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English only.
GABBERS
INTRODUCTION
This report is about a typical Dutch youthculture: Gabbers. The word СgabberТ means: comerade, mate.
Everyone in The Netherlands is familiar with these bold headed youngsters who wear special tracksuits (Aussies). We decided to write this report because there are so many prejudices about Gabbers. We want to reveal the fundamental characteristics of this social group. Our report includes ideas, clothes, music and meetingplaces. Also rituals and habits are described.
We hope that everybody gets a better understanding of Gabbers. Furthermore we would like to remove prejudices because we are all equal, either you are gabber, alto or anything else.
GABBER CLOTHES
Track-suits
The most important part of the wardrobe of a gabber is the СAustralianТ or AussieТ. This exclusive Italian track-suit can be recognized by the mark of a kangaroo. Gabbers think it is a beautiful article of dress with Сan almost unsportmanlike stylish meaningТ. An СAussieТ is very useful for the houseparties of gabbers, because it allows you to sweat a lot. It is rather expensive. The zippers in the trouserlegs are not allowed to be used; they have to stay closed. Sometimes a gabber wears several jactkets at the same time. The suit has to be wide enough to hang the trouserlegs for three-fourths over the shoes.
Another frequently used track-suit is the Cavello, a Dutch trade-mark. It is cheaper, but also has less status thean the Aussie.
Shirts, sweaters and upper-parts
Underneath your Australian you may not wear anything but a shirt (and a slip of course). One condition is that it has to be a shirt which has a particular meaning or a clothingmark: Nike, Adidas, Oxbow, an picture of your favourite dj, recordlabel or some cruel pictures.
Even popular as these shirts are the special Colucci-sweaters: a rather rare and expensive type of sweater and therefore ideal to have in your posession.
Gabbergirls (ravebabes) often wear tiny, smooth and elastic upper-parts with almost no decollete (mark Nike, Reebok or Adidas).
Maxxies
The only shoe for gabbers is the Nike Air Max. It is the perfect shoe for their typical dances (СhakkenТ: chipping). These Maxxies have to be oversized, their boot-laces parallel and their far ends put away in the shoes.
Jackets
The bomberjack belongs to the standard-outfit of gabbers. Some are even printed (recordlabels etc.). Also a leather jacket, an american or pilote-jacket are allowed. As long as it has СclassТ.
From underwear to caps
A real male gabber wears a tight slip, to hold their СbusinessТ together during the СhakkuhТ (dance). Only СzwabbersТ wear boxershorts. Every female gabber (gabberinnetje) wears a moneybelt during their СravingТ. The only condition is that the belt may not be too large and contains only a few things.
A lot of gabbers wear baseballcaps, to protect their bold head! A cap has a print of a recordlabel or dj, or cartoonfigures like the Looney Tunes. Gabberkids prefer figures from Sesamystreet.
Other things
Gabbers often wear round and chrome sunglasses. They wear them in the opposite way upon their head or on their nose to camouflate their red eyes caused by their houseparties.
Besides they have big, golden or silvery bracelets and earrings. The girls wear lot of rings with skulls, vampires or zombies.
GABBER HAIR
Every gabberТs head must be shaved once in his lifetime. Being bold headed is the most significant way to wear your hair. Other possibilities are the following hairdresses:
Island
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Also called 'mushroom'. Short cut hair on top, shaved at both sides of the head. Sometimes a little tail. |
Brushhead
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Also called Сblockhead'. Sides are shaved or very short cut. On top a sort of brush. |
Model СRotterdamТ
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For gabbers who donТt like to be shaven. Sides are short, on top the hair is long. |
Female hairdress
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СGabberinnenТ mostly have a horsetail, which is held together very tightly (use of gel). Sometimes a shaven neck. Totally bold is very rare. |
Eyebrows
A closer look at the eyebrows of a female gabber reveals very small vertical lines. They are caused by cutting the little hairs with nailcissors and pulling them out with a pincet. Even male gabbers do this job, but they are less carefully with it.
Other ornaments of skin
Besides the great earrings some gabbers have an eyebrow- or tonguepiercing. Female gabbers only have a navelpiercing and many earpiercings.
Many gabbers have a tattoo, mostly with typical СgabberpicturesТ like a kangaroo.
The gabber feeling
The word СgabberТ is a Jiddish (old-Jewish) word which means СmateТor СfriendТ.
Friendship and comeradeship are the most characteristic motives behind the gabberfeeling.
It is all about solidarity and brotherhood. A gabber calls it СrespectТ. It is a feeling inside and youТve got this feeling or you donТt. It is something important for your whole lifetime, a value.
A gabber wants to be free, doing the things he wants to do.
Gabbers refuse to accept homosexuality as normal.
Is a Gabbers a racist?
No. They are very angry about this prejudice. Because of their outfit they look like skinheads, but they donТt dislike coloured people. There are a lot of coloured gabber-djТs.
The predujice has also to do with the bomberjacks they are used to wear: it has a red-white-and-blue flag (the national Dutch flag) on it. They just take pride in being a gabber as a typical Dutch invention, which happens to be here very succesfull.
Drugs???!!!
Gabbers are associated with drugs. You cannot deny this because most gabbers use XTC for their houseparties. But that doesnТt mean they are drugaddicted or something!
Most young people try drugs to find out what it is all about, so gabbers also try them. Male use more than female and they take drugs for raveparties.
They know a lot about the different kinds of XTC and use special names for it.
During the week they use weet (marihuana): White Widow, Afghan, Skunk etc.
RITUALS
Gabbercodes
Gabbers have a special greeting ritual. When they meet they shake hands, while grabbing their thumbs, shortly twisting their fingers and lightly hitting their fist. Everytime they meet and shake hands they yell Yo!, Hey man!, Cool! etc. After the shake they talk about thier favourite djТs, music, raveparties and pills.
Values and beliefs
Gabbers can be very kind. They are very concerned about good manners and friendship.
On a raveparty they often exchange adresses to meet, correspond or chat with eachother.
Some of their beliefs are: you have to greet someone, Сstay coolТ, donТt be upset, take care of your gabbers, do not interrupt your mates when they say something.
Gabberdating
A real gabber goes to a hardcoreparty twice a month. That also is a very good opportunity to get a girlfriend or boyfriend. Gabbers do not party to kiss but to dance. They make serious attempts for a closer relationship by making (new) appointments.
Rave
Raving means real party. Usually raveparties take place at a dark, unusual spot with sometimes twentythousand people who do nothing else but hakkuhТ (dance)
The most known Megaraves are: Earthquake, Thunderdome, Distortion, Bladerunner, Cyberzone etc.
Each party is announced by special Flyers, these are real works of art and collectoritems.
On a raveparty the music is central. It is almost a spiritual experience: because of the monotony and rythm body and soul are being united.
Raving also means have fun or going to the hairdresser for a new look.
Hakkuh
Hakkuh (hakken) is a typical gabberdance which is not so easy because you have to move your legs in a specific way while holding still the upper part of your the body. It is always an individual dance. Some variations are illustrated below.
MUSIC
The Bass
Gabbermusic is easy to distinct from other music because of the very heavy bass which comes around in some 220 times per minute. It is music for deaf people, you just have to feel it in your whole body. Whitout bass there is no gabbermusic possible.
The BPM (beats per minute) of gabbermusic is three times the BPM of funk and seven times the BPM of classic music! It is about 160.
It has become much faster the last years, but because the СgabberinnetjesТ (female gabbers) had to leave the dancefloor and therefore it has been turned back again. A gabberbeat is bouncing but has no tremble. When the first beat has sounded it never ends before the next one has begun, so they interfere.
The BPM of gabbermusic is about 160. In the table below you can see the difference between several kinds of music. BPG (Beats Per Genre)
0 - 40 ambient
50- 60 deep soul en ballads
80 heavy metal
80- 90 hiphop en funk
100 reggae
100-110 disco
110-130 punk
120-140 house
130-150 techno
150-160 jungle
165-180 happy hardcore
170-250 trash, speed metal, death metal
180-300 gabberhouse, terrorhouse, speed core
Hakken and Zaguh
Another aspect of gabbermusic is the so called СJuno-lineТ: a melody which sounds like a motorcycle passing by while you are listening to the radio. Some compare it to the sound of an electrocution, hundred times amplified. Because the BPM is that high the Juno-line is always staccato. Gabbers the Juno-line СzaguhТ (zagen=to use a saw) and the bass-line СhakkuhТ (hakken=to cut wood).
The bass sounds like: bongg bongg bongg bongg bongg bongg bongg bongg
The Juno sounds like: wiii-wiiiii-wiwiwiwi-wiii-wiiiii-wiwiwiwi-wiii-wiiiii-wi
Gabbermusic has almost no text, exept some yells repeated for several times or some historic sentences like СIch bin ein BerlinerТ, I had a dreamТ etc.
Happy hardcore
When gabbermusic becomes СdegeneratedТ it is called СzwabbermusicТ or Сhappy hardcoreТ. This type of music is very popular. A few famous specialists in this type of music are Charlie Lownoise & Mental who have scored a lot of hits, not only in The Netherlands but also abroad. They use a lot of text.
A very popular happy hardcore-hit was СGabbertjeТ, based on a song from a popular TV-programma for children in the fifties and sixties (Swiebertje).
Although diehards among gabbers dislike this kind of music, the records are bestsellers at the gabberhouseparties.