The night was February 26th, 2022, during a problematic winter for the world that didn’t stop me from going to The Gathering’s album-release concert for Parade. For the first time in my life, I left home in less than sixty minutes before the venue opened its doors. I travelled as quick as I could through the rain and mist, and I made it on time.
For me, the experience began right after I had finished hanging my things in the cloakroom. Jeff Pawson waved at me as he happened to be near. I went and introduced myself as I was excited to meet him for the first time after some online correspondence from the last concert. Next to him was his beautiful partner, Shamin, who stood with her black hair hanging over her leather jacket. He introduced us, and I got further acquainted with her later on during their gig when she kindly offered me to keep my vinyl and t-shirt at the merchandise table so that I can enjoy the show.
Now, there is something people don’t always know about many goths. Yes, we are stereotypically known to be the type to romanticise things, and we are also known to take interest in the macabre side of life, but I find that many people don’t realize that we often have very nostalgic personalities. We carry our ankhs over our hearts while reminded of this nostalgic eternity on a very regular basis. And, that’s one of the reasons I love all of the songs by The Gathering. They evoke this nostalgia, although in a good way. What especially adds to this nostalgia is looking at this picture. Every time I look at it, I feel like I’m looking into a well at the band’s past. The young Canadian lads who once got together in 1985 to form their band, disbanded at the end of that decade, and reunited with the same music of their youth decades later.
Yes, I love modern bands like Spectres (especially their album Nostalgia), Rosegarden Funeral Party, Lebanon Hanover, She Past Away, Hapax, and Drab Majesty. But, let’s face the truth, I can’t say The Gathering’s name in the same sentence. They’re not trying to sound LIKE the ’80s, they ARE the eighties. In fact, I sometimes wonder, if they had carried on with their career since then, would they have toured with legendary and pioneering bands like Echo & the Bunnymen, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, The Cult, The Cure, Pink Turns Blue, Skeletal Family, Killing Joke, and Xmal Deutschland? Because The Gathering isn’t a “retro” band, I think that their place in time is what strikes the hardest. It often feel like there’s a ghostly presence of their past selves right next to each one of them.
Going back to the present moment in 2022, The Gathering opened their show with “Gravity of Love”. This was a perfect choice. “Your kiss on my skin makes me home again, gravity of love, the tides are closing in…”. This song always takes me back in time. So, opening the show with it in itself reflects what this band is all about. They performed “Hunter”, “Empires”, “Ocean Star”, “Let it Shine”, and, of course, the song that always makes me dance as if I’m caught in a cauldron of bats: “1000 Years”. The unforgiving guitars, the chant in the chorus, the lyrics about searching for ‘her’, and the video of the woman going into the water where there are sharks take me to a completely different realm. Their performance for “Love Songs” was remarkable because their friend who was in the video happened to be in the audience, so they brought her up on stage to sing with them. I’ve always believed in the adage, “Actions speak louder than words.” Watching them perform their single while sharing the stage with their friend tells me that they care about their friends, and it also tells me that their music creates a community for their fans. After their show, they even came out for a meet-and-greet session behind their merchandise table so that they can interact with all of us.
What words would I use to describe the members of The Gathering? Kind. Respectful. Loving. Courteous. Genuine. Sociable. Unpretentious. As a band? Timeless.
Actually, this timelessness was especially evident in their fan base. There were a few goths, but the majority was a middle-age crowd that danced, smiled, enjoyed every note played and sung, and looked beautiful inside and out as they did so. It made me wonder if whether or not any of them were goths/punks in their youth, or if any of them had the opportunity to see The Gathering play in the ‘80s. Above all, though, the crowd gave me hope. I’m only twenty-nine, but I’ve gone through a quarter-life crisis, and I have grown several strands of grey hair. Since the dawn of my late twenties, I’ve been saying verbatim: “My youth is in the autumn of its time”. Seeing a crowd of people in their forties and older look that happy, healthy, beautiful, and partying to a live band that I love gives me a lot of hope as I have been mourning the final days of my youth. It felt as if they were opening an entrance and welcoming me into another phase of adulthood. A phase that, in fact, isn’t any less youthful than my fleeting twenties.
As I approached the table, of course, many fans flocked around the band for pictures and autographs, filling the atmosphere with laughter, smiles, and excitement. I was fortunate to go along and meet the rest of the band members, converse with them, and take a picture with them and a friend of mine from our local scene. I mentioned to Jeff Pawson that I’ll be writing about this concert, and he joked with me by asking to describe them as a “2000s band” to avoid aging them (somehow, I already know that feeling). Of course, we laughed. I told the rest of the band members that their music is fabulous and that I enjoy their performances very much.
Meanwhile, as they were signing the records, I had a chance to converse with Peter Burns (his name makes me think of Dead or Alive), and, I have to admit, even talking to him, amazingly, brought up as much nostalgia for me, exactly like when listening to their music. I told him that one of the reasons “1000 Years” is my favorite song by them is that it reminds me a lot of “Blue Murder” by Ikon, a song that I connect with very deeply. I also mentioned that their sound reminds me a lot of other classic bands that I love such as The Mission and Echo & the Bunnymen. He looked at me and said, “Echo & the Bunnymen... Now you’re speaking our language”. Right that second, I felt as if I had fallen into one of time’s portals. If one can imagine The Gathering and other ‘80s post-punk bands as fictional characters in a novel, it was as if, the moment he said “our language”, the saying transcended me into the novel’s setting. More specifically, a setting much like the cover of the album, Ocean Rain. A blue, enigmatic cave that leads into unidentified destinations.
I wish that more people would discover The Gathering. Although I understand that there are probably a thousand bands with the same name which causes them to get overlooked, I think that they should be given the chance, especially by people who claim to love ‘80s music so much. I am a firm believer that, although the post-punk and cold/dark wave revival of our time inspired this band’s reunion, they didn’t resurrect to be part of a trend. They’ve got something special to share, and I can’t think of one song that would prove otherwise. The band returned from the ashes to specifically share their special tunes with us, and so that many more people can enjoy and connect with them. Their lyrics are sincere, they mean what they play and sing, and the way they bring us, their fans, together makes us “the gathering” at their shows.
And, as I, The Black Rose, continue to watch the remaining petals of my youth fall, one after the other, I look forward to going into my thirties knowing that there will be more opportunities to see The Gathering again, as well as to hear the new music that they will create.