Short hair and my external Goth

Well, back into the warmth of the studio and the kit breakdown after the 3 very intense and rewarding days in Whitby. And it was amazing.

Again.

Lovely to have Jeanie join us on the final day, and I can only imagine how tired she must have been.

I should never have even thought that having short hair would have made the slightest bit of difference - everyone was just as lovely as April, infact possibly even more so. Just as before, many of the people we walked past would give the gentle nod of recognition and would smile at us doing our jobs. Of course, any camera crew at work will get people cheering / tooting the car horn as they pass - but I felt that over this weekend, we've had so little of that; the inhabitants and visitors (Goth and not) of Whitby have been great to work with. Even in Sexy Sunday, where we were in a packed (and I mean PACKED) club doing some filming of Goths Dancing, everyone was very accepting of me walking round with my mixer / recorder round my neck, and of Cooke setting up a jib on stage to get some great shots. Our black hats off to Hazel and everyone at the Met for their help and understanding.

I went for a quick pint with Lou (my wife) on Satuday night - just before we went to film at St Mary's Church at Midnight. And it was interesting, as now I was "normal" again; Without my kit (a large fluffy badger on the end of a 5m pole is a bit of a give away) I found I had disappeared, and even though I went out of my way to make eye contact, and say a brief "good evening" to the numerous passing goths; there were few responses. But then, let's put this into context: how often would you go out round town at 11 pm, and walk round and say "hello" to people. Not very often. Everyone in the pub was very freindly - and I was clearly the least "goth'd up" in the pub and I still felt inclusive.

My one regret from the whole weekend - that I was too tired (and ill, as colds seem to have attacked us all) to go back to Sexy Sunday and have a dance. Being back in that environment, (Hazel's 80's set especially) was bloody great and it would have been lovely to have become immersed again in NIN, The Mission and The Cult purely as a punter.

Am I a Goth? - It's somewhere I really enjoy visiting (and re-visiting); but I couldn't live there.

G

Long Hair and My Inner Goth.

It's Friday morning at 630 as I start this, and I'm preparing everything for this weekend of Goth up at Whitby. I'm really looking forward to it, working with Chris is always a joy, and I feel very at home up there, especially as the WGW (Whitby Goth Weekend) has been a regular destination for my wife and her friends for years. I can even remember being called the last Goth in Derby many years ago, on account of my dancing technique to a Cult track in the Rock House about 15 years ago. (I always used to notice that Goths and Rockers were always 90 degress out of phase - Rockers "head-banged" front to back, Goths etherially swayed side to side - but as the genres have become less distinct, everyone does more of a circular thingy now. What do you mean, "me old"?)

I wonder if it will all feel any different - and if I'll be viewed differently - now I've "conformed" and had my hair cut. Hmmm...20 years of hair 2ft down my back to a Number 2. It'll be interesting, as when we filmed in April I was amazed at how many people (Goths especially), made eye contact and facially said "hello" - a smile, a raised eyebrow etc. I've never experienced it so much before, and it was lovely. Perhaps the long hair was a marker of my inner goth, just waiting to get out when I'd finished the day job. I'm sure everyone will be as lovely, I just wonder whether it will be as open.

Right time to pack my bags. Sound Kit was all prep'd last night, and everything was super on that front. Just need to find my pants.

Black of course.

Grant