SUPER EGO Few things light up our nightlife scene like the whirling, clapping, shouting, laughing, dhol-drum-driven monthly bonanza that is Non Stop Bhangra. The recent influx of Indian arrivals, mostly due to tech-related jobs, has given Bay Area culture a nice, bright kick in the pakoras — we were already home to a flourishing Indian community, too — and the eight-year-old NSB monthly party is a welcome wagon everyone can hop on.
DJ Jimmy Love, dancer Vicki Virk, the dholrythms dance crew, and live musicians and artists take the classic Punjab-via-UK sound of bhangra (a post-disco phenomenon that incorporates electronic innovation into traditional musical forms) and blow it up, showcasing the wonderful sonic effects and refractions of the recent Indian diaspora. Celtic bhangra? Underground bhangra hip-hop? Bhangra flashmobs? Bhangratronica? Balle balle, no problemo. Chak de phatte!
This month’s installment’s a special one, with an early screening (before 10pm) of Non Stop Bhangra documentary footage by filmmaker Odell Hussy. Three years in the making, the doc promises an intimate look inside one of SF’s night-time treasures. And after that: dancing, dancing, and more dancing. (Lessons at 9:30pm, y’all.)
NON STOP BHANGRA Sat/13, 9pm-late, $10 before 10pm, $15 after. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
BLOCKHEAD
The Ritual bass crew’s weekly Thursday parties, now at Mighty, are pretty damned great — especially when they’re reconnecting with their lowdown influences. Like, say, seminal Ninja Tune ripper Blockhead, whose 2004 disc Music by Cavelight was a prophetic reanimation of trip-hop, pitch-shifted vocals and all.
Thu/11, 10pm-3am, $10. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.facebook.com/ritualsf
PEPPER 20-YEAR REUNION
Nothing embodies that spirit of scrappy, funky-house, old school dance-on-the-tables SF like Pepper. With DJs Pal Joey, Smash, Toph One, Doc Fu, Steady-P, and Consuelo.
Fri/12, 9pm-late, $5. f8, 1172 Folsom, SF. www.feightsf.com
BARDOT A GO GO
Honestly one of may favorite annual all-ages parties. Celebrate Bastille Day with cool cats and kittens into French pop ditties, with a special emphasis on the swingin’ ’60s of Serge Gainsbourg and the pre-hateful Miss Bardot herself. DJs Pink Frankenstein, Brother Grimm, and Cali Kid get you in le groove. Plus! Free ’60s hairstyling by Peter Thomas Hair design from 9-11pm, oh mon dieu.
Fri/12, 9pm, $10. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. www.bardotagogo.com
45 LIVE
Basically, here’s the deal: funky beat all-stars Prince Paul, Peanut Butter Wolf, Dam Funk, J Rocc, Shortkut, and Platurn play vinyl funk and soul 45s while we eat free BBQ and live the dream. I’m kind of freaking out about it.
Fri/12, 9pm, $20 advance. ighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com
FAG FRIDAYS GETS HONEY DIPPED
The gay ‘n joyful big-room house monthly gets a sticky splash of techno from Honey Soundsystem boys Jason Kendig and P-Play. Lick your fingers.
Fri/12, 10pm-late, $5. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.dnalounge.com
HANUKKAH IN JULY
Hostess Lil Miss Hot Mess hoists a giant MANorah for a summertime festival of lites at weekly artsy dragsplosion Some Thing. With DJ Josh Cheon and performances by Jil Filta Fish, Elijah Minelli, and more. It’s a mitzvah!
Fri/12, 10pm-late, $8. The Stud, 399 Ninth St., SF. www.studsf.com
SH*T SHOW
LA space-bass new school, post-trap funkmaster Taurus Scott of LA burns up the decks at this new monthly joint, which prides itself on downtown grittiness and fly style. (Traci P from Sisterz of the Underground puts it on, so you know the bonafides are in order.)
Sat/13, 10pm, $5 for two. Showdown, 10 Sixth St., SF.
JACQUES RENAULT
I am digging mysterious new party promotion entity Isis. Who else would start a press release for an appearance by DC disco re-edit/acid-jack prince Jacques Renault with “Mighty mother, daughter of the Nile, we rejoice as you join us with the rays of the sun.” This party should be equally as supernatural.
Sat/13, 9:30pm-3am, $10 advance. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
DISCO DADDY
The Eagle: our beloved old school rock ‘n roll gay leather biker bar. Bus Station John: our beloved old school gay bathhouse disco and funk DJ. Put them both together on Sunday evening once a month and what do you get? Hot fudge! (And a real cute dance party.)
Sun/14, 7pm-midnight, $5. SF Eagle, 398 12th St., SF. www.sf-eagle.com
SFAP: OK COMPUTER
Fantastic drag collective The San Francisco Album Project is presenting “theatrical lipsynch reenactments” of epic discs every month, this time taking on Thom Yorke and Co.’s “OK Computer,” which basically made widescreen rock OK again in the late ’90s. With Trixxie Carr, Precious Moments, Raya Light, Nikki Sixx Mile, and many more.
Sun/14, doors at 7pm, show at 8pm, $15–$20. The Chapel, 777 Valencia, SF. www.peacheschrist.com