NEW YORK, NY—Who says the goth scene is dying? Not if it’s up to fangsmith and impresario Fr. Sebastiaan. The host of this well-attended and spectacular costume ball has been promoting goth, vampire and now steampunk events in NYC since the 1990s. He hosts parallel events in New Orleans, Paris and other world capitals of goth culture around the same time.
Applying his background in dental technology enabled him to launch a career making custom fangs for vampire-scene club-goers, which in turn opened the door to his promotion of both recurring and special events. Besides Endless Night, he hosts such fun happenings as the Anti-Valentines Ball around the nation and around the world!
Club Octagon served as a fine replacement for the no-longer-available Club Element, which was the venue for last year’s New York City entry in the Endless Night series. Throngs of beautiful and elaborately costumed revelers filled the colorful but dimly lit floor where two bars served up drinks from a well-stocked inventory that included everything from high-end vodkas to traditionally sweetened absinth mixes.
With so many elaborate, crazy and gorgeous costumes, it was inevitable that there would be a costume contest featuring the six or seven most striking outfits. Fr. Sebastiaan oversaw the crowd’s selection by acclamation process. There were attractive dancers, one of whom was attired in form-fitting red rubber, on stage much of the time. There was a theremin performance to accompany a scantily clad female dancer who ended the act by finishing the theremin player with a theatrical bite to his neck.
Alluring and glamorous eye-candy was to be seen everywhere which, in itself, made the event worth attending. Costumes ranged from Victorian to fetish, horrifying to sexy. Best of all, there was a steady stream of irresistible dance music forthcoming from the top DJs in New York, including Aengel, Fr. Jeff, Xris Smack and V Christ, who served up both rarities and standards in the goth, industrial and EBM genres.
An event like this leaves one wishing they could be in many places in the world at the same time to enjoy all the events that Fr. Sebastiaan promotes and produces. Only he, however, seems to be capable of that physically impossible feat.
