Heresy is at it again. The Vampyre Ball, hosted by event creator Mike Fowler, was a huge success drawing local vampires together at nightclub Cielo 9 off Rosedale Highway.
For those of you who are not aware, Heresy is a dark alternative/punk/goth nightclub in which they hold themed events pertaining to the dark culture.
At the event on Feb. 20, they provided everyone with a “Scream” themed wristband that allowed access to the 21-and-over event.
During the event, enjoyably loud, synthetic pop rock music blasted through the speakers, vibrating the walls, while flashing laser lights pierced through the room, lighting up every pale face masked with dark makeup and fake blood.
The costumes, or normal dressing attire for some, mainly consisted of fishnets, trench coats, corsets, plaid clothing, chunky boots, black tutus, spiked heels or a wedged heeled shoe known widely among the Goth community as creepers.
The hairstyles varied from mohawks, liberty spikes, Betty Paige bangs, beehives, as well as various different types of colored hair.
The makeup resembled that of something you’d see in a Tim Burton movie. Pale faces with eyes rimmed with black, red, and occasionally both. Mouths were painted with black, red, or a deep purple shade lipstick while some dressed their mouths up with blood pouring out.
Heresy promoter Joe Jinx, a local hairstylist, says that he has been attending Heresy for the past year. “I really like it because it’s the only dark alternative club in Bakersfield, and it’s basically a place where people can congregate and enjoy the music.”
Jinx said that he loves how Heresy is able to bring a darker, declarative culture to Bakersfield that people can enjoy.
“Even if you’re not a part of the culture you can still enjoy it,” he said.
Jinx also mentioned the halt of Heresy events due to having issues with finding a venue.
“When that happened, there was a huge outrage,” he said. “People enjoy coming to these events because they love how they can be themselves and fully express the darker side of them that lingers within. Fortunately for us, Mike doesn’t want to let Heresy go because he knows how much we enjoy it. Mike is always able to pull through because he is a smart businessman and is great at planning these events.”
The event founder, Mike Fowler, stated that he created this event because, “In the late 80’s and early 90’s, I was involved in the alternative music scene. I was a punk rock skater, going to shows every weekend; either playing in a band, or just going to watch the show. I left the music scene in 1993 and got a family, became religious, started a career, owned an SUV, made 401K and so on. In 2007, I really wanted to do something in the local music community again, so I started planning what I knew. Alternative music. More specifically, dark alternative music: goth, dark electro, new wave, punk, industrial, etc. When I visited a club in Hollywood one night, I said, ‘This is it. This is what my teen years were like’. My religious friends were telling each other that I was becoming a heretic, so I decided to give them something to talk about and called it ‘Heresy’.”
Fowler said, “I want to keep meeting new people and introduce this dark, beautiful little world to them. There’s half a million of people in Bakersfield and I want them to come see what happens here and what Heresy is about. I want them to become a part of Heresy. Since Heresy’s purchase of Tim Gardea Presents last year, yes, I do have some specific plans but I can’t talk about them yet.”
Fowler also has hopes to one day own a venue for Heresy.
“I dream about Heresy. I’ve had dreams that Heresy was worldwide. I even dreamt once that we had to rent out the Renegade Stadium to hold Heresy at because it became so big. Another time, I dreamt that I had grown Heresy all the way to Dubai. For now: yes, I plan to have a Heresy venue one day. I’m just waiting for the opportune moment. Bakersfield has been very good to Heresy, and I’m sure you all will be ready to take that next step with me when the time comes.”