Emerging from a shroud of black…
This Saturday, November 14, marks The Dark Unveiling – quite literally an ‘unveiling’ of months of effort in putting together the beginning of a new chapter in the story of Johannesburg’s underground scene, and the re-emergence of Heavy Metal’s distant cousin Goth. House Of Goth seem to be the main protagonist in this monochromatic tale, and can boast a detailed plot woven in with some surprising characters. But who – or rather what – on earth is House Of Goth?
“House of Goth aims to unite all the weird and wonderful people. Hosting various yearly events from picnics to music events. Each province has a house. I am the head of Gauteng which means it is my job to determine what the Gauteng goths need. Be it a shop, a club, more events, or anything else that will encourage them to be an active part of the community.” ~ Roche “Roulette Belet-Seri” Coetsee (event co-coordinator, The Dark Unveiling)
Having concluded a need for a series of events catering more specifically to these roaming hearts of darkness (and their other halves, of course, who are invariably likely to be primarily metalheads, if not goths), Roche and her shadowy allies at Guerrilla Events have prepared a series which is intended to become an annual installation on the Gauteng calendar.
“The Dark Unveiling is the title for the launch. Each year will have a different title. Next year we were thinking of The Dark Masquerade and the year after will be The Dark… something else.” ~ Roche Coetsee
But a dark heart need not be misconstrued as an evil heart! This multi-faceted event will include a charitable element, supporting Children Of Fire – which the organisation has not yet been made aware of – as an Xmas surprise. Attendees of The Dark Unveiling have been encouraged to bring along gift-wrapped shoe boxes, containing sweets or any goodies for kids, which will be collected upon entry to the event and delivered to Children Of Fire. Roche describes the motivation:
“This charity was specifically chosen for two reasons. One: nobody ever gives to this charity since its not a more ‘mainstream’ cause, and thus is not a very well known charity, and two; I too am a burn victim! The lower half of my left forearm is covered in burns from an incident when I was about three years old.” ~ Roche Coetsee
More of the Characters brought into focus
Further characters, besides the plethora of live bands, of course, are included in the form of sponsors and stalls. Prize giveaways will include jewelry to the value of nearly R1000 by Miss Moan, tattoo vouchers from Franken Voltage Ink and Wicker Handz (who will be doing tattooing on site at the event), three free photo shoots to guests as well as a free photo shoot for each band performing, generously offered by Roche “Miss Seri Photography” herself, meaning that upon concluding the event, her work will be far from over.
“Honestly, I cant wait for Sunday the 15th! The last few months have been crazy, but all in all I am very proud of my team, Jamie and Clive from Guerrilla Events, Kimberleigh Fae Chaye – my model, friend and lifesaver – and the head of the South African Gothic Society, Don Ryno van Deventer, whose brilliant mind made all of this possible. I am so grateful to everyone who has helped out and although I might be really tired, and cant wait for this event to just happen now, I am also super excited about organizing the next one.” ~ Roche Coetsee
We look forward to hearing about how many of you will have made Roche’s efforts worthwhile in the new week. As if all which has already been offered is not incentive enough, live entertainment will include no less than Surdus, Riddlebreak, Nerve Zero, Dark Matter, Blame the Architects, My Columbine, Adorned In Ash, Bokgot, Lesuth and Chromium, for an extremely diverse evening of music; but of course also featuring the best in classic Gothic-inspired tunes between all the bands. For full details on the event, including location of the Wunderbar venue in Edenvale, times, and cost of entry, visit the official facebook event page.
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