, I got through my letter inviting me to book my vaccine visit this morning. Socialising and events are back on the radar after over a year of carefully isolating, but of course that hasn’t even been too much of an obstacle really. Any subculture that counts a disproportionate amount of IT professionals, and has been held together by an online co ..read more

Whenever I’ve given interviews myself, and I’ve been asked about the music, I’ve always extolled the merits of the dark indie music scene in London. In the very vanguard of that sound, pioneers in reintroducing smart, sexy, deadly music to goth in the UK, is Cold in Berlin. Cold in Berlin make hypnotic, dark and spiky music with mesmerizing and terrifying vocals that had me hooked from the start. Ten years ago today their debut album hit and this tireless band have been creating, performing and releasing ever since… I saw them when they first came to Leeds in 2012 and I’ve seen them a dozen t ..read more