Reported By Women: Noir – A Celebration of Female Artists
Reporting by Olivia Taylor. Photography by Emily Palm.
On the top floor of Southgate House Revival, disco lights whirl around the small room. People arrive in lingerie, draped and torn robes, and tight leather pants with teased hair and passionate energy.
On Saturday, July 20, German synth-pop, punk rock of England, and New York's new wave converged within these hallowed walls nestled on the Kentucky border. Southgate House subjected Newport to the sound of women's rage and freedom with Noir: A Celebration of Female Artists.
These women sang with coarse, rough, shrieking voices. They sang about sexual freedom and the rage within them, without expectations of feminine etiquette, purity, or conventional beauty.
Noir is the monthly dance night at the Southgate House with a focus on gothic-industrial, new wave, synth, and punk songs. DJs play songs based on a topic every month, and it was time to praise the women.
DJ Dr. Martin, DJ Revelator, and DJ Cindy rotated throughout the night, playing Siouxsie and the Banshees, Switchblade Symphony, Lords of Acid, Zombie Girl, Ayria, and Garbage. These women sang with coarse, rough, shrieking voices. They sang about sexual freedom and the rage within them, without expectations of feminine etiquette, purity, or conventional beauty. Instead, their sound is raw emotion on top of joyful, pounding beats.
There is a whole bunch of other female artists who should be honored too. They furthered the scene, and their music has played a big role in the subculture.
With gothic, industrial music, it's usually focused on male artists. Of course, there's Siouxsie and the Banshees, they are icons," said Todd Martin, who DJed as Dr. Martin. "But there is a whole bunch of other female artists who should be honored too. They furthered the scene, and their music has played a big role in the subculture."
Cindy West, who played as DJ Cindy, says that women were critical in the development of alternative music in the ‘80s.
But the energy of the night came from the people who assembled there; about 50 people danced without fear. Young and old, some not conforming to gender standards, one person with a light-up hula hoop. It is a gathering of a subculture who just wants to dance to 80s music. Accompanied by the beating sounds resonating through the former church, they found a safe space to be free.