WGT Goth Festival 2016: Picnic in the park

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Photo gallery: Duong Le and maeshelle west-davies

So, to pick up where we left off yesterday on the ongoing goth festival… musically…

Do you know where it all started?

Alicia Porter Smith says the origins of gothic music are “usually placed in 1979 when Bauhaus released the song ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, called gothic later on.” However, “there is a great deal of uncertainty about who coined the term ‘gothic’ and how it got attached to this dark music. The British music press seems to be most responsible for making the label stick.”

What was around at the time was David Bowie, Kraftwerk, The Ramones and Alice Cooper. The beginning is clear to me, and you can hear all of the influences. That’s the music, but how do we explain all the various fashion styles? Seriously, where do we even start?

When you look around at the goth festival there are so many different looks and motivations.

I’m not even going to go there. I think this guy’s video gives a good representation of the spectrum. I find it interesting to see how some live this all the time and for others, it’s a hobby.

I’m torn between Renaissance Goth, Fantasy Goth and Cyber Goth. But there’s nothing that says you have to choose. There’s also Victorian Mourning Goth and Caberet Goth and Lolita Goth and BDSM, as you’ve probably noticed. The new one for me was Steam Punk and I must say I like it a lot. One girl’s explanation was the best, “We represent how people in the Industrial Revolution foresaw the future.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPotsAMAIoY

Last day today and *only* 129 things on the schedule. Here is my very short shortlist (not including bands and parties):

9.00-17.00 Victorian Brunch and Absinthe at Papa Hemingway

10.00-18.00 free admission to Grassi Museum for WGT participants

11.30 Crimson Peak OmU at Passage Kinos

15.00 Mozart Requiem Leipzig Ballet at Leipzig Oper

17.30 Ritterkampf at Moritzbastei

For more, check out the same WGT app I’ve been using and mentioned yesterday.

Artist, curator and writer: maeshelle west-davies gleans her varied life experiences to expose a personal perspective through a multitude of mediums.

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