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Short visit from Germany

Alcide's picture
Submitted by Alcide on

Hello,

I have the pleasure to visit Vancouver on a business trip this week. I couldn't resist so search for the dark side of Vancouver and now I'm at Gothic BC ;) I'm about mid twenty and love to dance and listen to Gothrock, Darkwave, EBM, Industrial, ....

Sadly, I have a very strict time plane. However, Saturday night is more or less free and I hope to get some short glimpse of the alternative Vancouver nightlife. I read that this Saturday is Sanctuary at Club 23 West and I'm thinking about to give Sanctuary a try. I didn't found much information about Sanctuary (Sin City seams to be very popular) and visited all Facebook, YouTube, MySpace ...

I have some questions due to my lack of experience with North American Clubs and especially with Sanctuary:
How long is the queue of visitors before sanctuary or is there a queue at all?
Which music is played there? Of course, I read the description but it would be helpful to get some personal opinions.

Thanks for your answers and hopefully we will meet on Saturday.

Greetings from Germany,

Alcide

Alcide,

Where In Germany are you from? ... I've been lucky to have relatives in Berlin and have been to a few nightclubs there The Duncker Club, K17, The Black ACE and Tresor. The night club scene in Berlin is Amazing with every bar helping any tourist and stranger out with where and when they're favourite music or scene was happening.. Thats the only thing I find that lacks here.. it's hard to get info of where and when things are happening, even if your a local...

Sanctuary in the winter usually is busy with regulars during the spring and summer it tends to get more visitors... The staff are great and with SIN CITY every other Saturday for the last few years, there's quite a cross Pollination going on of Fetish goers and the Goth types. So everyone is really open to however you want to dress... Sanctuary is a dress up or go casual... But, basic black works just fine... If Issac has a theme night ( certain bands / Goth ball / guest Dj's from Seattle / other places or it's a long weekend that night ) there can be a huge line up after 10... On those nights, and for SIN CITY... the downstairs opens for two dance floors...

The Music ranges around from EBM Industrial, Dark Wave, Goth Rock and Classic New wave / Alternative classics. For those of us like me more on the fringes of music like Dark Wave it's really my chance to hear stuff I normally wouldn't.. Dance to classics and people watch.

The Club borders on Blood Alley and is near East Hastings, the area now is quite a mix of Yuppie towers, the New Simon Frazer University, Social housing, and some of the oldest Liquor establishments in the city. Club 23 is a veteran establishment in the old gastown area. Over the years it's has been a Jazz bar, a Gay Bar, A punk Rock venue, and it hosts lots of other music nights around Sanctuary. With the new University nearby Students and hipsters are starting to show up dance along with us adding to the people watching. The club is slowly going thru Renos by Issac to the various areas with new flooring, Flat Screens and the like.. Don't be afraid to request music, the DJ's are really into the music. Chat with Issac or any of the other DJ's as they'd love to hear about the venues and festivals in Germany.

Thank you, the replies are really helpful.

I live nearby Stuttgart. Unfortunately, the region is one of the brighter regions of Germany. On top of that I live on the countryside and you even get bad looks for wearing black nail polish as a girl.

I mainly visit entire dark Clubs (only Goths) like Nerodom at Munich or Kulturruine at Karlsruhe. I love the tolerant atmosphere there and the music. I’m glad you got good experience of our nightlife at Berlin.
That’s a good point about the German goth scene, the most events, local groups and locations are available via internet.

Unfortunately, I had to leave my boots at home (their just too heavy for transport via airplane). I brought a more discreet outfit, because I stay with German colleagues and their not so tolerant about being a Goth (they don’t know I’m^^).

That’s good to read. I’m hopeful to broaden my range of music. I’m also excited about the dancing stile of the Canadian goth scene. I watched some videos and it looked different to what I experienced in German clubs.

Yesterday I arrived at Vancouver and today I did a short sightseeing tour. I checked the way to the club and I will definitely be there at Saturday.

Yes.. that's a very non Goth region of Germany. I'm glad you mentioned the Munich club as I'm planning a next visit to Berlin in October and my Berlin family is talking about meeting up with Danish relatives in Munich during that... And I'm not really an Octoberfest type person....I'm just happy with a bottle of Beck's and somewhere where there's industrial music.

As to the downtown bars that feel friendly to goths in Vancouver, The Morrissey on Granville is very goth like and full of travelers and Alt. types and the Factory father up, near the hostels which is more industrial / rock and roll. The plus @ The Factory is, you can select the music and the bartenders are Industrial nuts so they like you if you punch up some industrial. More north up Granville is the Roxy and sportsbars which are a totally different crowd of young Bridge and Tunnel girls and Meet Market guy types...

In East Van on Commercial drive it's very Anything goes in any bar. It's very hippy area of town that's getting quickly gentrified, and the lesbian community rules there.

Downtown in the West End is where the last of the gay bars are with the big one being celebrities. There and the pubs accross the street from it, and up and down davie are very open friendly and cool.

I'll bet those boots are a huge investment to fly overseas, and sending them in luggage - means your luggage will get opened.
The tall boots are very popular with girls here but not guys... I saw way more guys wearing those boots in Berlin...

In Berlin I saw many wild shoe and clothing stores.... that sold so many different types of those boots that I'd never even seen in Vancouver. So I expected them to be everywhere in clubs. So when I finally met some locals, and went @ K17 in Berlin... I expected a huge number of club goers wearing the Frankenstein boots but it seemed to out of style amongst the older crowd I was with, which were basic black or industrial types.

I noticed an intense Cyber-goth and very dressy Lolita-goth look amongst the younger people in the 1300 person crowd. But it was probably due to the night I visited. As Berlin clubbing is such a huge thing, and Goth seems like any other look in the city. I think I saw more dressy Goths out and about during the day then I did at the times I visited clubs there... So I must still be missing another core of the Berlin scene.

Vancouver is sort of a mini scene for Goth (it used to be bigger in the 90's with a big club Luv-A-Fair as the anchor and bands like Skinny Puppy leading the crowds - Sanctuary was a side night til Luv-A-Fair closed in 2003) Issac practically kept the goth scene alive with his night, that kept moving around the city as changed owners, or bars got closed for the condo craze. Thanks to him and other, keeping the flame alive... Goth nights have started to bloom again with other nights opening @ The Waldorf and Sunday nights @ Descent have struggled on. The Music is classic and dancable... And I think hipsters and students have taken up it's cause. The crowds are alot of basic black, Fetish, Metal, Industrial crossover looks and few core Cyber-goths..

Away from the Sportsbar scene on north Granville people are very open, accepting and not so drunk...Plus, your a girl and guys like to see all types of girls in clubs.. So you have no worry. Sadly, clubs only go til 2 am - 3am here unlike Germany where there seems to be no set closing time. If Sanctuary is doing a special night... there's often in the past been an after-party for those who can dance til dawn.

Funny you noticed the dancing....I didn't realize that dancing as well is very different til I went to clubs in Berlin this second time. There's alot less feet movement in Berlin clubs with more arm movements...The people I was with in K17 said I danced like a zombie...

Generally you don't have to worry about a line for Sanctuary. Sometimes there might be a short wait as people check their coats, but nothing to worry about.

Here is the set list from the Sanctuary earlier this month for a sample of what you can expect musically:

DJ CONTRASOMA
---
Everything Goes Cold - Don't Quit Your Day Job
Solar Fake - Why Did I Raise The Fire
Cryo - Singularity
Gatekeeper - Slow Walk
Forma Tadre - Out Of The Spirit World
Encephalon - A Lifetime Of Puppetry
Severy Illusion - Barbarian

DJ PANDEMONIUM
---
Pankow - Me & My Ding Dong
Seabound - Digital
Underworld - Ring Road
Front 242 - Circling Overland
Christian Death - Cervix Couch (Remix)
Klinik - Someone Somewhere
Laibach - Hell: Symmetry

R-LEX
---
By Any Means Necessary - Waste
Binary Park - She's Insane
Caustic - Chum The Waters (feat. Ned Kirby)
Autodafeh - Heaven Screams
Dismantled - Disease (VF Mix)
Spetsnaz - Mangod
iVardensphere - Here Lies Lily Brant

DJ CONTRASOMA
---
Alter Der Ruine - State Of Ruin (You And What Army Mix)
Die Selektion - Du Rennst
The Vanishing - Lovesick
Sisters Of Mercy - Nine While Nine
The Horatii - Annaline
* ohGr - Tragek
Encephalon - Daylight
* Gary Numan - A Question Of Faith
Pretentious, Moi? - Witchhouse
Haujobb - Let's Drop Bombs

DJ PANDEMONIUM
---
Memmaker - Sneaking Through The Totalitarian Filter
Combichrist - Throat Full Of Glass (Remix)
Straftanz - Turbo
Apoptygma Berzerk - Unicorn
The Cure - The Walk
Goldfrapp - Train
Aesthetic Perfection - Hit The Streets
* The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die
Deadmau5 - Moar Ghosts N Stuff
Depeche Mode - Get The Balance Right
Joy Division - She's Lost Control

R-LEX
---
Stiff Valentine - Somebody To Hate
* Crystal Castles - Not In Love
* VNV Nation - Honour
Lords Of Acid - I Sit On Acid 2000
Rotersand - Almost Violent
* The KLF - It's Grim Up North
Ladytron - Little Black Angel
* Covenant - Dead Stars
mind.in.a.box - 8 Bits
Northborne - No Sleep
* Encephalon - Drop Dead

DJ CONTRASOMA
---
Steril - No Remission
Stromkern - Night Riders
* Fad Gadget - Lady Shave
Absolute Body Control - Love At First Sight
* Gary Numan - Are 'Friends' Electric?
* Christian Death - Spiritual Cramp
Misfits - Where Eagles Dare
* Tones On Tail - Go!
Siouxsie - Kiss Them For Me
* The Knife - Heartbeats (Live)
* Depeche Mode - It's No Good
* Destroid - Lucretia, My Reflection

DJ PANDEMONIUM
---
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
Nine Inch Nails - Down In It
The KLF - What Time Is Love
And One - Sitata Tirulala
Henric de la Cour - Dracula
Concrete Blonde - Bloodletting
The Cramps - Can't Hardly Stand It
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Loverman
Download - Glassblower
Front 242 - Headhunter (Apoptygma Berzerk Remix)

R-LEX
---
Icon Of Coil - Regret
Dead Can Dance - Rakim
Love & Rockets - Sweet Lover Hangover
Pet Shop Boys - One More Chance
Portishead - Sour Times
Zola Jesus - Night
Necro Facility - Do You Feel The Same
SITD - Lebensborn
Gary Numan - The Fall
The KLF - 3am Eternal
Neuroticfish - Waving Hands.