Gabber is a lifestyle characterized by a particular way to dress and by
listen and “love” the hardcore techno music. Is a community that moves
around Europe to go to the different hardcore festivals and events.
The
hardcore music was born in Netherlands at the end of 80s, and during
the 90s the Gabber youth subculture was diffused in many european
countries, also in Italy, mainly in the north. The rhythm of the
old-school hardcore of the beginning was around 130 bpm, the modern one
starts from 180 bpm up to 300 bpm and over (speedcore).
Today the
italian boys and girls who embrace this trend are divided in two
categories. One is called Hardcore Warriors (an italian invention),
which has an appearance that has something comparable to the punk style
(big combs, studs and wedge heels) but with fluorescent colors, and the
way to dance is composed of a series of punches and kicks in the air.
The other one is the Gabber, with a style similar to the old-school one
of 90s (the heads partially or completely shaved and colored
tracksuits), and the dance is characterized by alternating little fast
jumps and big jumps to spin around, moving the arms about the head.
Also
if some of them can looks like Skinhead, the authentic movement is
apolitical. There are a lot of Gabbers who are accustomed to taking many
different kind of drugs, like amphetamine or MDMA, however the drug
consumption is not a prerogative of the movement, there are Gabbers who
completely refuse and despise it.
I worked for two years for a
discotheque near Brescia, in North Italy, famous in the gabber community
for the big hardcore festivals that are organized one day per month,
with DJs from all Europe.
The following pictures are a selection of the lots of photographs i took during these events.
The word “gabber” in dutch-yiddish language means “friend”.