HEX has spent five years building Albany’s goth and darkwave dance scene into something real. Sixty nights in, the DJ series helmed by Lee and Rachel Martin has established itself as the city’s premiere dark music night—and the five-year anniversary, arriving Saturday, November 7 at Lark Hall, has a fitting theme: Cover-Up 2, a night devoted entirely to covers and remixes drawn from the goth, industrial, and darkwave catalog.
About the Show
HEX (described on its own site as “a goth, early industrial, darkwave, themed music DJ night out of Albany, NY”) launched on Guy Fawkes Day at The Fuze Box, spinning from a catalog that runs through The Damned, Bauhaus, Ministry, and Sisters of Mercy. The night grew out of a genuine gap. As DJ Lee Martin told the Daily Gazette: “Everyone was unhappy about not really having an old school goth night. And I thought, ‘Well, I used to do this. Why not?’” Five years and 60 nights later, that question has its answer.
Cover-Up 2 flips the usual format: the entire night runs on covers and remixes by goth, industrial, and darkwave artists—no originals. The name doubles as a dress code. HEX is encouraging “conspiracy theory attire” in the spirit of the cover-up, though the invitation extends equally to Guy Fawkes costumes (honoring the night’s founding date), looks from past HEX themed nights, or no costume at all. As the event page puts it: “come as your beautiful selves.”
Albany’s goth and post-punk scene traces back to the 1980s, built through venues like the QE2 and The 288, shaped by figures like Char Shortsleeve and club owner Joe Lee. Martin described the spaces that made the scene possible: places “where you felt like people wanted you there.” Sculptor Jeff Brower, a longtime scene participant, said of Lee Martin: “I can’t imagine anyone better to carry on the tradition.” Ian Herrick, another longtime attendee, put the stakes plainly: “It is supremely important for the goth scene to continue in Albany.”
This is an 18+ event.
Venue & Logistics
Lark Hall, at 351 Hudson Ave, is HEX’s current home in the Capital Region after the series relocated from The Fuze Box. Free parking is available on site. Doors open at 9 p.m.; the night runs through 1 a.m.
Tickets
Tickets are $13. No refunds. Buy tickets