Thursday, January 31, 2013

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 

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

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 

Monday, January 28, 2013

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