Monday 1 November 2010

WGW October 2010

28/10/2010 Whitby Goth Weekend day 1

Today was the start of our Whitby Goth Weekend epic.

We kicked off meeting Dan, Laura, Gill & Andi and after loading up we headed out to the 'Lightbulb Cafe' in Basildon for a big breakfast to set us up for the day!


Outside the Lightbulb Cafe



Had a really smooth journey and arrived safely. The accommodation was absolutely gorgeous and so we settled down for a chilled night in with drinks, chips and dips and Laura's delicious gluten free cup cakes.



Laura's awesome Halloween cup cakes!



Following on from the Wacken 'Bum it, burn it' motto we have come up with a mantra for WGW......

'If you cant fight, have a wank!' (just don't ask......)

See all the WGW Day 1 pics here: 281010WhitbyGothWeekend

29/10/2010 Whitby Goth Weekend day 2


A nice gentle wake up today (rather than waking up hellishly early) and then some lovely coffee to kick start things.

The day began at The Spa where we traded in our tickets for wristbands and then committed Dan, Laura, Gill & Andi to the care of Loki for their WGW 'virgin' talk. Toni and I had a mooch round some stall and had a catch up with Nickie & Rob on the Devolution stall.


Nickie Hobbs (from Devolution magazine), Toni and I


Toni & I:



The next few hours were spent mooching and shopping. Managed to buy some nice things but also show some restraint as it's so easy to go crazy and spend a fortune.

Lots if walking and shopping later we headed back to the apartment to chill out ready for hitting the town later.

Gill & Andi opted out of The Spa and went to the Abbey for one of the late night tours. Dan, Laura, Toni and I went to the Indian restaurant over the road and had a gorgeous meal. It was every bit as good as the last time we visited.

Sadly, Laura decided she wasn't feeling up to hitting The Spa so we took her back to the apartment before heading off.

The usual fare was on offer at The Spa, good bands and lots of drinking and and more different varieties of goth than you could ever imagine. The band part was all a bit weird as Dan isn't good with crowds so Toni stayed with him at the back while I went up front to get some photos. I have to admit I was torn as I wanted to groove at the front but it didn't feel right with Toni at the back and as she didn't want to leave Dan on his own I then felt obliged to go back and sit with them which took a bit of the fun out of things for me. We kept getting chatted to by the guy from the Devolution stall who had never been to WGW before and so he seemed to like the fact that we were people he recognised and could talk to. It was also nice to see Stephanie Bowry there who I haven't seen since the sad demise of Evolution in Southend.

See all the WGW Day 2 pics here: 291010WhitbyGothWeekend


PRO-JEKT
I really enjoyed these guys. They warmed up the crowd nicely with their unique sound and left me a very happy bunny.

See all the Pro-Jekt photos here: 291010ProJektWGW


THE STRIPPER PROJECT
This was an interesting experience. They reminded me a lot of Carter USM especially with their witty lyrics. Not really 'goth' to me but enjoyable nonetheless.


See all The Stripper Project photos here: 291010TheStripperProjectWGW



MANUSKRIPT
Celebrating 20 years, this was one big party for Manuskript. They were really enjoying themselves and the crowd were putty in their hands. Wonderful covers of Pet Shop Boys 'It's A Sin' and Falco's 'Rock Me Amadeus' brought a smile to my face. They were joined on stage by Jeff Diehm ( of The Last Dance & Autumn Cannibals) which was a nice treat.


After The Spa I wanted to go out dancing but sadly we returned to the apartment. Overall it was a good start to proceedings and hopefully things will really take off from here!



30/10/2010 Whitby Goth Weekend day 3

Slow starts are wonderful. No rush to get up today and then lots of coffee and some toast to prepare for more Whitby adventures.

The afternoon commenced with us all splitting up and going off doing our own thing, Gill & Andi departed first in search of jet, followed by Dan & Laura. Toni and I finished tarting ourselves up and then headed off in search of Pandemonium (the shop turned out to be just that so we moved on). Spent ages (and a fair amount) in Gutsy Gingers which is a lovely hippy/curios shop.


Nice hat!


Aww


See all the WGW Day 3 pics here: 301010WhitbyGothWeekend



Sadly with it being Halloween weekend the streets were diluted with Joe public in fancy dress which was kind of annoying as it left us feeling like we had been downgraded to a cheap gimmick rather than living a way of life!

"GOTH IS FOR LIFE, NOT JUST FOR HALLOWEEN!"

Late lunch turned into dinner which was a return to Passage To India for more yummy food.

Andi opted to stay behind in the evening but the rest of us scooted off to The Spa to see the band. It was a fantastic night all out together with Toni and I bopping at the front during he bands and then joining Dan, Laura and Gill between sets.


THE LAST CRY
These guys were really good with a trad goth guitar sound and some Cure crossovers too. The singer was really a joy to watch as he was so expressive.

See all The Last Cry pics here: 301010TheLastCryWGW


AUTUMN CANNIBALS
This mob are the side project of Jeff Diehm from The Last Cry (who appeared last night with Manuskript). It was a little bit different, a little bit mellow and a lotta bit very good. The majority of the band was members of Mercurine who also got to do a song with Jeff and the bass player taking a short break. Would love to hear more.

See all the Autumn Cannibals pics here: 301010AutumnCannibalsWGW


WAYNE HUSSEY
I love Wayne Hussey's work with the mission but sadly I was disappointed tonight. He started off doing some acoustic stuff (and Mission songs) but it all seemed a bit flat after the other bands. We decided to leave when he had trouble with the keyboard and with a long gap and some heckling Wayne told us "shut up, I'm trying to fix it"! Not what we wanted or needed to hear and was enough to make us walk out despite the promises of guest artists at some point during the set.

See all the Wayne Hussey pics here: 301010WayneHusseyWGW

Went back to the apartment and nibbled on cheese and crackers before hitting the pit!

Despite the disappointment of Wayne it was an awesome night!

31/10/2010 Whitby Goth Weekend day 4

Happy Samhain everybody!

God bless the clocks going back! You can't beat waking up at a reasonable hour and feeling full of beans and having an extra hour to play with! Coffee and a bacon sandwich a great way to kick things off!

It was a very relaxed day with bugger all happening for the morning.

REAL GOTHIC V ATHLETICO GAZETTE
We then took a casual stroll to Whitby Town FC to watch Real Gothic take on Athletico Gazette. Sadly the goths were not up to scratch today and got humped 4 - 0. It was a massive giggle as usual so was a trip worth making.

Preparing for the Real Gothic v Athletico Gazette game







See all the Real Gothic v Athletico pics here: 311010RealGothicVAthleticoGazetteWGW


We then headed back to the apartment for munching and to start packing up a bit.

Last thing to do was to prepare for the final onslaught of partying.


Ready for a night on the razz!




See all the WGW Day 4 pics here: 311010WhitbyGothWeekend


Alcohol and mucho preparation was the order of the evening as we all tarted ourselves up.

DEVILISH PRESLEY @ THE RESOLUTION HOTEL
First stop was Resolution where we saw Devilish Presley put on an awesome show with some fantastic new numbers. Jacqui seems to have coped quite well with the transition from vocalist and bass player to vocalist only with the new bass player filling the gap nicely and giving them an added dimension. Devilish Presley are one of the few bands I never grow tired of seeing live because they always give 300% with every show.


See all the Devilish Presley pics here: 311010DevilishPresleyTheResolutionHotelWGW



NOSTALGIA @ RAW
Our WGW fun ended at Raw nightclub for Martin Oldgoth's excellent Nostalgia night where we drank, chatted and bopped to classic goth and punk tunes. Sadly we left before the end due to the need to get up early to leave apartment and not be over the limit for driving.



See all the Nostalgia pics here: 311010NostalgiaRAW


All in all it's been a fantastic weekend with great company and I can't wait to get back here again (hopefully in March 2011)





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