Before actually venturing out into the land of T.O I was an observer via our friend the Internet. E-groups, message boards, E-mail, ICQ, web sites, etc. There were a lot of pleasant people, familiar handles such as DJ Lazarus, DJ Trauma, DJ XXX, Dementia, and so on. Though the scene is very established and there doesn’t appear to need for much growth everyone seemed pleased at the idea of one more goth boy to add to the pile. Now let me say that there may be some of you out there that would highly disagree. That there is much to be done for Toronto’s goth culture, but this is my perspective and for those of you reading this that live in Toronto, let me color for you, the picture that is the Calgary goth scene.

I have been here for a year now, not Toronto, but Calgary and yes I’ll get to why I came back in a bit. When I first arrived I made regular appearances to a club called Nemesis, a great little pub with a few nights that would easily appeal to any goth, industrial, or even metal listeners. Most nights were packed to the brim, cloves in the air, and loud music. A small dance floor by Velvet Underground standards but did the job. Not a lot of places to sit but most people were the sociable type so we all just kinda walked around and had various conversations with various people.

Eventually the night shut down, sometime around the summer I believe, I heard different stories as to why, so I wont bother stating any of them.

Next up, Anathema, which opened up not very long after Nemesis closed their doors. The name of the night is Anathema; the pub/café is Michaelangelo’s. Anathema is only held one night a week, small dance floor, (by Nemesis standards) and the sound coming out of the PA is something to be desired. The night is strictly dark-electro.

BUT, it’s there, the people are good and Calgary’s DJ GenocideX works hard to bring good music, even if the scope is a little narrow for a scene that really needs more. DJ Genocide X and I have our differences, but I still respect him for the amount of effort poured into the night.

Now onto Toronto.

My first night out in T.O. was the grand opening of Temptation Thursday’s at The Temple, a high-class pub that usually plays the other end of the spectrum the rest of the week. This night is hosted by DJ Lazarus, from my understanding; it is the opinion of most of the scene that he is the hardest working DJ in Toronto. The Temple was a good place to visit, crushed velvet couches, a glowing cross, artwork kissing the walls, and a small dance floor (by Anathema standards). The booze was expensive, I will never pay $6.50 for a bottle of Corona again, if and when I find myself in T.O. again, I will ask for water at my visit to The Temple.

Savage Garden was next on my list. I don’t really have a lot to say about this place, everything was pretty average, nothing stood out at Savage that would make me a regular there.

Velvet Underground, quite simple orgasmic. Big ass club, small dance floor, (by airport runway standards), and packed with people on Thursdays and Sundays. With the lights, sound system, DJ’s, half naked women and over all ambience this made my trip all the worthwhile. I have yet to see a better club over all, goth or otherwise.

So putting that all together Toronto has a great scene and great people, everyone I talked to was pleasant and I felt very welcomed. But here’s the thing. I was a drop in the bucket. As a cow town goth I have things I can contribute. Out here we are all struggling to make things better for ourselves and the scene, and whether or not people support those contributions, nearly nothing goes unnoticed. That in itself has some give and take, which I have learned trust me. If I could only give one piece of advice to anyone moving to Calgary it would be to keep your mouth shut.

But after 13 days in Toronto I had to come back, why you ask? Basically roommate troubles, but I was relieved and eager to get back to the scene here. Because even though I don’t get along with everyone here (which is usually impossible no matter where you are) I really feel like I can make a difference if I give enough effort. Anyone can here and that’s the great part about cow town’s goth scene, anybody can make a difference here without major competition, without being a drop in the bucket. It is in this humble mans opinion that Toronto’s goth scene doesn’t need to get any bigger, which is great I think, but it’s not for me.

If you have any questions, comments or hate mail send it to azrieljknight@yahoo.com

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