EMO/MCR March - "Annoymous" vs MCR

It seems to have been successful with lots of coverage and portrayed a positive view of MCR fans successfully.

Ok much of the general media coverage of was not in depth but youtube has provided some real gems. The most amazing thing is that some peopl who may have been from Anonymous the internet group that was behind the hoax videos actually turned up to the protest. (They are in the Guy Fawkes/ V masks) They turned out surprise to be a bunch of geeks... and were heavily outnumbered and they lost the argument as you see here. Wow this looks lots of fun!! Teenage girls versus geeks what did you think would happen?

At the end of day various b-tards (frequenters of an online forum 4chan) have long found it amusing to spam commemoration message boards for suicides usually celebrating the death. This is not only in poor taste but may influence others to kill themselves. While many anon symphasiers don't care simply looking for lulz others think it is wrong. Of course Anonymous is an anarchistic mess so it is not surprising they cannot agree about things. [Since writing this I discovered that the faction attacking the march are mainly in fact from PartyVan this "is a sub of Ebaums, the enemy of the chans." You can found out more about anon internal poltics here and about the mass trolling on MCR websites. No wonder tempers flared.]

There are signs the so called pro-suicide comments picked up by the media on such boards are not by real emos or MCR fans but are by various b-tards trolling. And as we know academic studies have demonstrated that media sensationalism is definitely linked to suicide clusters so anonymous have played their part in building up problems like the Bridgend suicide cluster which if you remember was blammed on the Internet. Which is doubly ironic of course as some of Anonymous accusations against Scientology focus on their links with strange deaths and suicides.

Anyway be any conventional standards if you compare all this confusion with the stance by MCR fans and the band who all agree suicide is wrong and have put out consistently anti-suicide message then "Anonymous" come out looking bad. But that is not an issue really :)

Besides all the fun of the march there is a dark question. This is a serious issue. Has this march trivialised it or not? There has been some good coverage but at the end of the day the Daily Mail stands firm.

Sarah Sands, the emo's old enemy from 2006 appeared in The Independent trotting out the usual nonsense a few days ago:

How to turn an emo into a fitness fanatic

A couple of years ago, I wrote about the dreariness of emos. I thought song titles such as "Dead!" or "Cancer!" were not very life-enhancing. US band Adam and Andrew have a witty take: "When I get depressed I cut my wrists in every direction/ Hearing songs about getting dumped gives me an erection." The emos, forceful, even if they look as if they live in coffins, have railed against anti-emoism, and yesterday they went on a march.

Emo culture is self-dramatising and self-pitying. If we tell them they are wonderful, they will give up white skins and dark clothes and take up hockey.

Sarah Sands: It's a great plot: two novelists under one roof
Independent

This issue is far too important to be left to die. I hope the activism of MCR and emos takes firm roots.

Another good video of the day here from AudiojunkiesTV discusses the groups present:

A Sing along to MCR not really a dangerous cult I think.

March on the Mail - Lies about Emo Death Cult lead to protest

MCR fans are planning a May on May 31st in London against that bastion of prejudice the Daily Mail after their recent campaign of lies. Respect is due to all those planning this excellent idea.

Find out more about the march here at www.whatthefrank.co.uk. It seems very well organised if you are in London why not support them:

This protest is being held in order to raise awareness on My Chemical Romance’s acutely anti-suicide message and the serious issue of depression, especially in teenagers.

We hope to show that My Chemical Romance is not a ‘suicide cult’ - as the Daily Mail has called them in a recent article - but simply a rock band that wants to save people’s lives. Depression is a serious thing and careless journalism runs the risk of trivializing it; especially as far as teenage depression is concerned. My Chemical Romance have always tried to ward their fans away from depression and aid them in seeking help, even going as far as to call suicide hotline numbers from the stage. Whereas, badly researched journalism is in danger of promoting irresponsible stereotyping and taking away from depression as a serious medical illness.

It has been covered in The Guardian and the Independent which has a long and detailed article:

EMO: Welcome to the Black Parade

A Kent coroner's comments over the suicide of 13-year-old Hannah Bond, in which he expressed concern over the dead girl's passion for emo music, spawned a glut of lurid headlines earlier this month. But it was the Daily Mail that decided to delve deeper into the craze – prompting one of the unlikeliest protests London has seen for some time.

Next Saturday, fans of MCR will descend on the Mail's Kensington headquarters in west London to vent their rage at what they claim is "badly researched journalism in danger of promoting irresponsible stereotyping". It is a remarkably polite and measured response for a group supposedly in thrall to a mind-bending cult.

According to one of the organisers, Anni Smith, 16, from Hampshire, festering anger that has been simmering below the surface for some time has finally spilt over. Some 300 people have already logged on to the protest site, www.whatthefrank.co.uk, expressing their desire to take part.

She believes the numbers determined to march eventually on the Mail HQ could be much higher and today organisers will meet representatives of the Metropolitan Police to discuss tactics for the demonstration and a possible transfer to nearby Hyde Park to avoid any trouble. Ms Smith, who has seen MCR four times, said that far from being advocates of mass suicide, the band are passionate opponents of self harm – as evidenced in the lyrics to their most famous song with its defiant message "to carry on". "I love their passion and the way they believe in what they do," she said. "They are amazing people. They want everyone to be OK, healthy and happy. A lot of people are affected by depression and a lot of MCR fans are too. This article was careless and badly researched journalism which really surprised us. They are the complete opposite of a suicide cult.

"The band has always been adamant that if you have problems you should get help and not give in."

The backlash has been growing apace. Internet chatrooms are clogged with comments from fans furious at what they say is breathtaking ignorance being displayed from across the generation divide by a people happier crooning along to Jim Morrison's "Soft Parade" than the later, darker assembly.

"Society constantly looks for something to point a finger at when things don't go right," wrote one fan to the NME this week. "It's time to face facts that being a young person today is tough."

According to Conor McNicholas, the magazine's editor, the furore has generated the NME's biggest postbag this year. "The reaction of the right-wing press is fairly moronic, knee-jerk stuff," he said. "Genuine music fans who know the way these things work are not afraid of speaking out and saying this is wrong.

"They sell papers on the basis of fear and the more frightened parents are the more sales there are for the Daily Mail. They are setting parents against their children which might sell papers but is incredibly destructive of family relations in the long term. If you want to alienate young people the best way to make them feel disaffected is to take away the music and culture they love."

It even led to a leading article:

Leading article: Reasons to be cheerful
Independent, UK - 22 May 2008

The list of popular music trends that have scandalised the curtain-twitching classes would take more space than we have here to chronicle.

Suffice to say that, from Elvis to the Beastie Boys, from the Beatles to the Sex Pistols, there has rarely been a time when "polite society" has not found something in youth culture to demonise. The latest target of the wagging finger of reproach is "emo": a style of music that places heavy emphasis on what one might describe as the more sombre aspects of human existence.

One Middle England newspaper has even labelled the emo scene a "cult" and linked it to the suicide of a 13-year-old girl who was deeply into the American emo band My Chemical Romance.

In an admirably well-organised counter-attack, hundreds of emos are planning to protest outside the newspaper's offices, presumably dressed in their characteristic black garb.

We understand the frustration of emos at being slurred in this fashion. But we would also offer some consolation. First, being attacked like this is a back-handed compliment: most good music gets the moral outrage treatment at some point.

Second, it won't be long before the reactionaries turn their attention to demonising some other aspect of our culture.

And, eventually, they'll no doubt even be complaining that "the youth of today" are so much worse behaved than those polite emos of yesteryear.

It's advice they're unlikely to heed, but emos should try to remember that it's not all doom and gloom.

Short article in Guardian

Maligned emo fans to march on Daily Mail
guardian.co.uk, UK - 22 May 2008

Good as these articles are they miss the main point that this march is no joke. Telling lies about subcultures leads to suffering and violence. As pointed out on this blog constantly the Mail's propaganda over Hannah Bond's death is likely to result in violence - obviously there is the example of Mexico but this problem was in the States before that see here for one example.

See the previous reports on the media lies which led to this march here:

Hannah Bond - Why no Emo is safe from the Daily Mail's Cult of Lies
Hannah Bond - Press/Coroner blame another suicide on Emo

Her are posts to the original lies from 2006.
New Emo Goth Danger?
More media lies about goths and emos

And remember exactly these sort of reports about emo have led to stupid ideas across the world from Russia government panics to Malta.

There is also a petition you can sign HERE against media distoration with other 1000 signatures.

I only hope this will stop the media telling lies.

At an MCR concert Gerard Way expresses himself strongly on the issue I think this was at Reading festival (2007?). He has being saying similar stuff since the first mail article accusing them of being involved in a death cult back in 2006:

Fuck the Daily Mail!

Sophie - More reports

The Verdict coincided with a detailed report on Teen drinking.

Toll of teenage drinking revealed BBC News

Teenagers are drinking an average of 44 bottles of wine or 177 pints of beer a year each, a study suggests.

Almost 10,000 15-to-16-year-olds in the North West of England were questioned as part of the study into underage drinking and violence.

The report, produced by Liverpool John Moores University, found as many as 40% of teenagers in poor areas binge drink.

Recent high-profile murders in the region were carried out by teenagers who had been drinking heavily.

On Thursday, Brendan Harris, 15, was convicted of murdering 20-year-old Sophie Lancaster in a Lancashire park after drinking two litres of cider, peach schnapps and lager.

For Sophie's sake, Can It
Mirror.co.uk,

One thing is certain drink played a role in the crime. It fuelled the development of an underlying hostility into extreme violence.

Interesting to note while the "chav" word is absent from most coverage while it is ominpresent in internet discussions. In Glasgow however the Ned word is used more readily.

Drunken neds killed woman because she was a goth
Glasgow Daily Record,

We must remmber of course is that while some of the "chav" teenagers attacked others in the exactly the same group called the emergency services and tried to save Sophie's life. It is not "chavs" as a whole who are to blame but a violent minority within that group. Hating all "chavs" shows a level of intolerance which is no better than he hate they show.

One of the more interesting online discussions:

Drowned in Sound - Features - The Weekly DiScussion: wearing your ...

Remembering Sophie Lancaster - The Campaign

Sophie Trial latest

No internet access for the past few days hence lack of updates. Sophie case continues to get lots of coverage with local press providing the most detail:

BBC NEWS | England | Lancashire | Court witness reveals killer's id

Tearful mum flees murder trial
The Sun, UK 17th March

Witness 'saw accused kicking Sophie in head'
Lancashire Evening Telegraph, UK - 14 Mar 2008
By Charlotte Bradshaw A TEENAGER told the jury he saw the defendant kicking Sophie Lancaster in the head during the skate park attack that led to her death.

Pathologist details Sophie's 'horrific' injuries
Lancashire Evening Telegraph, UK - 14 Mar 2008
Sophie Lancaster suffered 17 different injuries during the attack in Stubbylee Park, Bacup, including a head wound where her scalp was split open.

'How I tried to stop Sophie’s bleeding’
Lancashire Evening Telegraph, UK - 14 Mar 2008
By Charlotte Bradshaw A TEENAGE witness has told how he stemmed the flow of blood from Sophie Lancaster's face. The boy, 16, told Preston Crown Court that ...

Girl in tears as she tells of fear of ‘Bacup lot’
Lancashire Evening Telegraph, UK - 14 Mar 2008
By Charlotte Bradshaw A TEARFUL 15-year-old girl has told of the night Sophie Lancaster and Robert Maltby were attacked.

Save Harrow Skate Park - Tony Hawks is in

Meanwhile the campaign to save Harrow skatepark is gaining ground with Tony Hawks involved. It is almost as if the councilors in Harrow are imitating the thugs which vandalise skate parks and attack skaters all the time like those who burned the miniramp at Harrow. What is even more bizzare is the national sporting body Sport England has condemned the Leisure centre plan: "Sport England considers the proposals to be damaging to a wide range of existing sporting interests and they would reduce opportunities for participation in sport and active recreation in the borough." Mr Durrans supported the objections already voiced by various sports groups in the borough, including Harrow and Wealdstone Swimming Club, Harrow Squash Club, Wembley and Harrow Table Tennis League and the Harrow Skatepark Users' Association." [Harrow Times Sport England slams leisure project] It is not just skaters suffering from this absurd idea it is the entire community being victimised so the Council can help developers and the end result is a smaller leisure centre in the end.

A petition is gaining ground over 1500 signatures sign it and use your real name. Let the Prime Minister know your thoughts:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/HarrowSkatePark/

Great documentary on the importance of the park.

Tony Hawk: "Keep skatepark"
Harrow Times, UK - 30 Jan 2008

PRO skateboarder Tony Hawk has backed calls to save a local skatepark due to be replaced by Harrow Council.

Users of Harrow Skatepark, in Byron Park, have been campaigning to save it since plans were announced by the council to build over the site as part of a £36m project to rebuild Harrow Leisure Centre.

Mr Hawk said: "If they feel that the park is truly irreplaceable, then they should keep it."

The Harrow Times interviewed Tony Hawk about the skatepark. Here is what he had to say.

HT: Have you ever used the park and if so what do you think of it?

TH: "I've never been, but I have seen it in magazines and heard about it through the years."

advertisement

HT: Local skateboarders say parks like this one are not built any more, do you share their appreciation for the older style?

TH: "I do, especially when there are so few that have survived from that era. But I also believe that it is possible to build new parks that incorporate elements of parks from the 1970s. It just takes the right design and construction crew."

HT: The council has put aside £300,000 to build a replacement park but users do not think it is enough. Given the reputation it has gathered among skaters in Britain does this sound like a realistic figure?

TH: "Compared to most parks in the US (I see many park plans come through the Tony Hawk Foundation) that is a healthy budget. I'm not sure it's enough to recreate Harrow, but it could be enough to make a decent park with some 1970s flair."

Skaters excited by Hawk comments
Harrow Times, UK - 1 Feb 2008
By Jack Royston

THE head of a local skateboarding team said he was shocked to hear Tony Hawk's message of support for a campaign to save Harrow Skatepark.

Nick Zorlack, who runs Death Skateboards, accused the council of robbing Harrow's youth of £600,000 over plans to demolish the site in Byron Park. Harrow Council plans to rebuild Harrow Leisure Centre in its place and has set aside £300,000 in the project's budget for a replacement skatepark.

advertisement

He said: "I'm shocked that he's done it. I think Tony Hawk is a great ambassador for the sport but I think the council just don't get it.I feel like the council are robbing the kids of harrow by about £600,000. They're going to spend £300,000 on a replacement but that's not enough."

Robert Adler, president of Harrow Skatepark Users Group, was excited to hear about Mr Hawk's comments and said he hoped at some point the skateboarding legend might come to use the park in Harrow.

He said: "I think it's brilliant if we can get people like him to give us recognition and back us. To have a great man like that show his support - hopefully we'll have a great skatepark for him. If he came thousands of people would come down to see him. How many places could say that."

Councillor Paul Osborn said he felt the £300,000 budget for the park would be enough and he would like Tony Hawk's opinion on designs for a replacement.

Users of the park are helping to compile plans for a replacement should the project go ahead. He said: "We are aware of their view, we also think this is an exciting opportunity to build a skatepark for the future."

What is emo? - Fox News and others weigh in while Russia panics

Russian Region Discovers “Emo” Subculture

February 13th, 2008

Related Post

• Russian University Closed Over Electoral Monitoring Course
  
• A Civic and Patriotic Youth
  
• More Arrests in Nizhny Novgorod
  

Filed Under: All News • Culture

Tags: education • emo • Nizhny Novgorod • popular culture

Nizhny-Novgorod, February 11th:

A subculture known for black fingernails, angled bangs and rock music, popular among some Russian teenagers, is under attack. On Monday, the Department of Education of the Nizhny-Novgorod oblast called for a campaign to combat a movement known as “emo”. The classification, which originated from an independent music movement in the United States, is short for “emotional,” and now relates as much to a fashion style as a genre of music.

The Department’s move comes after the local branch of the Federal Security Bureau Directorate (UFSB) brought forth a report describing repeated instances of “unconventional religious trends, and civic organizations disseminating ideas of a negative youth subculture.” The information first became public from a circular published by the Education Department.

The document, in part, reads: “According to information from the Nizhny-Novgorod oblast UFSB, the oblast is seeing the growth of ideas of the emo negative youth subculture, which are connected with suicidal tendencies of teenagers 12-16 years of age.”

The text then vividly described the emo stereotype: clothing with pink and black colors and two-toned designs. Blue-black hair. Long bangs. Fingernails painted black. Piercings.

The FSB informed the educators that “the emo ideology negatively influences the unformed teenage psyche. According to the ideology, its members are immortal, and each one’s dream is to die of blood-loss in a warm bath, by cutting the veins on the wrist region. Many of the teenagers are depressed, withdrawn in their thoughts, and the girls are very inclined toward suicide on account of unrequited love. The young people drawn to the emo movement imagine that they have an ‘allergy to happiness.’”

Based on the information taken from the FSB, the department called on its teachers to maintain vigilance and to take measures directed “at explaining the negative consequences of entering into alternative civic organizations.”

Meanwhile, the emo subculture could not be reached for comment.

The Fox News report is interesting because it shows a bit about the tedency for emos to be attacked:

Farmington Daily Times - What is emo?

2 Feb 2008

ARMINGTON — The generation gap is only widening.

In 1930s Germany, swing kids defied convention by embracing jazz music and mocking Nazis.

Hippies did the same thing in 1960s America with tie-dyed T-shirts and psychedelic rock.

Then there were the goths, the punks, the skaters and the rappers — all groups of teenagers and young adults intent on expressing themselves through dress and music.

The latest fad, emo, includes dark makeup, tight clothing and a permanent frown. The style has changed, but the phenomenon known as teenagers remains the same. And it's still music that makes the world go 'round.

"I think music really influences people," said 17-year-old Shawn Yazzie. The Piedra Vista High School senior has been part of the emo culture for four years.

"Music is individuality," he said. "It depicts emotions."

The term emo is derived from "emotional" or "emotive." The culture stems from a subgenre of punk music originating in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s and revolves around displays of deep emotion
Advertisement
in music, dress and attitude.

Emo music often includes screaming, crying or other outpourings of emotion, Yazzie said.

"There is a deeper message in it," he said. "It's different than other music. It becomes more about a personal focus."

Teens dressing in emo fashion often dye their hair black and wear it long over one eye. Other patterns of dress include tight jeans, T-shirts that bear the names of rock or punk bands, studded belts, canvas sneakers and thick, black-rimmed glasses. Heavy eye makeup on males and females also is popular.

Like most fads, emo comes with stereotypes, Yazzie said. The dark clothing and emotional music can lead to beliefs that emo teens are depressed or suicidal.

"It's not true," Yazzie said of the stereotype. "Emo is just another way to dress. It's just like people who like to wear football T-shirts or pink all the time. We like to wear black."

Misunderstood

Despite explanations, emo teens often are misunderstood — by their parents, teachers and peers, said Virginia Nickels, a choir teacher at Piedra Vista High School.

Nickels began teaching in 1990. She has seen teenage fads come and go as quickly as taste in music changes, but she's never seen a style so dark, she said.

"Emos are very withdrawn," she said. "They don't have a lot of friends that I see. They're quiet, and even their posture is influenced. They walk with their heads down and their shoulders slumped."

As a music instructor, Nickels witnesses firsthand how beat and lyrics can influence dress and lifestyle. But fashion and music have taken a darker turn since the leg warmers and moonwalks of the 1980s, she said.

"I see emo as being pretty dark," she said. "I don't know if it's unhappy, but I wonder what's behind the clothes and the makeup."

Being misunderstood is part of a normal teenage life, said David Johnson, clinical social worker and president of New Horizons in Farmington. Johnson treats several emo teens, but said the clothing and music alone are not a cause for concern.

Only about 2 percent of the local teen population is emo, Johnson said. Most belong to upper middle class families and most are between the ages of 13 and 17.

"They're trying to say they're different from the rest," he said. "That's their job from the teen years until they're 20 or 25."

Some teens embrace rodeo; others like heavy metal, Johnson said. Most will dabble in many different things before settling on likes and dislikes. Emo teens are no different than the rest, except they've chosen to focus on their emotions.

The dress — which for some can be disturbing — is both a reflection of those emotions and a way to identify peers, Johnson said.

"The teenage years are a search for identity," he said. "They want to know how they're different, but they also want support from peers who are similar."

As teens mature and leave home, most will grow out of the emo culture and leave their dark phases behind, Johnson said.

"Most kids run within the normal bell curve," he said. "The emo phase is transitional. As they get more input, they grow out of it. You don't see a lot of people in their 30s or 40s dressed like this."

Taking emo too far

The overwhelming emotions that often lead teens to seek out the expressive music and dark emo lifestyle can also be a sign of more serious issues, Johnson said. While most emo teens explore their emotions through poetry, art or music, others are attracted to the culture because of its focus on pain.

"Some kids need to be seen as different because they feel different," he said. "The emo culture brings out the negative, and it creates enough pain that it becomes addicting. When there's a lack of pain, they go looking for ways to experience more."

The danger, Johnson said, surfaces when teens surround themselves so completely with negativity and emotional pain that they turn to self-injury to heighten their feelings. Others turn to drug use or other illegal activities for the adrenaline rush and emotional highs.

"Sometimes kids today have to find a more extreme statement to get noticed," he said. "More extreme behaviors are accepted, so to be noticed, they have to find something really unusual to stand out from the crowd."

Self-injury usually comes into play when a teen experiences deep internal pain. The pain can stem from a traumatic event or from everyday stresses, Johnson said.

One major stress is rejection. When teens are rejected because of the way they dress or act, it becomes a rejection of who they are, Johnson said, and that creates awful pain.

"They cut themselves to change the focus from internal pain to external pain," he said. "It's part of finding an identity that's so outside the normal culture. They collect sources of pain that they can control."

Self-injury often is associated with the emo culture, but the two are not synonymous, Yazzie said. The teen knows many people who follow the emo trends, but not all are gloomy, he said.

"Most of the emo people I've met are more happy than other people," he said. "They have an identity, and if they're sad, it's because personal stuff happens and they start to identify with the music."

All teenagers are filled with angst, Nickels said, but focusing on it to the exclusion of everything else can be detrimental.

"They get so angry or so passionate that screaming is permitted and even encouraged," she said. "It's not simply expressive — it's overly expressive."

An open mind

Yazzie's mother, Cassius Yazzie, graduated from high school in 1980. Back then, she said, she wore parachute pants and styled her hair in a Mohawk.

It didn't bother her at all when her son started wearing black and growing out his hair.

"To me, it's clothes," she said. "It's his image. You have to look beyond the clothes and get to know him."

Cassius took Yazzie shopping for stylish black jeans and T-shirts and helped him with his eyeliner. When his taste of music changed, hers did, too.

"You have to be a parent," she said, "but that doesn't mean you can't understand your kids."

Instead of judging her son, Cassius asked about his changing tastes. He had this to say: "I'm being different toward what is true for me."

That was enough for Cassius, she said.

Yazzie plans to graduate this spring and pursue a career as an architect.

"It's possible I'll outgrow this," he said, "but there's still a part of me that will listen to that type of music, part of me that will wear black T-shirts."

The teenage years are the springboard into adulthood, and it's normal for people to hold on to certain things, Nickels said. The more extreme fads generally disappear with age, and she expects most emo teens will shed their dark sides.

"I think they're going to look back and wonder what they were doing," Nickels said. "But don't we all?"

Gothic Liberation Front

[Sorry for quality click in link below for better version.]

The group Gothic Liberation Front that we mentioned before has since the new year become far far more active and has been putting out a lot of videos on Youtube. A lot of these recount some really sick and terrible incidents. You can see links to them via their site. This recounts a rather horrific sexual assault:

This is a interesting post on fights between goths and emos.

They are also been active in putting out posters, flyers which they are distributing and have an article coming out in a local newspaper in the UK. Looks like they are moving off the internet which is good if they actually want to change things. They have a different stance from the SOPHIE group so it will be interesting to see which of them is the more successful in raising awareness. There is still some flak from disagreements over the GLF's role floating round on the net. It would have better if everyone concerned had just remained calmer in the first place. But it should be interesting to see where they are going to go from here.

"I have em all off" - RiUvEn, Goth battering and Liverpool City of Culture?

The recent start to Liverpool's year of being City of Culture featured a massive concert on Jan 11th which had some controversy. One person involved was the rapper Riuven, seemingly a violent scally who smokes weed all day. The Independent recently named him as one of the next big things for 2008. The Times said of the event "But it was a brilliant young Scouse rapper called RiUvEn who epitomised the spirit of the night — cheeky, quick-witted, brimming with energy." He sang his popular song "This is how we do it in tha L.I.V." Riuven’s first song The L.I.V became a hit via his Myspace page and was quickly downloaded to thousands of mobile phones across the city. The lyrics celebrate skunk deals, the wonders of lacoste, stealing cars and "head butts and kicks, split ribs , jaws rattling". One might understand why this might generate complaints from those worried about Liverpool's image, but look at its final few lines:

dont go the krazy house yo its full of smelly goths
sometimes i wait outside and have em all off
..I have em all off....

You can see him performing in this video to some baffled teens:

The Krazy House a longstanding club catering to metal/goth and Indie is well known in Liverpool. As this quote from this website shows the lyrics reflect reality:

We usually go to our fave non chav club the Krazy House, rock club etc. However it is on a very heavily chav populated area and the chavs cant seem to accept that there are people who don't like going to a bar getting pissed on stella and vk ice and dancing like a twat to some thumping techno beat and also they can't grasp that anyone could possibly go out not wearing fake designer shit. Oh no! They wait outside the KH just to shout abuse at anyone who is dressed differently to them.

There was also a violent incident there recently which is interesting:

Clubber stabbed in toilet - Liverpool Echo.co.uk Dec 31 2007

The 19-year-old from Kirkdale was knifed during the early hours after a scuffle broke out in the Krazy House rock club on Wood Street. Another man was treated in hospital for less serious knife wounds after the fight involving clubbers on Friday, December 21. The teenage victim has been discharged from the Royal Liverpool hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.

Clubbers told of their shock after the incident during the popular student night at the club, which has three floors and attracts fans of rock music.

One said: “The lad who got stabbed was looking at being in hospital over Christmas but it could have been much worse. He seemed to be in a very bad way at first. He was trying to split up a fight between some scallies and got stabbed for it.

“It’s frightening to think people actually go out for a night on the town with a knife.

“Everyone usually just has a good time and enjoys the music in the Krazy House, so for this to happen there is unusual.”

According to RiUvEn's website:

RiUvEn... exploded out of Toxteth Liverpool, in a blaze of goth battering and ganja smoke in early 2006. For Liverpool, a city not known for producing exciting rap acts, Riuven’s Unrelentingly harsh and unmistakably scouse approach was a revelation.

Now Riuven is in fact a caricature like Ali G, Riuven in real life is Robert Morris, who attended the notoriously posh King David's High and was a nice, quiet, studious boy there and was formerly a drummer in Indie bands. An interview with the Liverpool Post revealed more:

The track rapidly achieved cult status and led to growing curiosity about the musician behind the song, which boasts of stealing cars ‘round Seffie Park’ and fighting with ‘goths’ outside well-known city centre club The Krazy House. Now the budding hip hop star, who hit national headlines last year with a scathing rap about Lily Allen, is on the brink of releasing his debut album in March.

Riuven, real name Robert Morris, developed his chav-alter ego observing the bravado, attitude and antics of scallies from around Lodge Lane where he was raised. But he honed the larger-than-life persona when he was sent to Childwall’s prestigious King David School by his parents.

“I was probably the scally of our school in the sense that not many lads from Toxteth went there,” he says. “But I got into King David because I’m Jewish. I was lucky enough to get a great musical background and learn to play the drums to a high level. The scally persona is just something me and my mates have always found funny and joked about. We used to have parties, where we’d have a drink and listen to hip hop and there would always be a mic being passed around...

“I think most people realise that Riuven is a joke. He is a caricature of an unemployed scally who smokes weed all day and goes to town fighting the goths and causing trouble. The idea was to have a laugh and not glorify things like that. It has an element of social commentary on a city where many teenagers pass the time joyriding, taking drugs and generally misbehaving.”

Radio Merseyside DJ Billy Butler received complaints for playing a Riuven track and listeners called phone-in shows to argue Riuven showed Liverpool in a bad light. Sounding genuinely baffled, Morris says, “I was shocked that people didn’t see it was a joke, especially Scousers. People were reading far too much into it.

“If Riuven was serious, it’d be an outrage. But we’ve got to be able to laugh at people like that. [Jan 22nd]

Capital of Culture launch storm: Rapper Riuven hits back at his critics

"Riuven was based on loads of different lads I've met and seen sitting at the back of busses. I've got mates who have been beaten up by lads like Riuven.

http://www.liverpool.com/2008-capital-of-culture/-it-s-a-joke.html

His other songs include "Goths are not Boss", which you can hear on his website a rap about the gangs of teenagers who hang around outside the law courts in Liverpool. It features the line "The only good Goth is a Dead Goth" several times. It seems that Riuven's record deal and hopes to make it big in 2008 has had to led him to tone down his image. Another interview is interesting:

[On Riuven] What’s this got to do with comedy? Well, on a good day I’m 99% sure the Toxteth-based hip-hopper is supposed to be funny, in a Goldie Lookin' Chain sort of way. But sometimes I do like to imagine he knows not what he does...

“My record label have been telling me to try and tone my lyrics down a bit,” you can find him pondering on a Myspace forum. Needless to say, he can be appallingly rude. “Apparently the public arent as into stories about beating up goths and getting jiggy with milf as i thought theyd be.”[sic]
The resulting album, apparently titled I’m Only Messin or Am I, will be out in April, he says. Capital of Culture - so get told (Comedy Blog)

Considering Sophie Lancaster was killed last year a song which glorifies violence against goths seems to say the least in rather bad taste. Particularly one suspects that many listeners to The LIV do not understand it is a joke. Ali G managed to be funny without advocating anyone being beaten up. On the other hand one could argue I suppose he is reflecting the reality of the situation that people going to the Krazy House have to face a barrage of abuse and potential violence at times. But then if he was making those songs about Africans or homosexuals I think the response would be rather different.

Footage from Sophie's Birthday Concert

Brian Deneke - Tenth anniversary

Ten years later and the crimes go on but he is still remembered. Brian was run over ten years ago in a horrible crime.

Punk killing raises awareness
The Ranger, TX - Nov 29, 2007

Sometimes, it takes losing a life to create awareness. In 1997, what many considered a hate crime resulted in the death of a 19-year-old named Brian Deneke. Deneke lived in the Texas Panhandle town of Amarillo, where he and his friends liked to skate and listen to hardcore punk music.

Deneke, also known as "Sunshine" by his friends in the local punk scene, sported a faded blue mohawk and leather jacket. They were different, and as a result, they were considered outcasts in a town full of high school football players and jocks.

There had been constant name-calling in the halls of Amarillo and Tascosa high schools, and it was common for fights to break out between the two groups.

About 11:30 p.m. Dec. 12, 1997, Deneke and his friends were hanging out in an International House of Pancakes parking lot when a fight that would end in tragedy broke out.

Dustin Camp, a 17-year-old junior varsity football player at Tascosa High School, got behind the wheel of his 1983 Cadillac and jumped a median, running over and killing Deneke.

Camp was charged with manslaughter and received 10 years probation and a $1,000 fine.

"A Night for Brian Deneke," a tribute concert, will be from 6 p.m.-2 a.m. Dec. 8 at The Roadhouse Saloon, 6159 FM 78.

DJs Anthony Prater and Dina Hernandez, who host Punk Rock 101 on KSYM 90.1 FM from 9 p.m.-11 p.m. Tuesdays, got together with The Roadhouse Saloon and New Goon Productions to help organize the event.

"This hits close to home because that's the kind of scene I'm into," Prater said. "I guess Brian was just a nonconformist in a conservative town, and what happened was unfortunate."

The goal of the event is to encourage tolerance, dialogue and civilized respect for different lifestyles and perspectives, and at the same time, discourage violence and prevent acts of retaliation.

"I hate the word tolerance. I prefer the word acceptance," Prater said. "Tolerating them isn't enough; people should accept others regardless of their appearance or likes and dislikes."

To honor the memory of Deneke, the event is sponsored in cities throughout the United States and Canada, and features local and national punk bands - music Deneke liked to listen to. Musical guests will include Graded By X, The Dreadnauts, The Dirty Hacks, Terrible Teardrops, Silent Minority, Sewer Rats, Pavel Demon and The Revenant, Second To None, Filthy, The Muffdivers, The Dementers, The Dispicables and Deneke's favorite band, Destroy Everything.

The event is $10 at the door or $5 with a new unwrapped toy to be donated to Toys For Tots.

Proceeds will go to the National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children and the Esperanza Center for Peace & Justice.

Patricide was it motivated by listening to metal or horrendous sexual abuse?

Back in July in New York Brigitte Harris murdered her father. It seems her crime was motivated by a lifetime of horrific sexual abuse. There is an interesting new article on the case here which gives the full background:

village voice > news > The Goth Girl, Her Preppy Sister, Sexual Abuse and Murder by Maria Luisa Tucker


"Brigitte Harris's MySpace page portrays a young woman with interests ranging from musical theater and sewing to heavy metal and the occult."

In the aftermath of her father's murder, Carleen has been talking a lot. She launched a public-relations campaign to "Save Brigitte." Within 36 hours of the murder, she had hired star defense attorney Arthur Aidala and told the world that both she and Brigitte had been victims of a pedophile father who regularly and repeatedly raped them from a very young age. Within a week, Carleen had set up a website collecting donations for a defense fund and had held press conferences to round up support. The murder of their "monster" father was simply karma, she told Montel Williams and audiences at a candlelight vigil. If Brigitte snapped, she implied, it was their father who had pushed her.

Thanks to Carleen's efforts, a small crowd of supporters have lined up behind Brigitte, including U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer and New York State Senators Eric Adams and Diane Savino.

TV report just after the arrest.




It seems likely that Brigitte's interest in metal music and gothic culture will play an important part in the ongoing coverage of the case as it does in this article.

Take a look at the details accumulated from her myspace The Original Dark Angel and Vampire freaks profiles in this article which sugges6s that listening to a metal sparked her quest for vengeance:

Brigitte Harris Accused of Murdering and Castrating Her Stepfather ...

Harris describes her interests in more detail within her VampireFreaks.com profile:

"[Interests include] everything within the gothic culture, the night time, graveyards by nightfall. I am a thoughtful person when it comes to things. I don't talk a lot, I love the gothic culture, and I like wearing things that resemble medieval times. In my free time I like to read, listen to music, go [to] the movies, Broadway shows, extreme sports and swimming."

Yet if you look at Brigitte's own description of her music shows why she likes metal it has a lot to do with her own musical ability as much with dark reality of the bleak world some metal lyrics describe:

I love all Genres of Musis. My fav. genre is Rock;mostly Metal. I love Rock b/c i Relate to what most bands sing(or scream) about. i also just love the fact that they play their own instruments. thats why i love Classical and Opera. my fav. instruments R the drums,cello, mandarin and Chinese guitar. I have been playing the clarinet since the 4th grade. OTEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Linkin Park ^_^, A7X-Avenged 7 Fold, Pinkly Smooth, Opiate 4 the Masses, Kittie, Korn, System of a Down,The Used, My Chemical Romance,Sick AS Monday, Disturbed, Staind, Lacuna Coil, As I Lay Dying, Evanescence, Pagoda, 3 Days Grace, Letter Kills, Killswitch Engage, Breaking Benjamin, The Rasmus, Muse, The Cure, Rob Zombie, HIM,
Slayer, Atreyu, Cradle of Filth, Godsmack, Metallica, A Perfect Circle, Rammstein,
Static-X, Mudvayne, Underoath, Bleed the Dream, Senses Fail, 9 inch Nails, Drowning Pool, Story of the Year, Shinedown, Silvertide, Papa Roach,
Chevelle,... Tchaikovsky, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Bach, Imogen Heap, Bizet, Andrea Bocelli, Leopold Stokowski

She also loves many classical composers yet strangely no article mentions her liking for Mozart as a significant fact in the murders. [I note that Brigitte doesn't actually mention any Gothic rock bands here but discriminating between metal and goth can be tricky for media people.] How abou the fact that Brigitte unlike her sister wanted go open about the abuse rather than hiding it?

The reality is that Brigitte seems to have killed her father because he abused her. The music she listened too and the films she watched are irrelevant, likely to be found on thousands of similar profiles on the net, if she listened to rap or country the result would have been much the same. I suspect that members of the family who refuse to accept that the father could have abused his two daughters are likely to use such details of metal culture in a negative fashion.

Meanwhile, as the case heads toward trial—the plea agreement that the defense had hoped for has yet to materialize—Brigitte's family has become increasingly polarized. Carleen and her maternal relatives have portrayed Brigitte as a victim who finally snapped, while Eric's side of the family denies any sexual abuse and say the sisters planned their father's murder for ulterior motives. The family split was apparent during a court date last month. Seven members of Eric's family traveled from Rhode Island and Colorado to attend a brief hearing at Queens Criminal Court, where they exchanged information and hugs with the prosecutor. Carleen was notably absent; in her place was an advocate from a domestic-violence nonprofit that helps those in trouble for retaliating against their abusers.

Link to the

Save Brigitte Harris website

Sophie's Birthday

She would have been 21 today.

Farewell Goth Help Us

Been to draft this post for a while.

Goth Help Us International folded at the end of Ocober and was a campaigning organization which only started in April 2006 by Rebecca K Hohm. They had their detractors in recent times, but they also did some good things and help raise awareness that goths can be useful members of the community. Considering the hugely negative press goth often gets, especially in the States they have to be applauded for that. The San Diego branch appeared in this report on the local news.

This is part of the introduction to what was their website before it was taken down:

Goth Help Us" was founded in April 2006 in the United States and is a grassroots effort to help humanity. Hopefully we'll help the world realize that goths are much more than strange or odd people. We want to try to prove to everyone that goths are also compassionate, loving, and extremely caring people. We also know that depression plagues many of us, and the only true way to rid yourself of depression is to go out and help other people. Maybe by helping others, we'll find our smiles again.

This organization is about wanting to help people and to network with other goths in hopes of trying to help humanity in general. We are organizing blood drives. We are helping the homeless. We are making dreams come true for sick children. We are helping fund animal shelters. We are helping to beautify our cities again. We are helping each other and helping others.

We just want to spread peace and also try to help stop the violence against goths.

We collaborate with already well-established charitable organizations, such as The Red Cross, The Humane Society, and Habitat for Humanity. We are NOT a charity. We are a humanitarian organization. We are a peaceful and compassionate sect of people and now we're proving it to the world.

Here are some of the projects they were involved in.

* Drivers for ride shares in a Need-A-Goth program for people under the influence
* Escorting and assisting grieving elderly individuals at cemeteries
* Food service at homeless shelters for adults and children
* Blood drives
* Toy drives
* Beach clean-ups
* Housing cleanup for the disabled
* Animal care for the Humane Society as a volunteer caregiver walking and exercising animals, in food preparation, or even protesting of animal cruelty

Goth Help Us were involved in the early stages of the aftermath of the Sophie Lancaster case and helped tell people about it. Their collapse came about partially over arguments over the implications of the whole Hate Crimes debate which the death of Sophie caused. It was Goth Help Us who originally raised the idea of using Hate Crime legislation to address the issue and promoted it. Their campaign got somewhat carried away in some of the imagery they used. As we noted here before that whole issue aroused strong feelings both positive and negative see Hate Crime and Subcultures - the debate.

It was from that idea the more successful hate crimes campaign in the UK developed.

From what I understand it seems that in raising the issue prominently the organization became internally divided. You can read a little about this here. The group also had external critics.

It is sad that an organization which in its short life did much good fell apart in such a way.

The San Diego Branch was particularly active and its organisation was prompted over a particularly nasty case of assault on some local goths:

Synchonicity is the best way to describe the chain of events that occurred to make Goth Help Us San Diego happen as it did. A negative act with positive repercussions. Goth Help Us as a whole is still a new organization and at the precise time that was necessary to get everything moving in the right direction, a wrong was done. Jim Howard, the current president of Goth Help Us San Diego, and a small group of friends and family were accosted on the street by a number of drunk, belligerent people. As Jim was assaulted it was made clear that he and his group was chosen due to their subculture affiliation. This can be otherwise known as a “hate crime.” The courts will not recognize this attack as a hate crime at this time.

This act came as a blow to the San Diego Goth community as the people that were involved in this attack were well respected members of the community. Alongside the choice of target, the Goth community is appalled that the courts will not recognize subcultures as a motivation for hate crime. Jim was, unfortunately, rushed to the hospital and had to undergo surgery in order to repair the damage that was done. Rather than acting in a similar fashion and attacking others, verbally, physically or any other way, Jim decided to act out and motivate the San Diego community to work together and help dispel the negative image that Goths have.

Here is the report on the case from Angst zine in September:

As many people in the Southern California region are aware, there has been a problem with violent crime against the Gothic community. None of us are certain precisely why this is, but we can guess; bad press, bad public image and misinformation undoubtedly top the list. The most notable California violence was the attack on 4 San Diego Goths. Outside of the United States, two young Goths were attacked in the United Kingdom and one lost her life while the other, at the time of this writing, is still comatose. Alongside these two attacks there have been many other attacks large and small across the globe. The first thing that should be stated is that this is clearly hate motivated. There is no rationale that can be used to defend these mindless acts. In San Diego, California, though, justice has been served and a blow has been struck against the would-be attackers and dangers to the Gothic community.

After a year-long wait, the four Goths from San Diego finally found justice in the courts. They were attacked by a Navy man and his brother, which resulted in the hospitalization of Jim Howard, the current Goth Help Us - San Diego Chapter President. As of the end of August, the Navy man that attacked Jim, his wife and two friends was found guilty by a jury of his peers on 4 related counts, 2 of which were felonious. The brother is set for a trial potentially for 2 felony counts. Furthermore, the San Diego District Attorney should most definitely get a mention as they fought for the rights of the attacked and the San Diego Gothic community. *

Here is an article on the group and an interview with its founder.
The Denver branch is continuing as an independent organisation as is San Diego under San Diego’s Gothic Volunteer Alliance (GVA). So locally the good work will continue.

Sophie's funeral footage and photos

Fox 11 News Undercover: EMO SCENE KIDS!

In May 2007 Fox News went undercover to expose a new development in the United States, Emo. As you might expect it is somewhat inaccurate, but it is an interesting report in that it examines the cult of emo bashing, including some online videos of attacks, rather than going on about self harm for a change. It notes the noticeable prejudice from punks, metalers, and even goths against emo kids which is so obvious online.

At first I thought it was more of a US thing in that although in the UK members of other subcultures certainly are often pretty scathing of emo music, they don't go so far as suggesting beating them up is a good idea. (Well the ones I know don't). But looking into it more closely this type of intoleraance is more serious in the UK than I thought. Of course while much of this type of online emo bashing is meant in a humorous way, it seems not just intolerant to me but is absurd. I am not the greatest fan of certain types of Emo music, but why should other alternative people slag them off consistently and even threaten them? This whole hate crime legislation plan is not going to work if it has to be used to stop metalers hating Emos.

The real problem is that the idea of emo bashing has become popular amongst those who are the real threats to alternative people. Certainly if you talk to UK teenage metalers, skaters and goths they generally see emos as allies locally against the townie/chav threat. To add to the problem is the fact that that media when looking for info on Emos often find some of the vast number of anti-emo satire sites, take them for the real thing and believe all emos spend all their time indulging in self harm, suicide and being depressed (which exactly what they said about goth from 1982-2002).

If people from alternative subcultures cannot tolerate each other because of musical differences then they really are in trouble.

Andrew Gosden 14 year old metal fan still missing

Please repost:

Andrew Gosden, 14, disappeared seven weeks ago after withdrawing £200 from his bank account. A high achiever at school, who likes metal style clothing, he is thought to have been in London without a mobile phone and has had no contact with friends or family. Andrew's parents have travelled to London each weekend to distribute posters of him.
Andrew is 5ft 4ins tall, of slim build with collar length, light brown hair and brown eyes. It is thought Andrew will be wearing black jeans, a black T-shirt and black trainers. Andrew may be carrying with him a black canvas satchel with patches of rock/metal bands on it. He likes Evanescence, Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Marilyn Manson etc.



He was last seen in London at Kings Cross after getting off a train from Doncaster.

See full details with photo here with youtube footage link and facebook link :

Andrew Gosden

"There have been reported sightings of him in London — at a Pizza Hut in Oxford Street, in a park in Streatham, leaving a local train at Waterloo — and farther afield, from South Wales to Birkenhead. " Times article:
A perfect son, a model family – so what made him run away?

Andrew was bullied at school according to comments at the Kerrang site.

Hiyer

I know andrew.
He goes to my school and is in all my classes
Its true wot people are saying-he did get singled out a lot and only had a couple of friends!

People bullied him- they wonder why he ran away.

I really wish he comes home soon

And for u lot that live near london-
please keep ur eyes open!

Thnx!
=)

Bex

Xxx

Flowers for Sophie

Sophie Lancaster tribute flowers in Bacup in the park where she and Rob were attacked.