New York City Goth Club Review Observations

Writing these reviews is an interesting thing.  I am glad to see that my blog is being appreciated by so many people.  I checked my Blogger today and it had a lot of comments.  As a reviewer, I expect some criticism, but today had some wacky ones, so I thought it would be good to blog about the comments.  Yesterday, a crazy troll calling himself John Doe wrote on every blog entry that I made with angry complaints and very paranoid thoughts about who I am and my purposes in writing reviews.  A DJ even joined in with the troll in an effort to discredit my blog and attack other DJs that he dislikes.  It was sort of funny at first, but on deeper thought, it was disturbing. I never expected such childish behavior from New Yorkers.  It was also disgusting that someone would try to use my fun and informative blog to hurt other people and help their personal goals.  I deleted all of the comments that were from that crazy guy and the opportunist DJ.  It was too nuts.  More comments came from two promoters that do nightclub events here in New York City!  I never thought that promoters would comment on my blogs.  It was a little flattering.  One even offered me free entry and a drink.  It was nice and generous, but as a serious reviewer, I need to remain objective.  I am glad one wrote with his clarifications about his fetish event.  It makes me feel better.  I might even go back there now.  Of course, there is an agenda when any promoter or DJ talks about things.  It's kind of funny that promoters are always trying to sell their parties.  Now that they are reading my blogger, they will sing it's praises if it's a good review and damn it if it's a bad review.  Someone even called me a racist in a comment.  People will write anything to try to discredit a reviewer.  I am not a racist and it's pretty stupid to think that I am.  I am not taking down these predictable "poor sport comments", since people can see what they are.  Sorry, but not everyone gets a good review!

New York City goth club review for Dark Water

Dark Water is located at Otto's Shrunken Head in the East Village.  Otto's Shrunken Head is very far east, so be prepared for long walks or hefty cab fares.  The venue is a tiki bar that looks like they have been there for 50 years or more.  They have some entertaining drink specials and many curious looking things in back of the pushy bartender.  The seating and most of the venue is dilapidated in a way that most New York City clubs and bars are not.  There is a small stage in the rear of the venue, but the people at the event are mostly by the entry of the bar drinking.  The music is not loud enough and it needs someone to work the tone control to make more bass.  The songs played were mostly alternative hits.  I had hoped it would be more goth and less wave electronic, but some of it was ok.  The worst part about Otto's Shrunken Head were the people hitting on me and looking ultra-gross.  Really, I don't want you to grab my hand and shoulder!  I felt that I shouldn't have come into the dirty place.  I know that some old new yorkers like these nasty dives and I don't want to be too mean, but really there were too many old timers and creeps that looked like they wanted a bite out of me or my purse.  It was really yucky.

Dark Water gets one star for it's creative drinks.  Dark Water gets no stars for it's crowd, it's sound system, it's atmosphere or it's location.

Dark Water ☆

New York City goth club review for The Court of Lazarus

The Court of Lazarus is located at Madame X in the West Village of Manhattan.  Madame X is a dual level lounge with 2 large bars and 2 long rooms full of fancy baroque furniture and lamps.   The Court of Lazarus was on downstairs street level, but they also opened up the upstairs for a secret meeting of "Vampire Elders" halfway through the night.  The Court of Lazarus event is based around a group of vampires by the same name that have meetings and a social charter.  It is not like a lot of goth events, since there is a lot of socializing going on and most of the people know each other from this big vampire group.  The crowd all arrived very early and seemed eager and wild-eyed for fun.  Nearly everyone there was in goth/vampire dresscode and some were much better dressed than others.  For entertainment, The Court of Lazarus had a "Blade Blessing Ritual" for their members that had brought swords to the club!  I am not kidding, Ha.  Anyway, the bar was really good and the music was great.  I heard better songs being played and a higher quality of goth than at any other nightlife event that I have been to.  It was made even better by the fact that I met the DJ online recently, so he played my requests and was really cool.

The Court of Lazarus gets 2 stars for it's music, one star for it's big bar and nice big bartender.  It also gets another star for it's fabulous atmosphere of fancy couches, chairs and decadent red lamps.  It gets 1/2 a star for it's weird and fanatic vampire crowd.  The Court of Lazarus gets no stars for it's non-existant dancefloor.

The Court of Lazarus ☆☆☆☆✯

New York City goth club review for Wierd

Wierd is held at Home Sweet Home bar in the lower east side of Manhattan.  Home Sweet Home is a small place with a big long bar, a tiny stage and some old shabby looking furniture.  It has lots of fog and is very dark.  The bathrooms are also very dark. The bar area during Wierd is very busy. There are many people of all ages drinking fiercely.  About half or more of Wierd's crowd are williamsburg types with fuzzy beards and ironic t-shirts.  The others are dark rocker types with a few goths and punks thrown in.  It's very well attended and the people there get very drunk.  The music at Wierd is either unknown Italo Disco that all sounds much the same or it's unpopular goth songs by unpopular bands.   It's not easy to describe what it sounds like, but these song choices aren't just rare; they are bad.  Wierd really is weird, even though it's spelled differently.  The people there say that it's like that because of it being run and owned by the indie record label, Wierd Records.  

Wierd gets one star for it's big bar and one for it's good drink service.  They also get one third of a star for their crowd's alcoholic enthusiasm.  Wierd gets no stars for it's location, it's dark bathroom hallway or it's williamsburg type crowd.

Wierd ☆☆*

New York City goth club review for The Red Party

The Red Party is located at 116 in the West Village of Manhattan.  116 is a small tired looking basement level bar.  The Red Party is advertised as playing post punk, goth and death rock.  This sounded great to me.  Inside the bar, there were some good looking people and some not so good looking ones.  The evening's energy felt low.  About half the crowd looked goth, so that was good.  I did hear some good goth music too.  I didn't think it was very death rock or post punk.  It was mostly goth and what could be called dark alternative.  The music was disjointed at times.  They even played some synth pop and some other things that didn't belong there.  I was expecting it to be real seriously deep goth, but I guess they just advertise that way.

I'll give The Red Party one star for it's goth music and one for it's crowd.  The Red Party gets no stars for atmosphere, energy/enthusiam or location.

The Red Party ☆☆

New York City goth club review for War On The Dancefloor

War On The Dancefloor is located at Identity Lounge in the East Village of Manhattan.  War On The Dancefloor is an Industrial night.  It's similar to Defcon at the pyramid, except they have many more djs and there is some confusion.  Again, not being a fan of industrial, I wasn't thrilled by the music selections.  It was too much Thump, Thump, Thump, Bleep, Bleep, Bleep without the gothic substance that I was looking for.  War On The Dancefloor has two floors.  One has a bar and looks typically like a boring bar with beer signs and stools.  It's very small and there is no room to really dance.  The other room has no bar and is also small.  The people at War On The Dancefloor were similar to Defcon with a little more variety.  The bar service was ok.  All in all, it was kinda dull for me.  If you like goth, I recommend that you look elsewhere.  If you like industrial, it's better to just go to Defcon, since War On The Dancefloor isn't is as good as a venue.

I'll give War On The Dancefloor one star for having two rooms and one half a star for the bar.  War On The Dancefloor gets no stars for music, ambiance, crowd or style.

War On The Dancefloor ☆✯

New York City goth club review for Arkham

Arkham is held at The Boulevard Tavern.  The Boulevard Tavern is in Brooklyn and it is not easy to get to from the city.  The Boulevard Tavern is an old bar where you can get cheap hot dogs and hamburgers grilled for you on their outdoor smoking patio.  Inside it has a busy pool table and many large and tall wooden booths.  It also has a lot of Brooklyn regulars. They are very noticeable, since they are the majority of people there.  The Arkham event had a handful of people that were gothic looking and they were in great spirits.  The music was too quiet and it was very hard to hear over the crowd of mundanes who were talking loudly.  The bar is very busy with beer drinkers.  The DJs did play some good songs, but the atmosphere was wrong and the place felt very boring in spite of it.  It felt like an irish drinking bar.  There wasn't a good place to dance and it was very brightly lit.  I didn't like seeing so many dirty bearded Williamsburg types, so I left.

Arkham gets one star for it's music and one star for effort.  Arkham gets no stars for it's crowd, it's location, it's bar food or it's bar.

Arkham ☆☆


PS.  Oh, I just found out that Arkham has moved to somewhere else in Brooklyn.  If I bother to go there, I will write a new blog about it.

New York City goth club review for P.O.V.

P.O.V. is located on the basement level of Karma bar in Manhattan's East Village.  Karma is a Hookah bar, so be warned that there is a lot of smoke in the air.  P.O.V. is a fetish event that appeals to some of New York's vampire scene.  They have several DJs and the music is the broadest spectrum of genres from in and outside of the goth scene that I have heard.  At many points it didn't seem like a scene event.  For one thing, it is really full of people in a way that normal gothic industrial and alternative events never are.  Whoever runs this event is probably really happy.  It's popular.  The crowd looks like they are half hip hop hoodlums and half black vampires like the Blackula film.  It's tough to get through them to find the bathroom or even the bar.  It's that crowded.  Once at the bar, it's nearly impossible to get served.  The bartender can't hear well over the roar either.  An announcer works the crowd over the stage.  They have contests, but it's too hard to see what is going on for me to tell what they are doing.  I guess you have to be a regular part of it to know what they are really excited and energetic about.

P.O.V. gets one star for their enthusiasm and one for their location.  They get no stars for their crowd, their bar or their music.

P.O.V. ☆☆

New York City goth club review for Underworld

Underworld is at The Sullivan Room bar.  The Sullivan Room is in Manhattan's West Village.  It is a small downstairs lounge that has a long full bar and a big raised seating area.  It looks like a hotel lobby with a bar attached.  There is large furniture for lounging, but you get the feeling that you should be coming or going.  It doesn't make you feel like it's a place to be in.  It felt uncomfortable.  I also thought that the Underworld music was very obvious and common. Too obvious, too common.  It's the type of place that you will hear Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails and Combichrist all back to back.  It's the sort of style that they have out in Ohio or the midwest.  It wasn't interesting enough for me.   The DJs were all drinking heavily and I couldn't get my requests to them.  Drinking is dandy, but please give a girl a little respect.  I stood and waited through song after song until I gave up and danced to a routine club song.  It was strange to dance there, since the shape of the room and the lighting didn't make sense.  People kept walking through the place for dancing.   Underworld gave me a weird vibe.  The staff were not very friendly. I felt pressured by them to buy drinks. The people that came to the event were a mix of different types.  I saw a steampunk, a few goths, two grunge rockers, many rivetheads and even some old cybergoths.  About half of the people were not very dressed up.  A few looked like they could be into hip hop. *shrug*

I'll give Underworld a star for their diverse fans and half a star for their music.  They get no stars for their ambiance, their bar or their staff.

Underworld ☆✯

New York City goth club review for Stimulate

Stimulate is at Drom nightclub in the East Village.  Drom is a basement level venue with a nice stage and a good big bar.  Stimulate is a fetish party that includes a lot of Industrial and Cyber Electro.  The music is very electronic and there are a lot of DJs.  I was trying, but I couldn't really tell the difference between them.  It was all too much of the same thing.  They had bands, but I don't like live shows unless it's something great, so I made sure to be inside only when the bands weren't on stage.  People were moving around music gear and big boxes on stage.  I found it to be distracting.  The people there were distracting too.  There was a really old guy with a hearing aid and a cane that hit on me when I was trying to get a drink at the bar.  I didn't appreciate it, but I learned that some of the women at Stimulate are Professional Dominatrixes that are looking for clients.  I was not one, thanks!  I respect everyone's choices in lifestyle, but there's something much too creepy about that to sit well with me.  I go out to hear gothic music and dance.

Stimulate gets a star for it's location and for it's big bar.  That's all.  I don't recommend it for any goth fan since this type of fetish isn't about being goth, dancing or enjoying music in my opinion.

Stimulate ☆☆

New York City goth club review for Temptation / Defcon

Temptation and Defcon are both at The Pyramid nightclub.  The Pyramid is on Avenue A in Manhattan's East Village.  The venue is very old and it looks it.  The bouncer is charming and the club is crowded.  Upstairs is Temptation.  Temptation is an 80s new wave night that also plays some of the more trendy modern synthpop songs.  It is really full of fairly ordinary college kids and they are having great time dancing and being sloppy drunks.  They have a fairly good sized dancefloor and vintage lighting effects.  There are also lots of old looking decorations like paintings of band members.   They advertise with a picture of Robert Smith of The Cure on their flyers, but make no mistake, it's a very pop sort of night, so don't expect any underground songs or anything that you haven't heard on VH1.  Most of the night is filled with bands like Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Prince and Michael Jackson.
Downstairs is Defcon.  Defcon is completely different from Temptation. They play the most extreme Industrial in New York City.  I was told that if I came earlier, I could hear more variety, but as it was I arrived later and it was a very new sounding set.  Again, I am not really a fan of industrial, so I couldn't get into either way, but the crowd there loved it. About that crowd, I don't like to sound mean, but they gave me the impression that they were very low income industrial fans.  There were also some scary fetish people that had a trashy edge about them.  I kept my purse close the whole time.

I'll give Temptation / Defcon a star for it's location, another star for it's nice staff members and one more for it's yummy cheap drinks.  As a Goth girl, I can't give them any stars for the music or the crowd, so it's a total of 3 full stars.

Temptation / Defcon ☆☆☆

New York City goth club review for Contempt

Contempt is located in the basement below a hip hop event at The Delancey nightclub.  The Delancey is by the Williamsburg bridge in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  It's not very hard to find and there are some subways close by.  Contempt is made by a panel of organizers with a chairperson who leads them.  When you arrive, you get the feeling that it's run that way too. The organizers are also a large portion of the people that are there.  Weird, right?   I was worried that people wouldn't be dressed up, since there was no dresscode, but everyone that was there put some effort into it and no one looked like a mundane.  I was happy about that, but I would have liked it if their crowd were physically better looking.  Most of the people at Contempt were overweight or awkward.  I think a majority were wearing thick glasses too.  There was something eerie about it.
About the music; I was surprised and disappointed that Contempt plays mostly industrial.  I think that you might like it if you are an older rivethead, but it wasn't what I like.  They also played some weird 90s indie songs that didn't fit in or make much sense with the rest of the DJ set, but the Contempt fans went wild dancing to them.   I just shook my head and went to the "bar".  The Contempt bar isn't really a full bar since it's about the size of a bookcase, but the bartender was friendly and fast.  There was also no line for drinks and they had the yummy drinks that I wanted.  My friend was upset about the prices and the beer selection, but I thought it was reasonable.
So, I think Contempt wins a star for their bartender and one for it's location.  I'll also give them a half a star for their crowd. Contempt gets no stars for it's music or atmosphere.

Contempt   ☆☆✯ 

Hello!

Hello Gothic New York, 

this blog is going to be a regular review of New York City's many goth clubs and nightlife.
New York has one of the most interesting and diverse club scenes.  I hope to provide really useful and fun information for everyone with this blog, since there is so much Goth going on in this city!  I love going out, dancing and meeting scene people, so this task is a pleasure.  I'll be back soon with a review of Contempt.

Thanks for reading!
Sabrina