There’s a new exhibition about iconic London goth club….
The psychobilly band The Guana Batz once remarked, “It is a freak show at the Cave,” in 1984, demonstrating the significance of The Batcave, a Soho nightclub that served as the epicenter of London’s ’80s goth scene. The venue was also rather notorious.
It is back now. From March 22 to 29 ‘The Batcave Exhibition’ at the Museum of Youth Culture on Berwick Street in Soho (a new museum dedicated to the styles, sounds and social movements innovated by young people over the last century) welcomes goth to Soho once more, and introduces its sights and sounds to a whole new generation. The show includes original props and excerpts from the recently released book and CD “Young Limbs Rise Again: The story of the Batcave Nightclub 1982-1985,” which charts the club’s influence on post-punk, music, and fashion. It also features candid photos by British underground scene photographer Derek Ridgers and music journalist and author of “Gothic Rock,” Mick Mercer.
The exhibition pays homage to one of the most resilient youth subcultures, the Bauhaus’s “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” If you have ever found yourself tapping your foot to the music and thinking about rocking a collapsed green mohawk as a tonsorial choice, it is worth a look. It is kind of like the undead that the club’s fans fetishized.
