I was a teenage “mall goth”

  

The term "mall goth" is used to describe  those who dressed in a specific edgy and alternative way in the nineties. -my friends and I were definitely alternative teens-There was a bunch of us and we mostly listened to goth , industrial metal or "nu-metal". We did not use the term "mall goth" at all back then, and definitely not to describe ourselves. Most of my friends and myself would try to avoid any and all labels and definitely did not associate ourselves as any kind of subculture like "goth"or "industrial" even though we listened to these kinds of music. Looking back I think that I was part of what would have been considered a part of the  "mall goth " subculture. 

Finding info on anything alternative was a lot harder in the nineties. The internet was really different. You had to know websites and addresses to get anywhere so although you could find fan sites or music themed AOL chat rooms most of what you learned about industrial metal and goth subculture came from word of mouth. Either friends who were more knowledgeable or from adults who had been/still were involved in the movement. 

Although I've heard that there was magazines that were focused on the industrial and goth movement, My friends and I really didn't have access to those. If we wanted to learn about bands we were kinda stuck with documentaries and popup video on VH1, MTV, or current industrial metal bands in magazines like Rolling Stone and Spin.

Most of us were buying the new goth music that was being released at the time from more mainstream  bands like The Cure or Depeche Mode but we were also buying industrial metal music like Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie and those of us did listen to the older or more obscure goth music from the 80s would have to find those cassettes in the used section of the music store.

We mostly found clothes at Hot Topic because it was so easily accessible. There were other places were we might find some cool dark or gothic looking stuff. Melrose Ave. always had cool stuff and so did a shop called The Electric Chair in Huntington Beach. People really didn't shop online at this time so most clothes were bought in person. Thrift stores were a great place to find cheap clothes that looked old and mysterious. Mostly,  my friends and I tried to look like modern edgy vampires. the girls wore long dark skirts, slips layered together, pants, and dresses usually in black or burgundy and flowy blouses, band shirts or edgy tops from hot topic. We would wear capes, cloaks or coats as outerwear. Collar necklaces were a must. Some of us dyed our hair Bright Red or Black and we wore lipsticks in red or black with heavy eyeliner. The guys wore dark pants or cords in black or burgundy and also would wear silky flowy shirts (oftentimes the guys would find their clothes in the women's department). Dark Jackets or Hoodies and goatees with long hair dyed black. Also sometimes top hats for special occasions and sunglasses (think Gary Oldman in Bram Stokers Dracula). There was Lots of velvet, leather, pleather, and Lace on the clothes for both men and women. Everyone wore 20 eye doc martins or combat boots, fishnets, striped knee socks, eyeliner, black or blue nail polish leather cuffs and silver jewelry. 

Since there was not a lot of all ages clubs that played goth or industrial metal music we would hang out at a few gothic looking coffee houses like The Bourgeois Pig and No Future Cafe. 

No Future was a coffee house that opened every Friday night and was an all ages punk venue with live bands. There were different genres that would play there and if we were lucky we would get to see one of the dark wave/ ethereal wave/metal rock bands. 

As I got older, we would hang out at the midnight showing of the rocky horror picture show and a Los Angeles club called Club 80s.  There was an awesome "Dark Wave" room at club 80s.

Club 80s was such a fun place. It was really a place that you could just enjoy the music you liked and dance however you wanted with no judgement. I saw so many beautiful dance moves there and heard so much great music from the 80s. Not everyone "dressed" for the club and it was really just a magical place to be yourself . Looking back club 80s was great because it wasn't an "official" goth club so the focus was really on the music and not the fashion.

For me, it was all about romance, discovery, emotion, the freedom to express yourself and be free however that looked to you.

"If tonight lasts forever, It won't matter if there's no tomorrow"- Marilyn Manson

 

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Who is Reba Meyers?

One of the newer Marilyn Manson band members that really stood out during the show was Reba Meyers. Reba Meyers is a guitarist and vocalist best known for working with the metal band she helped to form in 2008 named Code Orange. 

Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she is now playing guitar as one of  Marilyn Manson’s newest band members. On stage, she really gives an impressive performance. She has both an intensity and control in her playing that comes across as almost otherworldly. I also liked her laidback casual fashion sense -big cutoff jean shorts and a zippered tank top with short boots and knee highs- that fell somewhere between grunge and nu-metal. She’s just so awesome!!!! 

I don’t know if she’s planning to continue on with Manson after this tour but if she stays she’s going to be a great addition to the band and I’m happy to see more of her in the future. 

My First Marilyn Manson Concert

   

     My husband and I went to the Five finger death punch/Marilyn Manson/slaughter to prevail concert this last weekend. I became a massive MM fan in the nineties and never stopped listening to him.( My favorite albums of his are Mechanical Animals, Antichrist Superstar, and We Are Chaos.) 

    The concert was at the Honda Center, home of the Anaheim Ducks, and it was only a little over half full. however, the fans that were there were all so enthusiastic and full of energy. The first band to open was The Funeral Portrait,  a new band that I think identifies as emo-metal. They were more mild than the other bands and I thought they were a good warm up for the crowd. Next, we got to hear a band named Slaughter to Prevail. I was really blown away by the energy and talent of their performance.Then Marilyn Manson. And Finally Five finger Death Punch. who was also a lot of fun.

    This was the first Marilyn Manson concert that I've been too. I don't really go to concerts very often for financial reasons and I have never had the time and or money lined up at the same time to see the band before. I had wished that many of my old friends that were also fans could have been there with me but many are ill or moved or have just no time. 

    The band mates he played with were new to me I don't know any of the specifics of when they joined him or what recordings if any that they had made together. They were awesome though. They all sounded great together and gave a wonderful performance. They played songs from many different albums and time periods and everyone had a great time. 

    I finally got to see MM after 25ish years and I'm so glad that I did.

"How did you get into Metal?"

 

 "How did you get into metal?" a young woman at the most recent metal concert I went to asked me this question.... It has been stuck in my head ever since.

How does anyone "get into" the sound that they like? I keep thinking about this question. How are we introduced to different genres of music? Was it Radio? Television? Movies? Friends and Family? Do we just stumble into it one day? That seems to be the consensuses( as I've asked everyone I know how they got into the different genres they listen to). We simply hear it playing somewhere and so many of us don't remember the first place we hear it. What was the first song that got you to want to look for more?

The first few times I heard Poison or Guns & Roses on the radio I just liked them. I really didn't care what genre they were. I didn't need to think about that stuff until years later when I  started buying albums for myself and needed to locate them in a store. How did I get into Nine inch Nails? MTV the Radio I liked what I heard and I went out to buy the album.  

However, I'm not sure that things are quite the same anymore. I'm not sure that the younger generations, the Z's and the Alphas even listen to radio. They listen to playlists and those are really just the sounds they are already listening to. They don't watch the late night shows or Saturday Night Live to see the bands. All the videos being suggested to them are based on the algorithms. It's all more of what the program knows you already like.

So maybe this is a very valid question. How did you find this genre? Maybe this kind of discovery,  in this day and age,  is something much more important than I'm giving it credit for. I would like to think that some of these discoveries are being made by friends and family sharing their love for different sounds and different bands, and that people are really connecting through the music. That would be nice. After all, isn't the point of music, to bring people together?