NEW YORK, NY—Sir William Welles, noted for hosting the famed steampunk night “Chronologie” as well as the newly-expanded New Goth City website, presented—along with Venus—a dance club night at a surprisingly well-adapted Chinese bar, Saints & Sinners, aka Heavenly Bamboo on Manhattan’s Midtown East. The setup is pretty standard, with the entrance leading into a long bar that, in turn, opens into a colorful but dimly-lit dance floor.
The outfits and makeup on some of the attendees was well over the top, fusing goth, cyberpunk and Halloween horror in an extravagance of elaborate wigs and cosmetic excess. Welles was celebrating the re-launch of his newgothcity.com as a national website, covering thematically-appropriate events and activities from coast to coast, with the emphasis presently slanted toward New York.
DJs V Christ, Aengel, Arch-Angel and special guest Paradox kept the music coming. I counted about 12 dancers actively occupying the floor with another dozen socializing at the bar, looking up occasionally to watch a horrific yet fascinating video on a large overhead screen. There was a satisfying mix of techno industrial with classical entries by Depeche Mode, The Cure and others of that genre. A decent light show and wildly-attired club kids provided eye-candy for the attendees and the staff. Compared with other goth dance events around town, City Of Dark Angels is well attended, intimate, and provides consistently satisfying music and entertainment value which some might prefer over the larger, less predictable events.
City Of Dark Angels is going to be a monthly event with varying themes. This night, the theme was, somewhat enigmatically, “Nephilim.” For upcoming shows and events, go to newgothcity.com.
