Alice Teeple
It wasn’t the kind of joint where you’d expect to see goth royalty, but on the 6th of October, the neon-soaked Xanadu Roller Arts in Brooklyn hosted an unlikely collision of worlds as darkwave princes Clan of Xymox shared the stage with SINE and Curse Mackey. The rink shimmered in early ‘90s nostalgia, but the crowd wore black, hearts bursting with anticipation.
DJ Sean Templar of NYC goth night mainstay The Red Party spun a set straight from the shadows, dredging up everyone from Fad Gadget to Bootblacks – whose own Barrett Hiatt, that wiry whirl of energy, zipped around the rink, skates slicing the pink glow like a blade through smoke. (Whispers floated about Curse Mackey lacing up a pair of his own, but no one could pin him down.)
SINE, led by the charming Rona Rougeheart, hit the stage with a punch—masked, unmasked, shifting shapes. Her sub-bass hammered through the venue, a heartbeat too loud for comfort, the industrial grind thudding. She commanded the crowd, her energy infectious. Every synth line she unleashed came with the sharpness of a switchblade, carving out an atmosphere that was part theatre, part storm. She owned the night…no mask needed.
Although SINE’s performance was a hard act to follow, Curse Mackey brought down the house with his signature cocktail of industrial grit and goth grandeur. His stomping beats, heavy and hard, landed like a jackboot on wet pavement, while his vocals slithered between a hypnotic whisper and a defiant howl. Mackey paced in front of the audience, mugging for the dozens of iPhones shoved toward him as humble offerings. To be sure, everyone’s IG Stories in the front row were Cursed that night.
The Clan of Xymox set at that neon roller rink felt like stepping into a dream, the kind from which you weren’t sure you’d awaken. Opening with Love Got Lost from 2009’s In Love We Trust, their icy blend of synths and guitar riffs shimmered with the weight of melancholy. Deep basslines throbbed beneath it all, a pulse so low you could feel it in your chest, while Ronny Moorings’ voice dripped from the speakers like honey laced with poison—smooth, slow, and full of sorrow, as they played hits old and new: X-Odus, Your Kiss, Jasmine and Rose, Louise, Emily, A Day.
Clan of Xymox kept things cold, clean, and urgent throughout the show. One thing was clear: Ronny Moorings has a serious case of carpet PTSD, as he shared a particularly grim hotel horror story that left the crowd both amused and unsettled. Despite the tale, his mood remained light – even cracking a few ribald jokes about the mysterious source of the stage fog. Meanwhile, Sean de Winzer charmed the audience with his light-up keyboard, prowling the stage like a character straight out of a German Expressionist film.
As the music swelled, the cheerful Xanadu transformed into something else—a cathedral built on beats and shadows. The lively goth crowd in the pit and backstage cheerfully moshed, sloshed and b’goshed as they pumped their fists in the air, belting along to Muscoviet Mosquito with gusto. Familiar faces from the NYC scene also dotted the audience, including Pepper Somerset (My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult), Beth Narducci (A Cloud of Ravens), and comedian Erik Bergstrom.
Full setlist:
- Love Got Lost
- No Tomorrow
- X-Odus
- Your Kiss
- Jasmine & Rose
- Louise
- Emily
- All I Ever Know
- Loneliness
- Suffer
- She
- A Day
- Blood of Christ
- Muscoviet Mosquito
- Michelle
- Backdoor
- Obsession
- Hail Mary
- This World
- In Love We Trust
- Stranger
- Lockdown
Clan of Xymox has finished the North American leg of their extensive 2024 tour, but will be continuing the party across the pond in France, Belgium and Germany. Don’t miss out!
- Oct 31 La Marbrerie Montreuil, France
- Nov 1 Ruche Verriere Charleroi, Belgium
- Nov 15 Club Volta Cologne, Germany
- Jan 17 Kulttempel Oberhausen, Germany
- Jan 25 FRANNZ Club Berlin, Germany
- Mar 7 Schakelbox Waregem, Belgium
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