Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the economic crisis and its affects in the Athenian goth scene focusing on the ways of negotiation of clubbers and club owners to make their lifestyle viable through 'these difficult times'.

Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses the economic crisis making parallels with the Athenian and European goth scene. Ethnographic material is used from my research that was conducted in three different locations, Greece, England and Germany as well as in the cyberspace.

Saturday night is considered an opportunity to meet friends, flirt and "dance away" the weekly tension of work, school or university and the economic frugality. However, under the new economic terms, the institution of "Saturday night out" is being reconsidered by clubbers and club owners so that it survives as part of goth life style rather than to be turned into luxury. I argue that, even though the current economic crisis has been affecting both goth scene and its fans in different ways that will be analysed here, goth fans have been trying to find ways to negotiate this situation to keep the scene active and continue performing their goth identity as they used to do.