I just wanted to update you on my findings from the Children of Bodom death metal gig at Shepard's Bush on Sunday night!
Here are some of my observations:
On arrival at Shepard's Bush station, I started to see loads of people dressed head to toe in leather with knee length boots and almost everyone I saw was wearing a band shirt. I started to get a little nervous as I did not feel like I was dressed to the standard of someone who truly loved this band.
But to my surprise once I was inside the venue, I noticed how there was more of a diverse crowd than I had anticipated. 10% of the gig were women- some who it seemed their significant other had dragged them into it (they didn't look like they were having the best time) and other women who it looked like they came just for the music and were really enjoying themselves.
Not only were there more women than I had expected but I also noticed how much of the clothing people were wearing was not just this leather aesthetic but loads of differing clothing styles. I saw some people wearing casual jeans and t-shirts and others wearing colourful cocktail dresses! Once I saw how many different kinds of people had gathered here for the music, despite differences in how they dress and their genders, I began to feel more comfortable and less like an outsider.
One of the most major things that I discovered was that people within the death metal subculture are so polite and friendly to one another. Anyone who was trying to get a better view of the concert would tap the other person on the shoulder and politely ask to move past them, which I thought was quite interesting. There were also groups of people going around and saying hello to other strangers in order to chat about the music among other things before the music officially began.
As I had seen other people friendly chatting away I saw this as an opportunity to test whether my gender had any boundaries within the subculture. I had no issue while talking to a group of guys and other girls about the venue, music and even the kinds of things they had gotten up to that day. In no way was my gender a hinderance at this event. Being there even made me feel way more at home than at any other sort of gig I have been too before.
Here is a photo of me and some of the girls I met- we turned out to be wearing kind of similar things so we took this photo- It was on my boyfriends phone so I didn't have it previously.
In terms of moshing the boys had no problem running into me in the circle pit as well as include me in the fun, it was really wonderful, albeit a tad rough haha.
The last and final thing that happened to me while at the gig was that I fainted haha, Im not sure if it was the heat inside the venue or that I had been over exherting myself but it was an experience all the same. I fainted while on the dance floor, and (according to my boyfriend) quite a few of the metal fans helped me up and we went outside to find the medic.
Those are the major things I found whilst I was out, and I thought it was very interesting to see how the subculture of Metal has developed since the 1960's. It seems that there is a larger female fan base in Death Metal than I had anticipated and It was kind of empowering to know that a genre of music often demonised because of what is spoken/ screamed about has a way of resonating with all types of people.
The fact that so many of the individuals were willing to talk to me and include me within the culture really showed me how gender is not really an exclusionary factor within this subculture, rather it seems to come down to your own individual taste.
My preconceptions of the genre were really tested at this gig. I was so scared that attending something which was really different to what I am used to would leave me ostracised in a place with people I didn't know. Yet it became apparent to me, that if you are willing to attend something as niche as this, the other individuals attending would assume you are a fan by default, which worked out for me in the end.
After fainting, which does not seem to be a normal thing that happens in the middle of the dance floor haha it really showed me how people care about each other within the subculture. They really took great care of me.
Although gender seemed to play a dominant role in who consumes metal music it became apparent to me that anyone can be included if you share the love of the music. I was included from the very moment I stepped into the venue and I had a wonderful experience despite a few hiccups with fainting haha.
I didn't manage to take too many photos (my phone died) and I thought it may be a bit strange if i tried to record myself talking to people I was chatting to, but this is basically what I gathered at the gig. Although it didn't end up being a huge intervention (as I was not the only woman) I felt like the biggest impact that was made with attending the gig was with the preconceptions that I had previously held. Now that I know so much more about death metal music myself I want to experience more of genres that I have previously condemned.
Here is a video that my boyfriend took just of the gig, I was too short to film as everyone else was very tall haha
I would like to do something else like this for the project, the only issue is photographic evidence is quite difficult in dark spaces and audio for filming is super hard :/
Hope everyone is doing well-sorry for the long post
Charlotte
No comments:
Post a Comment