What’s more emotionally hair-raising than tonight’s “appearance” by DJ Pauly D at the Sound Factory? The pic accompanying this post of the scrubbed and painted Eagle Tavern that surfaced on the Internet this week — I saw it via drag queen politico Anna Conda. The Eagle closed last year — it was an actually legendary hangout for leather biker queers, and straight scruffy friends, into amazing rock music courtesy of DJ Don Bard at Sunday beer busts and a passel of live bands on Thursdays. It closed amid controversy, confusion, and stalled protest efforts, but now It does indeed look, in the words of one commenter, like, “My memories have been raped by a poorly designed condo kitchen.” (I hate rape jokes, unless they’re hilarious.)
But as another astute commenter commented, “While the physical space that was the Eagle is no longer, the people that made the atmosphere, the experience, the adventure, and the tradition are still with us. Let’s focus on the people and look for new space.” Amen. The monthly Eagle in Exile beer bust at El Rio is doing great, and although we’ve yet to achieve something weekly, I kind of think a little break for my liver on Sunday afternoons (and a chance to explore some other venues) has been a good thing. But I do miss hanging with my manly-man, non-gym queen homies, getting turned on to musical gems like this — and this pic brought on a lot of memories, as well as Crate and Barrel nightmares.
>> DOC MARTIN + J-BOOGIE Cali’s most beloved rave legend DJ Doc Martin, whose sets can encompass classic house woo-woo, intricate techno, and deep funk (he’s been on fire in the past couple years especially) will join SF’s multitalented jazzy-funk producer J-Boogie’s live band Dubtronic Science at Yoshi’s Fillmore to “combine electronic dance music with live instrumentation, progressing the tradition of jazz improvisation in the Fillmore.” This sounds really cool. Below is one of J-Boogie’s smooth recent joints that’s been popping up everywhere lately. What might Doc Martin do with it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSfWEOh6uxw
Fri/20, 10pm-1am, $15-$25. Yoshi’s Fillmore, 1330 Filmore, SF. Facebook invite here
>> FIX YOUR HAIR Giant neon queer fun with scene favorites DJs Jenna Riot and Andre, performers Manicure Versace and Terry T, the Vogue and Tone Crew, and more wet and wild friends. Tease it out, grrrlz.
>> JOEY NEGRO The UK dance hero, also known as Dave Lee, ruled much of the late 80s to early 00s: he was one of the first to infuse overt disco samples into house, and his productions and remixes like the below really did save my life on numerous occasions. Classic, classic, classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR4BJdaM-ZU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R1XHs7239U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdWTQ-6D4Q4
Fri/20, 9pm-3:30am, $10-15. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
>> SOUTH RAKKAS CREW SOM Bar is gonna be keeee-razy on 4/20 with a ton of booming’ future-dancehall and global bass music from this Mad Decent crew, plus incredibly diverse supporting players Kush Arora (perfect for today!), DJ Sep, Daneekah, Bootyklap, and the always slayin’ it Slayer’s Club players. Light up and get low.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUrqxf2Hq_I
Fri/20, 9pm-3am, $5 before 10:30, $10 after. SOM, 2925 16th St., SF. Facebook invite here
Two big nightlife things this week are true: one sad (but hopeful!) and one speechless. The speechless one involves mimes.
Yes, as the Chronicle keepsreporting, the Entertainment Commission is considering following in many European cities’ silent footsteps — perhaps against the wind, perhaps down invisible stairs, perhaps directly into a pernicious, intractable cube — and utilizing street mime troupes to neutralize rowdy nightlife crowds on the street. It is horrifying. These roving claques of pantomimers, or “nocturnal artistic intervention squads” are part of a program called Les Pierrots de la Nuit, which is something I used to say out loud in the shower while I was washing my hair to crack myself up. Now those words have taken quivering, over-gesticulating flesh and I am mortified.
But apparently, according to Paris, Barcelona, and other nexi of noisy nightlife, drawing a crowd’s attention (and, as the Chronicles gossip queen Leah Garchik cracks, possible malevolence?) drawing a crowd’s attention to sudden, engaging/enraging street theater can diffuse the tension clouds and dissipate any impending violence or escalating noise. (Mimes are also good with Venezuelan traffic.)
No word yet (lol) on the EC’s official decision, and I’ll stop beating up on mimes now because I actually revere Marcel Marceau and adore Mummenschantz. And oddly enough, there is actually a funny space for mimes in club history, from the Commedia dell’Arte traditions that inform burlesque, Vaudeville, masquerades, and Burning Man to a strange number of weeks in downtown Manhattan around 1989 when a group of young’uns went around dressed as mimes in a sort-of Clockwork Orange-y homage and attempted to overthrow the then-mouldering Club Kid establishment. So wave your arms, there you go.
Of course this is San Francisco, and we have slightly, er, different problems:
also
>> DONUTS
The sad but hopeful news? Tonight Thu/19 is THE FINAL DONUTS PARTY, a farewell to that wonderful, four-year-old roving nu-disco and hip house throwdown (yes, with free donuts!) as mainstay DJ Pickpocket, a.k.a. Kat Matutina moves to LA for a big job. I’m pissed that we’re not only losing another great party (like Blow Up and Kontol recently), but that we’re also losing an absolutely fabulous and gorgeous nightlife mover and shaker who did a ton to make SF the sophisticated, debaucherous nightlife center it’s become.
No fear though, because she’s going out in biggie style with performances from Ital, Mi Ami, Magic Touch, and others from the beloved dance music label of the moment, 100% Silk. Good luck, Kat — we will miss you!
“Nu-tech-disco and positivity in numbers” are the stated goals of this new “travelling seasonal party” from the the creators of uber-scrumptious Nark Magazine. Here’s the launch, lighting up your primavera, with music by Doc Sleep, Robert Jeffrey, and Nark himself, who is quite stylish and narky! This will be a good meetup for the fluorescent queer children who like to dance, like these:
SUPER EGO So many things I want to write about this week, if only my delicate, exquisite hands could stop doing these fluttery bird-like motions in front of my gorgeous face. Girls, I’ve got a serious case of the Vogues, which along with Perma-Nod, Fist Pump, “Woo!”-itis, Twirlfoot, Strobe-eye, and Record Bag Shoulder will soon flood hospital wards and special care facilities nationwide with my rapidly aging (mid-20s) club generation.
That’s why universal healthcare is so very important! Have we learned nothing from disco’s untreated polyester scars, the shaken sacroiliacs of funk, Rave Damage, Swing Elbow, Goth Pout, the horrible social stigma of Breakdancer’s Breath? Shit staaank. Don’t laugh, teenage Post-Millennials, it’s coming for you. One day you’ll be holding your phone up to record that underground light show, when you’ll realized with horror that no one uses phones as cameras anymore, not even you. You’ll only be holding your phone up in your mind. And then you’ll catch Skrillexatosis.
What am I even talking about? The things I most want to tell you are these. 1) Mimosas and house dancing on Sunday mornings 6am-2pm at Monroe in North Beach are rad, especially the second and third Sundays of each month, hosted by the Pressure! and Forward crews respectively. 2) The Entertainment Commission is actually considering the use of mimes to help control rowdy nighttime crowds, for realz. (Read more on SFBG.com’s Noise blog.) 3) Flaunting its global fan base, amazing weekly Honey Soundsystem is now simulcasting its Sunday night parties at www.mixlr.com /hnysndsystm — so you can kiki out while doing your dishes at home. 4) I just about died when rap prodigy Azaelia Banks broke into the Prodigy’s “Firestarter” at Coachella, did you see it? More please.
THE TUBESTEAK CONNECTION 8-YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Have you noticed we may be going through another heavy period of gentrification? DJ Bus Station John started his weekly Thursday night club in reaction to the last tech boom’s more blanding effects, drawing upon underground queer ’70s culture to keep the gay ’00s freaky, slutty, and disco-lickingly funky (also cell-phone free: don’t Tweet in this room, love, keep it between us.) “A reliable source of good music and fresh meat delivered w/love (& refreshingly w/o irony) by a 50-something bear qween,” is how BSJ himself describes it. “You won’t believe what you just 8!” is how I do.
Thu/19 and every Thursday, 10pm, $5-7. Aunt Charlie’s, 133 Turk, SF.
ROCK IT SCIENCE LABORATORIES DOUBLE ANNIVERSARY
Seven years of parties, two years as a record label, and always keepin’ it ravey-styley — local player Eric Sharp started off throwing Afterglow undergrounds at the storied Infinite Kaos venue and has become a bedrock of the Bay Area dance music (and an early handlebar mustache pioneer), now celebrating with DJ Fame, Eric Reilly, and his RISL (www.rislabs.com) family, which is us, of course. Expect craziness.
Fri/20, 10pm-late, $5 before 11pm. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
JEFF MILLS
As “The Wizard” on Detroit’s WJLB FM in the ’80s, the genius Mills cut ‘n scratched electro, hip-hop, house, and techno into breathtaking, highly influential conflagrations of party-starting awe. Now he not only beams genius slices of intelligent techno down from the Mothership — he basically is the Mothership, often on multiple turntables, and will deliciously demolish Public Works, along with beloved Detroit house legend Terrance Parker, LA heavy technoist Drumcell, our own Icee Hot DJs, Mossmoss, and more. Sat/21, $15–25. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
HERBWISE Last year when event producer Michael Gosney staged the first Deep Green Festival at Craneway Pavilion, he was mostly focused on raising awareness of hemp as an environmental and economic resource. But then the past 365 days happened — and with them, the attendant audits, raids, and federal persecution of marijuana dispensaries.
By the very nature of being a cannabis event in trying times, the second year of the Deep Green Festival (Sat/21, and full disclosure: the Guardian is a media sponsor of the event) will have more of an activist edge.
“People need to become much more aware of what’s going on,” said Gosney in our recent phone interview. “The economic and social effects of this war against a plant — it’s outrageous.” This year’s fest includes some righteous ire over the way politics have turned the screw in patient access. The concurrently-running Deep Green Conference includes such panel discussions as “Protecting the Children,” a look at the scapegoating of kids for dispensary closures and the way cannabis policy affects families.
But it’s not all fiery. An eccentric movie filmed in a cannabis field in the Alps will be screened (Green Goddess), there will be exhibits on the many uses of hemp, and smoking areas for cannabis patients will keep the day green as can be. Attendees will be able to attend lectures on the business of cannabis, check out new products, and end the day dancing to the glitchy-bass-dubstep music of LA’s Jillian Ann and other stoney-baloney artists.
And more importantly, Deep Green Fest is a good chance to go out and show your support of cannabis. This year, 420 is an opportunity to stand up and be counted.
Deep Green Festival Sat/21, noon-midnight, $12–$25 festival-only; $60–$75 conference admission. Craneway Pavilion, 1414 Harbour, Richmond. (510) 735-1133, www.deepgreenfest.com
420 at Hippie Hill Fri/20, all damn day, free. Stanyan and Kezar, Golden Gate Park, SF. There is something to be said for doing things the old skool way. After all, where else do people from a five-town radius converge to get absolutely, horribly stoned on 4/20? (Is that a political statement? Discuss.) Hippie Hill is the place to test recent findings that it’s pretty much impossible for marijuana to kill you.
The Guardian Presents: Stoned Soul Picnic Fri/20, 3:30pm-7pm, free. El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF. Facebook: The Guardian Presents a Stoned Soul Picnic. It’s hard for me to say no to DJ Carnita, but I have to admit this was a good idea of his: a free Guardian party on the palatial back patio of El Rio… on 4/20… to benefit Americans for Safe Access, the kick-ass cannabis patient advocacy group that works to raise awareness of all the bullshit ways the feds’ actions are restricting access to weed for people that really need it.
You don’t have to be a stoner to be outraged by that — or to buy drinks and raffle tickets that support ASA’s efforts. We’ve booked a gaggle of comedians, Carnita will be spinning Hard French-ified soul jams, and Mr. Lucky of I&I Vibrations will be in attendance with his I-only-play-it-on-420 crate of reggae. Apothocurious is making three kinds of grilled cheese sandwiches, and I’ll probably be too stoned to perform my hosting duties. Hooray!
Stones Throw showcase Fri/20 10pm, $17 pre-sale ticket. 103 Harriet, SF. www.1015.com. Get fuzzy with the one-time local indie hip-hop label Stones Throw 420 lineup — the company’s fearless leader and crackerjack producer Peanut Butter Wolf heads up the bill, along with his funk ambassadors, Dam Funk.
Hi, Some Thing Fri/20 10pm-4am, $7. The Stud, 399 Ninth St., SF. www.studsf.com. Tonight’s edition of The Stud’s alt-drag show promises to be no less trippy than every other week, and hopefully will involved staged hippie stereotypes (fingers crossed!) Keep your bloodshot eyes peeled for Boy Child, whose chopped-and-screwed number should look awesome through the clouds of smoke.
Is it weird that last night I found myself dancing around in my Underoos to Mother Nature’s wowser light show and bass mechanix? Outside the disco, thunder and lightning are rare commodities ’round these parts (they happened, like, maybe three times in the ’90s?), so please forgive me for flashdancing on my fire escape rather than hitting the dance floor. Sometimes you just gotta be a semi-private dancer in the elements, love.
Speaking of spring storms: Sad — but ultimately hopeful — word has came down the wire that two of SF’s best parties, Blow Up and Kontrol are calling it quits, at least in regards to their regular installments. Greg Bird of monthly techno blast Kontrol at the EndUp put out an eloquent statement about how each of the crew’s side projects had taken on lives of their own, and that June 3’s party would be the last, except for special events. Who could blame Kontrol, after seven years of outstanding live techno fun? In any case, we’ve still two months to bid adieu, so keep it together.
But fantastic electro-glamour gig Blow Up’s last weekly party is tonight Fri/13, and you know it’s going out with a bang.
No tears! Ultimate breathtaking hostess Ava Berlin assures me that seven-year-old Blow Up will be back and better than ever — she and ace DJ Jeffrey Paradise are taking off to the desert for a couple months to plan a relaunch and prepare for the continued success of Paradise’s sunny tech-pop outfit Poolside. Blow Up parties will return, no fear. And how perfectly SF is taking off for the desert to regroup for a few. Loving.
Tonight’s farewell Blow Up at DNA Lounge features damn fine remix crew RAC, which has the power to make everything it touches insanely catchy in an old-school electro-pop way, and DJ Miles, indie-hero resident of the lovely Popscene weekly party. Throw on something risque-bananas and toast the bon voyage of this essential piece of SF nightlife gorgeousness.
Fri/13, 10pm-2am, $10-20,18+. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. Facebook invite
Ah, you dance music genius Curtis Jones — firstyouruled the Chicago house scene in the early ’90s as Cajmere. Then you got REALLY freaky — anticipating both the fried and funkdafied antics of Moodymann and the acid-brained electroclash antics of Felix da Housecat. (And for good or ill we are about to experience an electroclash revival, heralded by Felix’s takeover of the Blow Up party last month.) He’ll be headlining the always bonkers Lights Down Low party, as part of host DJ Sleazemore’s birthday celebration.
Ever since the amazing Non Stop Bhangra parties moved to Public Works, the audience for this incredible party has exploded — so much so that the party will now take over both of the expansive club’s levels. To launch the upstairs dance room, Jimmy Love and the dholrhythms crew are enlisting the aid of serious Arabic-vibing bass crew Hookahdome: Jef Stott featuring MC Rai, Kush Arora, Drumspyder, bellydancing, and more. It will be a sunburst of global insanity.
Essential second-generation Detroit techno innovator Kenny now lives in LA, but he’s as full of ideas and energy as ever (and he’s a pretty great guy to boot). While he hasn’t received as much attention as I think he should for his many contributions, that’s all starting to be rectified with renewed interest in some of Detroit’s less-lauded players. It helps that he’s been getting around a lot more, remixing recent tracks excellently, and playing splendidly! He’ll be joined by another Detroiter, Monty Luke, for a night of solid banging.
Here’s one of my favorite tracks of all time, from 1994:
Twisted Berlin star DJ Kaos does have a bit of a reputation for being, well, chaotic in a party way — what do you expect from such a force of nature behind the decks? Still, his “disco-dusted” tunes, perfect gateways to sexy debauchery, are also glimmering slices of urbane perfection. High mixed with low, at the groovy No Way Back party with beloved local DJs Conor and Solar, returning to the awesomely reurbished 222 Hyde. Go get down.
Fresh from his night with Kenny Larkin, Monty Luke — a Detroiter with deep SF roots — will be turning the children of the routinely packed and queer-fab Honey Soundsystem Sunday party out. Monty’s been known for a heady blend of bass funk with acid highlights and deep grooves. Lately he seems to be delving into the more cosmic reaches of the classic techno sound, which I will never argue with. This will be a perfect way to round off your weekend in style.
SUPER EGO “The Oakland house scene? Yeah, it’s *^&^*&#! great!” exclaims DJ Dedan, who along with DJ Eman puts on fantastic long-running soulful house party Brothers and Sisters, which moves to Fridays every week starting Fri/13 (10pm, free. Paradiso Lounge, 2272 Telegraph, Oakl. Facebook invite). “We are now home to some great DJs like Cali, Cecil, Rahiem, Deep Cee, Rob Rhythm, Wazir, Eric Groove, Kincaid…,” he continues to me over email. “And we’ve got some great parties like The People and Deeper Side of Soul. So we seem to be putting Oakland on the house map!”
A video from the former location of Brothers and Sisters:
I would add Blessed, Evolve, Taboo, and Elixir to that solid Oakland topography of deep, uplifting, family-style parties. Indeed, other than the monthly Harlum Muziq label showcase at EndUp, celebrating one year on Sun/15 (second Sundays, 8pm-4am, $15, free before midnight with RSVP to m.deep.music@gmail.com before Sunday noon. EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF. www.facebook.com/harlum.muziq), and Mighty’s Deep and Mighty Real parties (last Saturdays 9pm-4pm, $20-$25. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com), reliable old school house vibes have slipped almost wholly across the Bay.
I’m absolutely loving the abundant cultivation of Oakland’s house soul (www.thismustbetheplace.net is a good guide) which is bringing dancers from all walks of life together on the floor. But is the growing hole in SF’s own a kind of coal mine from which the kooky canary of demographic change peeps? One thing that also seems to be draining from SF parties is crowd diversity. Sometimes I look around and notice that the only people of color at many otherwise quality gigs are the security. It is creepy!
I’m not saying that it’s necessary to draw on communities of color to somehow “authenticate” certain cultural experiences, even if those cultural experiences are mostly derived from those communities. The music will always lift us right out of our skins. I’m just saying that some thriving Oakland parties still look, sound, and feel like the ones I grew up on in San Francisco — often more than the current ones in San Francisco themselves. That might be something to think about, as long as we’re all still dancing.
BROWNOUT
Austin Latin rock band Grupo Fantasma puts on one heck of a cerebellum-searing show — but wait ’til you peep its funky party alter ego Brownout, in which the Grupo members indulge in filthy-sexy covers of the favorite songs of their youth. DJ Senor Oz from Afrolicious and local tropical art-pop fantasy act Chucha Santamaria open up.
Last month, the dominating As You Like It techno crew performed the neat trick of throwing a party on the roof of the W Hotel while still retaining an underground vibe — it wasn’t LA douchy at all! Now it’s time for AYLI’s more earthbound monthly blast at Beatbox (with obligatory debaucherous attendant after party beginning at 6am at 222 Hyde). Deliciously dubby Dutch techno number 2562, a.k.a. A Made Up Sound, and dreamy-groovy German John Osborn headline.
10pm-late, $10 before 11pm, $20 after. Beatbox, 314 11th St., SF. www.ayli-sf.com
TWILIGHT CIRCUS DUB SOUND SYSTEM
Netherlands-based radical dub ideologue Ryan Moore, a.k.a. Twilight Circus (www.twilightcircus.com) describes the atmospheres he creates as “cadaverous” — bass lines heavy enough to leave bodies on the floor, presumably, but with enough kaleidoscopic-melodic technique to tease out your soul as well. He’ll bring 25 years of galactic dub experience to the always boomtastic Dub Mission weekly party.
Forgive the blowed-out sound quality (much better here) but you know there was going to be some interference in the airwaves once LA butch queen AB Soto teamed up with fierce SF club celebuterrors Manicure Versace and Terry T for a boom-boom tribute to everyone’s favorite Toddlers and Tiaras tragedy/metaphor of American exceptionalism, Alana. Go-go juice and gone!
On the Cheap listings are compiled by Soojin Chang. Submit items for the listings at listings@sfbg.com. For further information on how to submit items for the listings, see Picks.
WEDNESDAY 4
“Mexico’s National Emergency and the Role of the United States” University of San Francisco, McLaren Conference Center, 2130 Fulton, SF. (415) 422-6919, www.usfca.edu. 5:30pm-7pm, free. Since the gang-related murder of his son last year, poet and journalist Javier Sicilia has not ceased in speaking out against the drug crises of Mexico. He is planning a protest caravan from San Diego to Washington D.C. this summer, and this Wednesday, he will be at USF to share his insight on Mexico’s current social injustices.
THURSDAY 5
After Dark: Gastronomy-themed activities and demonstrations Exploratorium, 3601 Lyon, SF. (415) 561-0360, www.exploratorium.edu. 6pm-10pm, $15 regular museum admission. Lucky for us, we are living through a period of rapid technological advancement. We’re even more blessed when these innovations trickle in to the culinary world, making our dining experience deliciously transformative. Come taste the spirit of modernist cuisine and discover the latest ways technology and food are intersecting.
“Snow White” author book signing and pastries San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., SF. (415) 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org. Book signing at 6pm; Cake cutting at 8pm, free. Camille Rose Garcia gives the Disney princess a vintage punk makeover, and sets the classic Grimm’s tale in a tragically beautiful wasteland. As if this wasn’t a treat enough, pastry chef Dante Nuno of Fire and Icing will be serving his Snow White-inspired cake.
“Spring into Spring NightLife” seasonal produce extravaganza California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse, Golden Gate Park, SF. (415) 379-8000, www.calacademy.org. 6pm-10pm, $12. Spring means delectable fruits, fresh herbs, and mouthwatering honey. Revel in the lusciousness of the season by talking (and tasting) with Urban Bee SF, then meander over to Earl’s Organic Produce to snack on Earl’s fresh-picked strawberries. In between tasting succulent treats and grooving to the tunes of DJ Sleazemore, make a pit stop at Cocktail Lab to learn how to make a seasonally fresh cocktail drink from the night’s mixologists.
“Behind the Scenes: The Art and Craft of Cinema” Landis Pacific Film Archive, 2575 Bancroft, Berk. (510) 642-1412, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu. Through April 6. 7pm, $9.50 for one program; $13.50 for double bills. Harrison Ford would not have been Indiana Jones without his brown fedora and distressed leather jacket. And Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” would not have been nearly as dazzling without his unforgettable crimson, wing-shouldered jacket. Meet the crafty hands that tailored the defining personalities of many films and iconic performances, as their owner discusses the vital role costuming plays in storytelling.
FRIDAY 6
Jimi Hendrix poetry remix 50 Mason Social House, 50 Mason, SF. (415) 433-5050, www.50masonsocialhouse.com. 7pm-10pm, free. Copus is a rap-jazz fusion ensemble that infuses spoken word with piano, flute, bass, and percussion. Come hear the band take apart the poetry of Jimi Hendrix and bring the chromatic words together to their own beat.
SATURDAY 7
“Drink Beer. Solve Autism.” Pyramid’s new beer release tasting Pyramid Alehouse, 901 Gilman, Berk. (510) 528-9880, www.pyramidbrew.com. 1pm-4pm, $20. Enjoy a relaxing afternoon of live music, snacks, and unlimited samples of Pyramid Breweries’ newest beer. 100 percent of proceeds benefit Ales for Autism.
Lomography film canister hunt Lomography Gallery Store, 309 Sutter, SF. (415) 248-0096, www.lomography.com. 1pm-4pm, $10. To prep for the chocolate-filled egg hunts happening tomorrow, hop on over to Lomography SF and get ready to search every nook and cranny for a gift-filled film canister. They’re scattered all around downtown and are packed with sweet analogue prizes like Lomography products, free film, and workshop admissions.
Titanic Anniversary Ball San Mateo Masonic Lodge Ballroom, 100 N. Ellsworth, San Mateo. (510) 522-1731, www.peers.org. Dance lessons at 7pm; dancing at 8pm, $15 adv.; $20 at door. There are two good things that came out of RMS Titanic sinking: an awesomely dramatic movie, and a chance to have an epic ball to commemorate the tragedy’s centennial in all its submerged beauty. Relive the glorious, pre-iceberg moments of the Titanic as Bangers and Mash plays Edwardian waltzes, polkas, and ragtime hits throughout the night. Meet us on the Titanic. It’s going down.
“Cartoonist in Residence: Mike Reger” meet and greet Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission, SF. (415) 227-8666, www.cartoonart.org. 1pm-3pm, free. Mike Reger is a San Francisco cartoonist whose eclectic comics touch on everything from local politics to satirical takes on the city’s drug culture. He also does work at Mission Minicomix, a group that arose out of the ’90s punk scene in the Mission. Come pick his cartoonist brain and check out his latest projects.
SUNDAY 8
“Pumps and Circumstance” The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Easter celebration Dolores Park, 18th St. and Dolores, SF. (415) 820-9697, www.thesisters.org. 11am-4pm, free. Celebrate the Sisters’ 33rd birthday at their annually indulged Easter celebration. The morning will commence with face paintings and an egg hunt, and the afternoon will continue with Easter bonnet and hunky Jesus contests. The Sisters promise to have you partying like it’s 1979 again.
21st Annual Union Street spring celebration and Easter parade Union between Gough and Fillmore, SF. (800) 310-6563, www.SRESproductions.com. 10am-5pm, free. The wonderfully wacky street fair boasts a petting zoo, pony ride, climbing wall, inflatable bounces, and live entertainment from local musicians. When you’re passed by a roller-blading cows or a self-propelled mini-float, you’ll know the parade’s begun.
MONDAY 9
“Best Sex Writing 2012” Rachel Kramer Bussel and Susie Bright explore erotic literary work The Booksmith, 1644 Haight, SF. (415) 863-8688, www.booksmith.com. 7:30pm, free. Sex columnist Rachel Kramer Bussel and commentator Susie Bright are this year’s eyes and ears in collecting the most alluring and insightful work on the seemingly limitless topic of sex for the always rewarding Best Sex Writing series. Put on your slutty-librarian reading glasses and open up the enticing anthology of the latest political sex scandals, impassioned debates over circumcision, SlutWalks, female orgasm workshops, and many more sensual affairs.
TUESDAY 10
San Francisco Film Society presents “Beyond Film School” Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., SF. (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com. 7:30pm, $10. Those first muddled years after film school is quite a murky transition. But for some artists, this daunting passage produces some of their most resounding works. The forum showcases student-produced films and will be followed by a panel discussion on the sustainability of Bay Area-based film careers.
This one will bring together most of the city’s most colorful nightlife characters — its presented by the infamous Peaches Christ, and includes music by Hard French and Stay Gold DJs (also Bunnystyle and davO) and appearances by Some Thing queens VivvyAnne ForeverMore and Glamamore. Double Duchess nuts!
Sometimes being a nightlife writer feels like getting stranded on Techno Dude Island. Not always cuuute. So when I got wind that the classic Sisterz of the Underground hip-hop party crew was hitting the Bay for a huge 10-year anniversary celebration Sat/31 including a party at Public Works and a day of tech workshops and empowerment talks at CellSpace, I jumped on the chance for a breath of fresh female airand an indepth talk with folks who inspired me back in the day to try a few dance floor moves I probably shouldn’t have.
SOTU founder Sarah “Smalls” McCann, creative director Traci P, and organizer Crykit moved away from the Bay a little while ago (and the groundbreaking in-school hip-hop education program they started, Def Ed, is currently in hibernation mode), but the international Sisterz of the Underground network they helped establish is still thriving and inspiring women to discover and transmit the roots of hip-hop dance, art, music, creativity, and culture. The 10th anniversary party reflects that all-encompassing approach with live music from Kid Sister, DJ Shortee, Green B, Jeanine da Feen, and tons more, plus a 1-on-1 dance battle, art and vendor fair, live painting, nail booth… It’ll be a much-needed femme attack in this age of War on Women, hip-hop style acrimony, and the mainstreaming of street spirit.
I communicated with the trio over email in anticipation of their return, and got not only the trademark Sisterz blend of energy, outspokenness, and positivity, but some juicy tidbits about Bay hip-hop history, the current state of rap and dance, and the ladies’ current doings as well. Check it.
SISTERZ OF THE UNDERGROUND 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
SFBGIt’s been a minute since you’ve been on my radar. Can you introduce yourself and tell us what’s going on with y’all now?
TRACI P I moved to Las Vegas a little over a year and a half ago after an almost decade stint in San Francisco throwing events and creative directing the Sisterz of the Underground. Currently I am the managing partner of RAW Entertainment (www.raw-e.com) which is both a booking agency and event production company based here in Sin City. I book for a variety of artists, like BReal of Cypress Hill, two-time DMC champ DJ SHIFTEE, and NYC club and fashion DJ Roxy Cottontail. Aside from artist bookings I continue to produce local events here in Vegas as well as a monthly in San Francisco called Femme Fatale at John Colins, every second Thursday — it features an all-female lineup and highlights music, fashion, and art. The next one is Thu., April 12, and will feature live painting, a guest performer and a dubstep DJ line-up including Lotus Drops, Sculltrain and Smashletooth. I also write music interviews for Thrasher Magazine, mostly about hip-hop and rap artists.
SARAH “SMALLS” MCCANN I’m the founder of SOTU and also a B-girl in the Extra Credit Kru. After years of being in the Bay and running SOTU and Def Ed, our hip-hop education program, I moved down to Los Angeles at the end of 2006. Since then, most of my experience has been selling events at various venues including House of Blues Hollywood and Jillian’s Universal. Currently, I’m the marketing sales manager at Pacific Park, the amusement park at the Santa Monica pier while also being a partner in Clique Events Society and a board member for the tour and travel marketing association of Southern California.
On the side of all of that, I also run an entertainment company with my husband, B-boy Machine, called Hit the Floor Productions (www.hitthefloorproductions.com), help direct our in-house dance company, West Bound, and manage Bboy Machine as an artist. When I’m not busy being the business guru that I am, I’m still just a hip-hop head and a die-hard B-girl with Extra Credit Kru! However at this present moment, I’m not breaking as i’m almost 8 months pregnant with my first child!
CRYKIT Hey hey! I’m Michelle, aka Crykit, aka Miss Crix 🙂 I grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, moved to the Bay Area in 2000, LA in 2010, and currently in Las Vegas since 2011. I started DJing, popping, and breaking in 2002. The rave scene of 98-02 is really where it all began for me. For the last eight years B-girling has been my main focus. I’ve been a member of Extra Credit Kru since day one and with this crew of amazing talented inspiring ladies we’ve taught in schools and studios, entered hundreds of battles, performed at some pretty epic events, been featured in music videos and short films, traveled nationally and internationally
When I moved to LA I manifested what originally was an idea for a hip fashion line with the perfect balance of masculine and feminine HAPPY MEDIUM, into a dancy DJ duo that encompasses everything from dance to art to fashion to music. My partner in crime is a funky stylin’ B-girl I met back in the Bay: Faye aka 13 Moons. (She is DJing the 1-on-1 female dance battle at our Public Works party.)
SFBGYou must have a lot of memories of SOTU — how did it all come together and what stands out for you most from the past decade?
TRACI P Sarah’s the founder, but I can tell you a bit about how I started with the collective. I moved to San Francisco when I was 19 after leaving UC Davis. Having decided to take an alternate educational path towards my ultimate goal of working in the music industry, I decided to intern at as many record companies and entertainment-oriented entities I could. This included Bomb Hip Hop, Look Records, Live Up Records, and Quannum Records. A boyfriend of mine at the time introduced me to Sarah. I loved the idea of women in the music industry and hip-hop, and felt an overwhelming sense of welcome and support in the collective. I pushed Sarah to let me do whatever she needed and learn more about how she produced events and operated. I started coming in everyday. I had such a respect for her vision, dedication, and the energy she put into making this collective so visible and tangible for women all around the globe. From then on she became a mentor to me. Both she and the Sisterz of the Underground changed my life forever.
SMALLS Well, this is always a long answer for me, as even though I’m pregnant with my first child, I always saw SOTU as my real first child. This all started back in 2000 when I was approached by the owner of the Justice League (now the Independent) about doing a hip-hop event at the venue. I was super inspired by two females in my life at that time: Arouz, a female graff artist, and Inchant, a female MC. i thought it would be super dope to produce an all-female hip-hop event that included all elements of hip-hop (MCing, breaking, graffiti, DJing, beatboxing, etc.). I spent about a month scouting talent from all over and found B-girls from UC Berkeley, Syndel from old dominion, and many more. I asked Medusa to be the headliner and threw a show on January 18, 2001 called Sisterz of the Underground. The show had over 600 attendees and was a huge success! After the show, everyone was asking me who is Sisterz of the Underground… Well, I was in college at the time and didn’t really have any plans for who or what was SOTU. I decided to ask the girls involved if they were interested in forming a collective where women could comfortably express themselves, come together to share, and put on shows.
After a few more successful shows in the Bay, I decided to organize a group of us to teach at a young women’s conference. At this time, we really didn’t know what we were doing, but we knew we had something to share. From that conference, we were contacted by two all girl groups to come and teach at their center. Well, the year was filled with many shows and many workshops and soon we were voted “Best Hip-Hop Monthly of the Year” in the Guardian and we created a hip-hop education program called Def Ed. Def Ed became such a success and grew into a program that was eventually serving over 3,000 youth a year and existing in 6 counties of the Bay Area.
It’s hard to pinpoint my favorite point of SOTU, but I have to say that my life wouldn’t be the same without it and i would not be the woman that I am without all of my Sisterz that I have met along the way.
CRYKIT I first found out about SOTU at an all girl weekly dance practice at Dance Mission around 2002. There I felt supported in learning all about the culture and its elements. I would sketch in a black book, create stencils, DJ parties, pop, break, freestyle in the car on battle road trips, hahaha. It just sort of became a part of me, a lifestyle. I’m so grateful to have had a collective of such eclectic, empowering, talented women to grow as an artist with, to jump in a cypher with, to create a mix tape with… And most of these women are like super hero goddesses LOL.. Nurses, firefighters, neuroscientists, designers, massage therapists, business owners… the list goes on and on.
My favorite story I guess would be connecting with and building friendships with girls from other countries like Sweden, Germany, and India through SOTU! It’s so cool the network and community has spread globally.
SFBG The lineup for this party at Public Works is absolutely insane! It really brings together some true female talent. With female MCs like Nicki, Azealia Banks, and Iggy Azalea all over, do you have any thoughts about the state of females in hip-hop right now? TRACI P Thank you first off for the compliment, that’s endearing! As far as the state of females in hip-hop, I would like to start by saying that hip-hop in general is in a state of transition as is the music industry as a whole. As the landscape of popular music shifts more and more to being influenced by electronic music, I think that hip-hop as well is starting to play into this trend. Nicki Minaj is a great rapper but some of her songs are SO far from rap or even hip hop. “Starships,” enough said. Iggy Azalea has got a lot of style and I am interested to see where she goes but I am not so confident in her skills as a lyricist.
Then there are one hitters like Kreayshawn whose success can be attributed to the beat of ‘Gucci Gucci’ being along a electronic-dubstep style as well as her look being right for the time. There is less and less attention paid to substance and more to image and look. Half of these girls can’t even perform live and are in a sense disposable because they have no stage presence. Just a pretty face with flashly clothes and jewelry. Then you have these record labels and agencies making it worse because the industry is so in the toilet that the SECOND they smell a lick of talent, they come along, swoop them up, charge ridiculous amounts of money to promoters, the artist never fully develops before being fed to the sharks, and ultimately fails!
But then you have girls like KID SISTER and MIA who steady hold it down. They have their own style and do a good job of incorporating current trends as well as keeping true to themselves and having a voice instead of being a puppet. I’m forever a student, however, and am interested in what’s to come in the music industry.
And the female DJ should also not be forgotten. As is evident in our line-up we respect all elements of hip-hop and the DJ is no exception. I feel as though the past few years have given rise to a great window of opportunity for female DJs and we’ve seen more and more emerge and tear it up! Living in Vegas I see a lot of plastic behind the decks but there are truly real women who can throw it down and rock a party and/or battle just as good as men, La Femme Deadly Venom for one, Pam the Funkstress, Spinderella, we have our own Crykit in Vegas killing clubs with style. It makes me happy to see this. SMALLS To be honest, I think hip-hop overall is ever changing and growing with different niches and styles that come through. As for females in hip-hop, we’ve definitely come a long way and are continuing to get out there and do our thing. If you look at the different eras of hip-hop, you’ll see how many female MCs were legends in their own right: MC Lyte, Roxanne Shante, Lil Kim, Raw Digga, Bahamadia, Nicki Minaj, the list goes on and on. I also think that female DJs have come along way and are continuing to show that they can rock just as hard or even harder than some male DJs. The thing that’s always been an issue for us women, or at least for me as a B-girl, was not wanting to be viewed as “just dope for a girl.” We want to be viewed as dope overall for our skill and not having anything to do with the fact that we may be a different sex.
CRYKIT I would like to hear better lyrical content in hip hop overall right now. I’m not really moved by too many female MCs at the moment. Wishing Missy Elliot did more, I feel like she can be true to herself but also bring it in at a commercial level. One thing I love about her is she always had real dancers in her videos.. she understands hip-hop as a whole and a community with all elements on display. I’m excited to bring Kid Sister to Public Works, I love her versatility, she sounds fresh on electro house tracks as well as hip-hop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOgLK4t-Rts
SFBGI feel like hip-hop in general in the Bay Area, while still lively, is slipping below the radar, on the down swing of a cycle — any thoughts about that?
TRACI P Hip-hop in the Bay is most def on a decline. It was once a mecca but is no longer a hub for new and exciting artists, unfortunately. I have a lot of friends in the rap and hip-hop industry here in the Bay Area whom I would NEVER discredit or whose music I would never put down but as a whole, but I haven’t seen much that’s exceptionally great coming from this sector of California as far as hip-hop is concerned. I would say that the RAP is still there but the hip hop is falling off. I would also like to take this time to say RIP to Special One of Conscious Daughters who hip-hop lost late last year.
SMALLS Unfortunately I don’t live up there anymore, but I have heard that the hip-hop scene has sort of died. Well, i can tell you that it’s not only in the Bay… it’s the same thing in LA. I remember places like the Justice League where you knew you were always going to find a sick hip-hop show whether it was Black Star or Wu-Tang and in LA going to Project Blowed every week. Now, you’re lucky if you can find a club that doesn’t have a dress code and won’t yell at the B-boys and B-girls for starting a cypher. I think this is one of the many reasons that we’ve tried to keep SOTU alive and always try to incorporate the true meaning of hip hop behind our events!
CRYKIT I would say the hip hop dance scene is still thriving in the Bay Area! There’s a lot of talented dancers from the Bay in videos, TV, movies. And currently there’s classes offered at studios like City Dance taught by dancers who have been in the scene for a long time and have learned from the OGs and originators. There are battles almost every weekend filled with high schoolers and up… So in that arena it is still thriving and is a genuine mecca for dancers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBjcW9rnjoE
SFBG I love that you’re having workshops during the day at CellSpace that cover both female empowerment and technical skills. Can you tell me a bit about what inspired you to turn the reunion into a true community event?
TRACI P Community is very important to us and key to the idea of empowerment. Obviously the nighttime events are geared toward adults, but we recognize the importance the youth has in shaping the world as a whole — and it’s always been important for us to reach out to the youth through hip-hop. We also founded a hip-hop education program called Def Ed years back, it is unfortunately no longer active, but we taught at many sites around the Bay and still have strong access to many of the kids around the area, it’s important that we maintain that connection.
Also, there is a lot more to the culture of hip-hop than just what you see on a stage or in a music video, the aspects of art, dance, production, and fashion are equally important. At a time when everything seems so fabricated it’s essential that people be exposed to the roots of music and the culture. It is our mission to teach and empower in any way possible. By having females host these workshops, you never know who might be inspired, because it’s not every day women are so praised in such a male dominated arena such as hip hop.
SMALLS This is easy: SOTU has always been about community, education, growth, expression, and hip-hop. This event marks more than 10 years strong as a female hip-hop collective and tying in all of these aspects was truly important to us. There’s no point in just putting on an event to make money (at least for us)….we wanted to produce an event that included the youth and our amazing sisterz sharing their knowledge along with a night time event to remember. We figured having workshops, battles, showcases, vendors, art galleries and all of the various things we are including in this event would show was SOTU has always been about — true hip-hop expression in an open environment that welcomes anyone and everyone!
Crykit SOTU events have always been community-based, that’s where we all began. I love that a part of the celebration is at Cellspace because that’s where we established our breaking practice eight years ago actually, almost a decade we’ve been working with them. It’s a piece of Bay Area dance history, and our practice is the longest-running established regular practice in the city of San Francisco. It’s always important to include the youth. We love the spirit, freedom, and creativity they bring!
SFBGCan I get a current top 5 from each of you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDo8Z-eoBiI
Traci P
MIA, “Bad Girls”
Slaughterhouse, “Hammer Dance”
Schoolboy Q, “Hands on the Wheel”
Joey Bada$$, “Survival Tactics”
J. Cole, “can’t get enough’’
Crykit
1. B.Bravo “Swing My Way” remix
2. Flying Lotus/ Thundercat “$200 TB”
3. Trina “Red Bottoms”
4. Mark Ronson “Animal” remix
5. Rye Rye & M.I.A “Sunshine”
Smalls
If I can twist this and get you my current top 5 reasons for still being a true hip hop head: 1. The feeling I get at a live show when everyone has their hands pumping in the air 2. The feeling I get jumping into a hot cypher where the DJ is killin’ it and everyone wants to get in 3. The feeling i get seeing the little girls of Extra Credit Kru enter a battle with us OGs 4. The feeling I get watching my hubby, B-boy machine, smoke someone on the dance floor 5. The feeling I get knowing that no matter how commercial hip-hop has become, that there’s still so many folks doing it right in the community
This is the thing, is that pastel is not supposed to be sexy and it’s definitely not supposed to be San Francisco.
But here it is, and nowhere is it more apparent than in this week’s lineup of sex events. It’s not just Mission Control’s pajama bash, but also the parade of parties that will be hitting the decks throughout the next seven days. Actually, maybe it’s just Sat/31 that’s putting forth the highest wattage of lightly-hued light. The 15th anniversary of the Lex? Well sure, it’s hardly pastel in everyone’s favorite dykve bar, but best believe that the world of the Lexington churns based on the wattage that pink provides. And the Clitoris Celebration at La Pena Cultural Center? Rosy shades of powerful. So don’t worry if your dye job’s starting to look a little tie-dye-red — just tell ’em you’re in My Little Pony land and they’ll understand. Hey, maybe even take you home.
In Burning, In Bashing Back, In Blooming
Alexander Alvina Chamberland is a SF native gone Swede — but though they’ve toured their spoken word performance piece all about Europe (try Berlin, London, Stockholm, Manchester, Göteborg, Malmö, Lund, Amsterdam, Copehagen, Norberg, and Uppsala, and don’t ask me what country the last one of those is in) eventually one always must return home. So let’s give the queer performer a big attending-your-soul-baring hug, because In Burning deals in two of the most personal topics there are: sexual assault and gender identity. Plus, Chamberland is an emotive whiz. See the clip of an early performance of a scene from the show for proof:
Thu/29 7:30pm-9:30pm, $5-$15 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds
No one’s going to tell you to stay on your side of the pillow tonight — just make sure you dress your frilly, fierce best because Mission Control’s playspace is all about polyamory permission tonight. Dress code is sleepwear, sweetie, and don’t forget your bedfellow. The buddy system won’t be enforced at the door of the event, but you’ll need a pal for getting into any of the fun zones.
Sat/31 9pm-3am, $20 Mission Control and Love Triangle members only
Sayeth Marke B. in this week’s Super Ego nightlife column: Time flies when you’re a flaming hot lesbian! Can it be 15 years already since the proudly dive-y Lex threw open its doors to the gorgeously rough-and-tumble dykes of the Mission and their humble admirers (like yours truly)? Oh hell yes. Congratulate owner Lila and crew on keeping one of the few lesbars in homocity open, with filthy music, smokin’ go-gos, kinky quinceanera shenanigans, and lipstick-obliterating drink specials.
Not enough lip service is paid to the hood beneath your hood, no? Perhaps it we don’t celebrate it appropriately — which is why this benefit for Global Women Intact, the grassroots nonprofit that raises awareness about African female genital mutilation is so important. An evening of music from the mother continent has been planned, so go to support our right to keep that oh-so-important swatch at the forefront of our lives.
Mr. Sexsmith has recently edited two tomes of stories to get you in trouble — Best Lesbian Erotica 2012 and Say Please: A Lesbian Erotica Anthology. She’ll be reading from the latter today, so if you need a nice little treat for this weekend’s hookup, you can drop by Good Vibes to get a copy sexily signed by its author herself.
SUPER EGO Like many of the great, oldish-school Bay Area hip-hop party collectives, the Sisterz of the Underground core crew has skedaddled — founder Sarah Smalls to LA, creative director Traci P. and organizer Crykit to Las Vegas — following their fortunes to other, perhaps fresher climes. But just like those spectacular b-girl (and -boy) cypher dance circles that have been popping up on finer San Francisco floors of late, the Sisterz are returning, hopefully bringing more of that fly feeling back with them.
A huge Sisterz of the Underground 10th Anniversary Celebrationon Sat/31 (sisterzunderground.eventbrite.com) includes not just a dazzling nighttime party at Public Works with music by Kid Sister, DJ Shortee, Butterscotch, La Femme Deadly Venoms, Jeanine Da Feen, Green B, Pony P, and more, plus a gallery show of all-female artists, nail art, vendor fair, live painting, and a one-on-one female all-styles dance battle — but also afternoon production tech and dance workshops and a panel discussion about female empowerment and multiculturalism at CellSpace. The Bay is going to get some phenomenal femme in its face, and not a moment too soon OK?
Talking with the Sisterz is a trip — see my full interview on our SFBG Noise blog — with nostalgic name-drops like storied rap and turntablism venue Justice League, the Extra Credit Kru dance battlers (still in effect), graffiti artist Arouz, emcee Inchant, and Def Ed, the incredible education and empowerment program the Sisterz started that reached schools in six counties in the Bay Area before it was disbanded a couple years ago. The general Sisterz network itself is still slamming, with chapters up and down the West Coast, as well as in New Mexico and Brazil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOgLK4t-Rts
And the Sisterz still aren’t shy about expressing themselves. When asked about the state of hip-hop, Traci P says, perhaps with a certain super-hyped Bay Area MC in mind, “There is less and less attention paid to substance and more to image and look. Half of these girls can’t even perform live and are in a sense disposable because they have no stage presence. Just a pretty face with flashy clothes and jewelry. At a time when everything seems so fabricated, it’s essential that people be exposed to the roots of the music and the culture.” Werrrd.
SUBB-AN
I caught this UK house wunderkind last year in Berlin at the awesome Tresor club — he played a pumping, expansive set that eventually set off for deeper currents, intricate grooves ride over each other for long periods and innovative technology put into the service of the steamy atmosphere rather than just being “showy.” And he’s cute.
Another 10-year banger — this one for adorably talented Adnan Sharif’s Forward tech-house collective, bringing in an absolutely bonkers lineup to move us into the next. Deep and wiggy Clockwork from Milan co-headlines with Seattle smart-techno fave Pezzner, plus Nikola Baytala, the No Way Back crew, and a Silent Disco space out side with Star Kommand and more.
Time flies when you’re a flaming hot lesbian! Can it be 15 years already since the proudly dive-y Lex threw open its doors to the gorgeously rough-and-tumble dykes of the Mission and their humble admirers (like yours truly)? Oh hell yes. Congratulate owner Lila and crew on keeping one of the few lesbars in homocity open, with filthy music, smokin’ go-gos, kinky quinceanera shenanigans, and lipstick-obliterating drink specials.
Summer 2013, it’ll rip into town, offering self-described “adrenaline sailing at its best” to jet-setting yachting enthusiasts. In 2010, the 33rd contest was won in Spanish waters by Oracle Racing, headed up by billionaire Larry Ellison. In 2013, Ellison plans to defend his trophy as the competition (ironically, dealing with its own financial struggles; the San Francisco Business Times reported March 23 that America’s Cup officials laid off half their staff) makes its San Francisco Bay debut.
Of course, average San Franciscans — often found ransacking their couch cushions to scare up burrito funds — couldn’t give a rat’s ass about an event blatantly catering to the one percent. But they should, and here’s why: unless we want to see all those Top-Siders stride directly to wine country after each day of racing concludes, we need to give the visitors (estimates vary on the numbers: 10,000? 200,000?) a reason to hang out in SF, visit its neighborhoods, and spend money locally.
One idea: organize an arts festival with programming complementary to the America’s Cup races. Such an event would potentially offer a huge boost to the local arts scene.
The most passionate supporter of an America’s Cup arts festival has got to be Andrew Wood, executive director of the San Francisco International Arts Festival. Last fall, he announced the 2013 SFIAF would shift its dates from May, when it usually takes place, to July through September. That way, SFIAF could coincide with the race — and be a component in what he envisions as a much larger, citywide event.
“We first contacted the America’s Cup about including an arts component before they even confirmed San Francisco as the venue,” Wood remembers. “They’ve never really had a strong arts component to the America’s Cup before, but they’ve never tried to do anything like they’re trying to do here.”
He’s referring to this particular race’s unique appeal for “a land-based audience.” Geographically speaking, some America’s Cup races are viewable only to television audiences and anyone who happens to have a boat hanging out within sight of the course; the San Francisco Bay obviously offers far more viewing opportunities for landlubbers.
“If you do either of the two largest sporting events in the world — the Olympics and the World Cup — an arts festival is mandatory. You can’t even bid on the Olympics unless you have a festival that’s going to run alongside it,” Wood explains. “[The event will then] appeal to more people. People will stay in the locale longer and spend more money — [especially important for] the America’s Cup, where there’s only racing for an hour a day.”
Money is always a factor when planning for an arts festival of any size, particularly something large enough to entertain 200,000-ish people.
“We can raise a lot of our own money, but what we need is some type of agreement that says we can go out and raise it as the name ‘America’s Cup’,” Wood says, noting that he’s already broached the subject of fundraising with some of the consulates representing countries with boats entered in the race. He’d like to bring artists from all of the participating countries (so far: Italy, Spain, France, South Korea, New Zealand, China, and Sweden) to San Francisco to perform alongside Bay Area arts groups. His grand vision includes theme weeks for each country revolving around the various holidays that happen to fall within the race dates — for example, France’s Bastille Day, July 14.
AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM?
Wood was optimistic after his first meeting with Mark Bullingham, then the America’s Cup director of marketing, in April 2011.
“Then I jumped into SFIAF in May,” Wood remembers. “When I came back in June or July, he’d resigned. We were never able to get traction with the America’s Cup after that.”
As time for fundraising grows short — and the America’s Cup deal shrinks and evolves as development plans are tinkered with; the latest incarnation was presented to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors March 27 — Wood holds out hope that an arts festival will be included in the deal. A little bit of hope.
“If they let the deal be signed without including an arts component — or even just mentioning ‘Well, we’ll have a future conversation around this’ — then Larry Ellison can do what he wants. Oracle can have some entertainment if they wish, or they can cut the entertainment if they wish,” he says. “The way the actual America’s Cup legislation is written at the moment, the city is going to let the America’s Cup Event Authority escape without having to commit to any type of arts program whatsoever.”
From the city’s point of view, that’s not entirely true. San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development acknowledged the importance of having an arts component in a memo titled “America’s Cup Neighborhood Engagement Strategy” presented to the Board of Supervisors February 22, 2012 — though so far, that’s been the only official word on the subject.
“We’re still trying to get our approvals here so we haven’t really moved much beyond [what’s in the memo],” says the OEWD’s Jane Sullivan, Communications Director for the America’s Cup project. “I think what we in the mayor’s office are concentrating on is trying to make sure the economic benefits spread across the city, and probably using the neighborhoods as a focus of how to do that. But certainly that would include the arts component in the neighborhoods and maybe beyond.”
One promising idea outlined in the memo is to use a smart phone app to help alert visitors to neighborhood activities, including arts events.
“There’s an app that exists right now called Sfarts.org that is a project between the [San Francisco] Arts Commission and Grants for the Arts,” Sullivan explains, noting that working with the San Francisco Travel Association would be a way to market the app to visitors.
Though discussions are “ongoing,” Sullivan says the city is focused on “coordination and promotion, and then helping to develop or further develop a robust technology platform to support that.”
When asked if she thinks an official, large-scale arts festival would make its way into the America’s Cup deal, she’s straightforward: “I do not think that’s going to happen.”
X GAMES 2.0
Tony Kelly — facilities manager at Bindlestiff Studio, and a longtime participant in San Francisco’s arts and political scenes — believes that arts events are “the only way to save the America’s Cup” in terms of reaping any of the event’s promised neighborhood economic impact.
“It’s not just having arts events, it’s putting them in places to draw people to the neighborhoods,” he says. “If people go to the races in the afternoon, then you draw them out into the neighborhoods for arts events in the evening, then they actually stay in the city longer. They go to restaurants, bars, hotels, and merchants.”
However, he cautions, “If you think this many people are showing up, you better have things for them to do. If you don’t think this many people are showing up, you better create things so that people do show up. Either way.”
He’s concerned about the city’s strategy of promoting existing arts events without offering additional support to arts groups.
“If the city pretends that we have this ongoing international arts festival any weekend of the year, and therefore we’ll just promote what we already have, and that’ll be our festival during the America’s Cup, that essentially works as a budget cut,” Kelly says. “There’s a certain amount of funding that dribbles down to the arts right now. It is what it is. And then they’re like, ‘We’re gonna add this whole other thing, and we hope you guys can add capacity to handle this stuff, because here come all these people. But no, we’re not going to support it at all.’ That’s a classic unfunded mandate. ‘Oh, you can take this on too.'”
Kelly, Wood, and other members of the arts community have brainstormed a hypothetical list of festival events: an America’s Cup-themed parade, allowing Sunday Streets on Market Street throughout the weeks of racing, outdoor musical performances, an art walk along the Embarcadero, and more, tapping into publicly-owned venues around the city. A sample budget was also drafted.
“It is definitely an example of what could be done fairly quickly and efficiently in this year’s budget, if anyone at City Hall chose to do so,” Kelly says.
Unsurprisingly, Wood shares Kelly’s frustration with the city’s let’s-promote-what’s-in-place plan. “San Francisco has this enormous arts infrastructure that it isn’t using properly,” he says. “Why not hotwire the system to create a program of events that would also complement [arts events which are] already going on? There’s been no real effort to try and corral what’s going on and figure out how it fits together, so that’s what we’ve been trying to do.”
Kelly remains skeptical that the America’s Cup will even draw the promised crowds; he suspects its actual impact on the city will more resemble the X Games — which San Francisco hosted in 1999 and 2000 — than an event “as big as multiple Super Bowls.”
He also views the city’s reluctance to support an arts festival as part of a larger, long-standing problem.
“San Francisco is this great, hip, fun, creative city — why is that? It’s because of the artists. But housing prices keep going up, so more artists have to leave,” he says. “However, when there’s an event that’s counting on us to actually deliver this stuff to the neighborhoods, there’s no support for it. Push is coming to shove and has for a number of years now, and this is just one more obvious, obvious example of it.”
There couldn’t have been a better way to escape the dramatic, wet downpour the night of Sat/24 than to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the SF LGBT Community Center at the SF Design Center under the twinkling lights of a “gay Pah-ree” inspired party. (Never was “Paris” pronounced the clunky Anglo way, of course.)
There was amazing food, free-flowing booze, but best of all, crowds of beautiful, happy people, dressed in Parisian splendor (including stilt-walking Eiffel Towers a scruffy French poodle).
Everyone looked fabulous. Really fabulous! The entertainment included a song by the super sweet Honey Mahogany, surreal live decorations courtesy of a walking Matisse painting, a gorgeous half-nude contortionist, and, of course, a coterie of supportive politicians (including Mark Leno), raising their bubbly high to toast the Center on its birthday.
The Center eschewed long speeches to devote the evening to great dancing, beautiful drag performances, and those irresistible old school soul beats of DJ Carnita from Hard French, that lasted far into the evening.
Hyperproductive fashion designer and revered fantasy engineer Jean Paul Gaultier was in town last week for the opening of a (very cool) retrospective of his work at the de Young. His nightlife stops included the Some Thing drag show at the Stud on Friday, a cruisy interlude at the Powerhouse on Saturday — and of course a lavish opening gala celebration at the de Young itself on Friday evening.
The fantastic function included an exposed “backstage” area where models were fitted into Gaultier pret-a-porter, primped, temporary-tattooed, and hairdressed with amazing sculptural headpieces by SF’s Glama-Rama salon, before trotting out onto a makeshift runway. Attendees — not all of them our city’s social page elite, btw — wore their most unusual outfits. (There were a lot of sailor stripes, man-skirts, and Gaultier looks from the past three decades.) Even the servers were decked out in handmade kaleidoscopic Krylon smocks by graffiti gallery 1:AM. Tunes from the gorgeous, killer-bobbed DJ started out retro-cute and fun, including JPG’s own 1990 dancefloor hit, “How To Do That” before devolving into the standard party jams of today, which certainly got the singles (cougars) in the crowd “puttin’ their hands up.” It was a blast.
Soon the raucous and always riveting Extra Action Marching Band took over, the flowing cocktails kicked in, and we drifted down to the exhibit itself, which includes eerie singing mannequins with projected faces beamed in directly from Uncanny Valley. (There’s even an interactive one of Gaultier himself, which supposedly answers questions, although I think the ambient noise levelof the gala confused it.)
The amassed collection of clothing and concepts, of course, was overwhelming in its creativity and development — although I could have done with a few more iconic items from the “Chic Rabbis” 1993 collection (personal preference!) and some more recent work, and perhaps a wee bit less emphasis on the infamous Madonna-cone bra connection. But I did tear up at the site of Gaultier’s childhood teddy bear preserved in a vitrine wearing, yes, a miniature cone bra prototype.
I think the most touching thing in the show, however, was a Polaroid by Andy Warhol, taken of the young and not quite hatched Gaultier at New York’s Area club in 1986. Gaultier is caught in a stairwell, a bit Joker-like in what looks to be a purple silk suit with a gold lozenge pattern and his trademark bleached blonde hair. It’s accompanied by Warhol’s famous quote, ““I think the way people dress today is a form of artistic expression. Saint Laurent, for instance, has made great art. Art lies in the way the whole outfit is put together. Take Jean Paul Gaultier. What he does is really art.”
Revered French bad-boy designer Jean Paul Gaultier is in town for the unveiling of a neat-looking “enfant terrible” retrospective of his work at the de Young. (Will there be anything in it as scandalous as the tribute to Naomi Campbell’s famous wipeout in the Vivienne Westwood show five years ago?). He also has a busy schedule: a red-carpet appearance at the new Al Pacino movie launch tonight, a private-ish A-gayish loft party on Thursday whose redeeming feature = drag goddess DJ Juanita More, and of course a lavish opening celebration at the de Young itself on Friday. ($300 per person — I’ll be blogging all the opulence and potential fashion faux paaaaaases.)
But us lowly club kids love you too, JPG.
Whether it’s for managing the Herculean task of making Madonna interesting for 10 minutes 23 years ago, costuming some of the coolest movies ever (stay tuned for a “Gaultier Fashion Film Series” just announced for April 5-6 at the Castro Theatre), foretelling the whole cross-over fashion designer movement with your dance floor classic “Aow Tou Dou Zat” (which sounds amazing right now btw), providing perversion fantasy spectacles for a pre-Internet world, or just plain making fashion crazy, gay, and fabulous — we’d like a chance to thank you by being fabulous back in your presence.
You should sneak out of the hoity-toity fooforaws and get some new, true San Francisco underworld inspiration from your spiritual children. Here’s where:
WEDNESDAY
Booty Call See Juanita More (and ever-energetic co-promoter Joshua J) in her native habitat, as she hosts this weekly queer night bursting with forward looks and youthful cuteness. The stated draw is the fun photobooth in back, tricked out by noted artists, but the free-spirited, non-pop house tunes are tasty, too. 9 p.m., $3. QBar, 456 Castro, SF. www.bootycallwednesdays.com
THURSDAY
Future Perfect Local underground pop apotheosis Alexis Blair Penney’s going away fiesta! This packed weekly party pretty much realizes its admirable aim to demolish all genre boundaries and just play “cool, contemporary music no matter what.” That makes it hard to write about, but easy to dig, especially with yummy weekly live guests that have included Light Asylum, Cold Cave, and Dubbel Dutch. 10 p.m., $10–$15. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF. www.monarchsf.com
Popscene All the bright young indie pop fans converge on this long-running 18+ party to peep up-and-coming international live bands often so fresh the Internet has yet to discover them — plus some touching nods to the alternative pop styles of yore. 10 p.m., $10–$15, 18+. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. www.popscene-sf.com
Relax Relate Release Three of the craziest (and cutest) mofo DJs on the scene, Vin Sol, Richie Panic, and 5kinAndBone5 indulge their deeper eclectic (yet still plenty bumpin’) sides, with schweet selections spanning classic disco to hyphy gems, bass oddities to vogue jams, for an adventurous crowd in a Tenderloin basement. 10 p.m., $5. 222 Hyde, SF. Facebook page.
The Tubesteak Connection After almost eight years of reviving rare 1970s and ’80s gay bathhouse disco in an atmosphere that encourages sleazy cruising (and bans all things digital), DJ Bus Station John’s club is still a sensation — DJs make the pilgrimage, often on their knees, from around the globe to catch up on the sex music of the past. 10 p.m., $5. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF. www.auntcharlieslounge.com
FRIDAY
Blow Up Perhaps the only place you’ll see Gaultier clothing being worn non-ironically (plus the awesome Ssion performs this week)! Fantastically glamorous and classy-yet-raging 18+ underground electro, nu-disco, and post-French Touch night, hosted by Ava Berlin and Jeffrey Paradise, now seven years old and as fashionable as ever with a slew of talented DJs, weekly guests, relatable moments, and incredible looks. 10 p.m., $10–$20, 18+. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.blowupsf.com
Hot Boxxx Girls Legendary gender illusionists of the Tenderloin shower you with bewitching beauty and ravishing razzle-dazzle in this must-see drag show (also on Saturday nights). Once you witness these spirited gals take on your favorite showtune, pop hit, or power ballad, you’ll never hear it the same. Bring lots of singles for tipping. 9 p.m., $5. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF.www.auntcharlieslounge.com
Some Thing Taking drag (and performance) into some incredible new and WTF zones — with lots of fun dancing afterward, and a fantastic craft table courtesy of Haute Gloo — the Some Thing trio of Glamamore, VivvyAnne ForeverMore, and DJ Down-E add some theatrical, dramatic, and loopy oomph to the SF weekend. 10 p.m.-afterhours, $7. The Stud, 399 9th St., SF. www.studsf.com
“Oops! Jean Paul Gaultier is so soigné!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwR0OtBJpA0
SATURDAY
Go Bang! Tons of special guest disco-heat DJs this month from Shawn Ryan of Philadelphia to Tres Johnson of Omaha, Nebraska! DJ Steve Fabus has been spinning since the earliest days of San Fran-disco, and when teamed up with young fanatic DJ Sergio — it’s been fire. Each month brings an onslaught of disco heat, with repolished red-light classics and rare vinyl revivals stoking an eager, off-the-shoulder crowd. Fourth Saturdays, 9 p.m., $5. Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF. www.gobangsf.com
Icee Hot This month with Siberian techno chanteuse Nina Kraviz, Detroit techno hero Rolando, and nu-vogue beats innovator MikeQ! The city’s best showcase for razor’s edge developments in underground bass music and the UK sounds of now — with some classic house and techno stunner guests thrown in for mega-measure. A lifeline for those tired of hearing this good stuff via Internet. Fourth Saturdays, 10 p.m.-3 a.m., SF. $5 before 10:30, $10 after. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
Rocket Cute scruffy dudes from kooky queer Burning Man camps dancing to cutting-edge techno, with a Space Age theme and a performance by SF’s own sissy bounce rap duo Double Dutchess? Amazing. 10 p.m., $7. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF. Facebook page
Soiree 10The queerati will be all exploding in a puff of glitter, feathers, and post-ironic jazz hands for the LGBT Community Center’s 10th anniversary celebration: Honey Mahogany, Anna Conda, Ambrosia Salad, Marga Gomez, Glamamore, Fauxnique, Hard French DJs, and more, plus a banquet to get excited about! Sat/24, 7-11pm, $95 (it’s charitable!). San Francisco Design Center Galleria, 101 Henry Adams, SF. www.soiree10.com
SUNDAY
Honey Soundsystem Timeless, pumping house music so well-curated, and scruffy hot queer freak dancers looking so high out of their minds on the dance floor, that I feel gross and a little violated just being there. 9 p.m., $5. Holy Cow, 1535 Folsom, SF. www.honeysoundsystem.com
MONDAY
Viennetta Discotheque What other intimate, kooky-lovely queer party would celebrate its recent anniversary with 40 McDonald’s cheeseburgers and a platter of fries for hungover voguers to “serve?” From over-the-top disco to tomorrow’s dub-techno to just WTF, DJs Stanley Frank and Robert Jeffrey whip it up. 10 p.m., free. UndergroundSF, 424 Haight, SF. 133 Turk, SF.
TUESDAY
High Fantasy Apocalyptically glamorous queer rabble-rousers Alexis Bair Penney and Myles Cooper make gutter dreams come true in the Tenderloin, with artistically challenging drag performances, international surprise guests, and polymorphous perversity on tap-tap-tap. 10 p.m., $2. Aunt Charlie’s Lounge, 133 Turk, SF.www.auntcharlieslounge.com
SUPER EGO I went drinking in North Beach and didn’t get attacked by stripper bodyguards! (Damn.) The Beach has garnered a righteous rep for hotsy cocktailology — and yes, the sazeracs at Comstock Saloon (www.comstocksaloon.com) are superb, the Old-Fashioneds at 15 Romolo (www.15romolo.com) kick ass, Vesuvio‘s (www.vesuviosf.com) Bloody Marys bleed “Yes, please!,” hello bacon-wrapped tater tots at the Boardroom (www.boardroomsf.com), and hola gin-and-real-gingers at Tope (1326 Grant) But my NB heart still skipped most for Specs’ Twelve Adler Museum (12 William Saroyan Pl.) and its ragtag cast of characters, fascinating San Francisciana, and oops-cheap whiskeys. Then I took a nap.
MIKE SIMONETTI
Italians Do It Better — so says the nu-disco and modern Italo revivalist’s label, and the man himself ain’t so bad neither. He’s pleased crowd’s thoroughly every time he’s appeared here and, paired tonight with Portland’s buzzy (and worthy) robo-steamy live electronic duo Soft Metals, should be an unstoppable stallion of delight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKYXTK0unlE
Fri/23, 9pm, $10 with Facebook RSVP, see www.monarchsf.com for details. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF.
SSION
Avant-pop doesn’t get more avanter than NYC’s Ssion, who heads a shadowy network of degraded interplanetary glamform beings just within reach among us.
Fri/23, 9pm, 18+, $15–$20. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.blowupsf.com
NINA KRAVIZ
Brainy, unpredictable, sensual, wild: the arresting Muscovite comes with a lot of DJ-of-the-moment expectations — and baggage. Her new album caused an Internet shitstorm when it turned out she’d jumped on the current, out-of-hand “singing DJ” bandwagon that also just claimed Norwegian cosmic disco god Lindstrom (I’m on the “meh” side of the whole thing. The pop-techno crossover trend hasn’t excited me too much so far.) And yet her beats and selection are usually pretty wowza; it’ll be a treat to see what she brings out at the Lights Down Low monthly, alongside essential Detroit techno hero Rolando and vogue beats innovator MikeQ.
Sat/24, 9:30pm-4am, $15. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
DAN GHENACIA
Dan is one of those supercool French deep-tech house dudes who I can’t imagine laying down a trademark impeccably sexy set without a cigarette dangling from his smoocher. The true drama of this night might just lie in that. You, however, will probably get laid.
Here’s a bit of sunshine: renowned UK jazz-hop and tropical beatsmeister Quantic has mined his new home in Colombia for inspiration to release a really beautiful roots funk album, Look Around the Corner, with vocalist Alice Russell. Should be a live smash.
The queerati will be all exploding in a puff of glitter, feathers, and post-ironic jazz hands for the LGBT Community Center’s 10th anniversary celebration: Honey Mahogany, Anna Conda, Ambrosia Salad, Marga Gomez, Glamamore, Fauxnique, Hard French DJs, and more, plus a banquet to get excited about!
Sat/24, 7-11pm, $95 (it’s charitable!). San Francisco Design Center Galleria, 101 Henry Adams, SF. www.soiree10.com
If you’re already weary of the beer-overkill this weekend entails, celebrate St. Patrick’s with a different type of festive drink — the Irish coffee. The Buena Vista Cafe holds a collection of clippings and photographs that track the beginnings of Irish coffee in San Francisco from as far back as the 1960s. Luckily, the drink is still around to salvage everyone’s hangover this weekend. Presented as part of the Crossroads Irish American Festival.
“AMID A SPACE BETWEEN: IRISH ARTISTS IN AMERICA” ART EXHIBIT
This exhibit features six Irish artists living in America who fuse their multifaceted Irish identities and cross-cultural exchanges in to their creative work.
Through April 19. Gallery hours Tues.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., free to members; $18 regular museum admission; $11 for students; half-price admission Thursday evenings. SFMOMA Artist Gallery at Fort Mason, Buchanan at Marina, SF. (415) 441-4777, www.sfmoma.org
IRISH WHISKEY COMPETITION
Bartenders from Txoko, 15 Romolo, Campanula, and Bottle Cap (all fine North Beach establishments) will be whipping up their most innovative cocktail made with Michael Collins Irish whiskey. Celebrate Ireland’s fine contribution to the mixology scene, and sample all four concoctions.
Club Six’s new indie rock room gets a rowdy opening concert with this punk group, originally from County Sligo. The Hooks weave traditional Irish rawkus with good old agit-punk — just the way to kick off your week of celebrations.
With The California Celts. 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $5. RKRL, 52 Sixth St., SF. www.clubsix1.com
THURSDAY 15
ST. PATRICK’S NIGHTLIFE
Cal Academy’s yearly tribute to the Irish gets grounded by the presence of SF’s Érie arbiters, the United Irish Cultural Center (it’ll have a booth), and maintains its scientifical presence with step dancing in the Africa room, planetarium shows, and a lecture on the biological significance of the four-leaf clover.
6 p.m.-10 p.m., $12. California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse, SF. 1-888-670-4433, www.calacademy.org
CROSSROADS FESTIVAL IRISH AMERICAN WRITING AWARD CEREMONY AND OPEN MIC
Brooklyn writer Kathleen Donohoe already won this year’s top honors for her short story, “You Were Forever.” But anyone from the Irish diaspora is encouraged to have his or her five minutes of fame during the open mic. RSVP to secure a time slot.
7 p.m.-9p.m., free. University of San Francisco, Fromm Hall, 2130 Fulton, SF. (415) 810-3774, www.irishamericancrossroads.org
FRIDAY 16
PRE-ST. PATRICK’S DAY ALLEYS AND BLOCK PARTY
With thousands predicted to show up at FiDi’s annual block party, every nook and cranny will be shamrock-filled at this tavern’s fourth annual shindig. Arrive hungry as there will be food trucks, and thirsty as your first beer is free before 6:30 p.m.
5 p.m.-10 p.m., free with RSVP. Taverna Aventine, 582 Washington, SF. (415) 981-1500, www.aventinesf.com
SHAMROCK BALL
For a staid, grown-people St. Patrick’s Day, cruise over to this casino event, sponsored by the California Irish-American Alliance. Why would a group committed to preserving Irish heritage in the Golden State produce a casino night with a partially hosted bar, gambling, and dancing for St. Patty’s Day? Because the Californian Irish have a history of having a real good time, that’s why.
7 p.m.-midnight, $85. Marines’ Memorial Club and Hotel, 609 Sutter, SF. (415) 713-6341, www.shamrockball.com
SATURDAY 17
FARLEY’S COFFEE BIRTHDAY BAGPIPES
The Guardian’s staff respirates to the beat of our cups of joe from our neighbor up Potrero Hill, so we are pleased as punch to announce that our fave cafe is turning 23 — and as always, it’s having a green-themed birthday party. To whit, live bagpipers will accompany your morning scone and paper. The pipers will play in the morning, other Irish tunes in the afternoon.
Watch our city turn a shade greener as Irish dance troupes, marching bands, and hundred of floats make their way around West Coast’s largest Patty’s Day event. Celebrate Irish culture and history in an alcohol-free, yet still fun way — we’re talking ponies, mechanical rides, and finger-lickin’ Irish food.
Parade: 11:30 a.m., free. Starts at Market and Second Street; Festival: 11 a.m.-5 p.m., free.
Between this and yesterday’s street party, the Financial District has two chances to take off its usual gray suit for a “Kiss Me I’m Irish” tee and a pair of shamrock glasses.
9 a.m.- midnight, free. Irish Bank, 10 Mark, SF. (415) 788-7152, www.theirishbank.com
HABITOT MUSEUM’S SHAMROCK DAY
Getting drunk seems to be the St. Patrick’s Day highlight for many in San Francisco, but for kids the high point is usually pinching buddies for not wearing green and finding little emerald men in the clover field. At least at this event. Embrace your inner leprechaun and find gold at the end of the rainbow.
Bands like Blue on Green and the Whelan Academy of Irish Dance will accompany your boxty pancakes and Irish car bombs. Fifth round’s the charm, right?
Brunch 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; block party 1 p.m.-11 p.m., $10 for block party. O’Riley’s, 622 Green, SF. (415) 989-6222, www.sforileys.com
UNITED IRISH CULTURAL CENTER CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE DINNER
For perhaps the most traditional celebration in San Francisco, head to this Outer Sunset hub of Irish culture. Load up on calories in the dining room with the center’s ladies auxiliary-sponsored traditional Irish eats, then work them off to the live Irish bands that’ll be keeping it lively.
Dinner seating starts at 3:30 p.m., no reservations necessary. United Irish Cultural Center, 2700 45th Ave., SF. (415) 661-2700, www.irishcentersf.org
CULANN’S HOUNDS
In Irish folklore, a great hero was named Cuchulainn — a moniker which translates to “hound of Culann” — after defeating a savage beast in self-defense. This SF-based Irish folk band channels the authentic, legendary spirit in a high-energy, 21st century kind of way.
Catch SF-based Celtic folk-indie band (sham)rocking out in this laidback bar of great Guinness and Kilkenny — the Richmond’s got most of SF’s best Irish bars, so a cruise in this direction is a great bet this weekend.
Comnes takes traditional Irish folk music and layers it with Indian tabla, Turkish rhythms, and Motown grooves. Pair this melodic stew with a $4 pint of Murphy’s Irish stout, and get ready for a night of banjos, jigs, and polkas.
9 p.m., $20. Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016, www.cafedunord.com
BOOTIE ST. PATRICK’S DAY
With emcee O’Kingfish setting the mood and wacky blenderized beats served by DJ Tripp and DJ Ajazx, don’t think that this is just another regular party looking to cash in on St. Patty’s blarney with a few shamrocks stuck on the walls. Burly Q’s of Hubba Hubba Revue will be performing a very special Irish-themed burlesque program.
9 p.m.-late night, $10-$20. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.dnalounge.com
PADDY’S DAY WITH THE DOCSTEADY SOUNDSYSTEM
Enjoy $4 Jameson shots and Guinness pints with SF’s favorite half Irish-half Filipino sound guy, DJ Doc Fu. He’ll be spinning rebel music, fight songs, and hip-hop for your sláinte, along with PK and Cutz on Demand.
Java Beach’s zoo-side location hosts this family-friendly outdoor event, just outside the United Irish Cultural Center. Irish music and dancing is promised, as is face painting for the wee ones, and that most Irish of all traditions: the bouncy castle.
If you’re already weary of the beer-overkill this weekend entails, celebrate St. Patrick’s with a different type of festive drink — the Irish coffee. The Buena Vista Cafe holds a collection of clippings and photographs that track the beginnings of Irish coffee in San Francisco from as far back as the 1960s. Luckily, the drink is still around to salvage everyone’s hangover this weekend. Presented as part of the Crossroads Irish American Festival.
Wed/14, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m., free. California Historical Society, 678 Mission, SF. (415) 357-1848, www.irishamericancrossroads.org
IRISH WHISKEY COMPETITION
Bartenders from Txoko, 15 Romolo, Campanula, and Bottle Cap (all fine North Beach establishments) will be whipping up their most innovative cocktail made with Michael Collins Irish whiskey. Celebrate Ireland’s fine contribution to the mixology scene, and sample all four concoctions.
Club Six’s new indie rock room gets a rowdy opening concert with this punk group, originally from County Sligo. The Hooks weave traditional Irish rawkus with good old agit-punk — just the way to kick off your week of celebrations.
With The California Celts. Wed/14, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., $5. RKRL, 52 Sixth St., SF. www.clubsix1.com
ST. PATRICK’S NIGHTLIFE
Cal Academy’s yearly tribute to the Irish gets grounded by the presence of SF’s Érie arbiters, the United Irish Cultural Center (it’ll have a booth), and maintains its scientifical presence with step dancing in the Africa room, planetarium shows, and a lecture on the biological significance of the four-leaf clover.
Thu/15, 6 p.m.-10 p.m., $12. California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse, SF. 1-888-670-4433, www.calacademy.org
“AMID A SPACE BETWEEN: IRISH ARTISTS IN AMERICA” ART EXHIBIT
This exhibit features six Irish artists living in America who fuse their multifaceted Irish identities and cross-cultural exchanges in to their creative work.
Through April 19. Gallery hours Tues.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., free to members; $18 regular museum admission; $11 for students; half-price admission Thursday evenings. SFMOMA Artist Gallery at Fort Mason, Buchanan at Marina, SF. (415) 441-4777, www.sfmoma.org
CROSSROADS FESTIVAL IRISH AMERICAN WRITING AWARD CEREMONY AND OPEN MIC
Brooklyn writer Kathleen Donohoe already won this year’s top honors for her short story, “You Were Forever.” But anyone from the Irish diaspora is encouraged to have his or her five minutes of fame during the open mic. RSVP to secure a time slot.
Thu/15, 7 p.m.-9p.m., free. University of San Francisco, Fromm Hall, 2130 Fulton, SF. (415) 810-3774, www.irishamericancrossroads.org
PRE-ST. PATRICK’S DAY ALLEYS AND BLOCK PARTY
With thousands predicted to show up at FiDi’s annual block party, every nook and cranny will be shamrock-filled at this tavern’s fourth annual shindig. Arrive hungry as there will be food trucks, and thirsty as your first beer is free before 6:30 p.m.
Fri/16, 5 p.m.-10 p.m., free with RSVP. Taverna Aventine, 582 Washington, SF. (415) 981-1500, www.aventinesf.com
SHAMROCK BALL
For a staid, grown-people St. Patrick’s Day, cruise over to this casino event, sponsored by the California Irish-American Alliance. Why would a group committed to preserving Irish heritage in the Golden State produce a casino night with a partially hosted bar, gambling, and dancing for St. Patty’s Day? Because the Californian Irish have a history of having a real good time, that’s why.
Fri/16 7 p.m.-midnight, $85. Marines’ Memorial Club and Hotel, 609 Sutter, SF. (415) 713-6341, www.shamrockball.com
FARLEY’S COFFEE BIRTHDAY BAGPIPES
The Guardian’s staff respirates to the beat of our cups of joe from our neighbor up Potrero Hill, so we are pleased as punch to announce that our fave cafe is turning 23 — and as always, it’s having a green-themed birthday party. To whit, live bagpipers will accompany your morning scone and paper. The pipers will play in the morning, other Irish tunes in the afternoon.
Watch our city turn a shade greener as Irish dance troupes, marching bands, and hundred of floats make their way around West Coast’s largest Patty’s Day event. Celebrate Irish culture and history in an alcohol-free, yet still fun way — we’re talking ponies, mechanical rides, and finger-lickin’ Irish food.
Sat/ 17 Parade: 11:30 a.m., free. Starts at Market and Second Street; Festival: 11 a.m.-5 p.m., free.
Between this and yesterday’s street party, the Financial District has two chances to take off its usual gray suit for a “Kiss Me I’m Irish” tee and a pair of shamrock glasses.
Sat/17 9 a.m.- midnight, free. Irish Bank, 10 Mark, SF. (415) 788-7152, www.theirishbank.com
HABITOT MUSEUM’S SHAMROCK DAY
Getting drunk seems to be the St. Patrick’s Day highlight for many in San Francisco, but for kids the high point is usually pinching buddies for not wearing green and finding little emerald men in the clover field. At least at this event. Embrace your inner leprechaun and find gold at the end of the rainbow.
Bands like Blue on Green and the Whelan Academy of Irish Dance will accompany your boxty pancakes and Irish car bombs. Fifth round’s the charm, right?
Sat/ 17, Brunch 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; block party 1 p.m.-11 p.m., $10 for block party. O’Riley’s, 622 Green, SF. (415) 989-6222, www.sforileys.com
UNITED IRISH CULTURAL CENTER CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE DINNER
For perhaps the most traditional celebration in San Francisco, head to this Outer Sunset hub of Irish culture. Load up on calories in the dining room with the center’s ladies auxiliary-sponsored traditional Irish eats, then work them off to the live Irish bands that’ll be keeping it lively.
Sat/17, dinner seating starts at 3:30 p.m., no reservations necessary. United Irish Cultural Center, 2700 45th Ave., SF. (415) 661-2700, www.irishcentersf.org
CULANN’S HOUNDS
In Irish folklore, a great hero was named Cuchulainn — a moniker which translates to “hound of Culann” — after defeating a savage beast in self-defense. This SF-based Irish folk band channels the authentic, legendary spirit in a high-energy, 21st century kind of way.
Catch SF-based Celtic folk-indie band (sham)rocking out in this laidback bar of great Guinness and Kilkenny — the Richmond’s got most of SF’s best Irish bars, so a cruise in this direction is a great bet this weekend.
Sat/17, 9 p.m., $6. The Plough and Stars, 116 Clement, SF. (415) 751-1122, www.theploughandstars.com
ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION WITH LUCIA COMNES
Comnes takes traditional Irish folk music and layers it with Indian tabla, Turkish rhythms, and Motown grooves. Pair this melodic stew with a $4 pint of Murphy’s Irish stout, and get ready for a night of banjos, jigs, and polkas.
Sat/ 17, 9 p.m., $20. Cafe Du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. (415) 861-5016, www.cafedunord.com
BOOTIE ST. PATRICK’S DAY
With emcee O’Kingfish setting the mood and wacky blenderized beats served by DJ Tripp and DJ Ajazx, don’t think that this is just another regular party looking to cash in on St. Patty’s blarney with a few shamrocks stuck on the walls. Burly Q’s of Hubba Hubba Revue will be performing a very special Irish-themed burlesque program.
Enjoy $4 Jameson shots and Guinness pints with SF’s favorite half Irish-half Filipino sound guy, DJ Doc Fu. He’ll be spinning rebel music, fight songs, and hip-hop for your sláinte, along with PK and Cutz on Demand.
Java Beach’s zoo-side location hosts this family-friendly outdoor event, just outside the United Irish Cultural Center. Irish music and dancing is promised, as is face painting for the wee ones, and that most Irish of all traditions: the bouncy castle.
Groucho Marx once said, “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.” For you contemporary types, a similar sentiment was expressed by Blair Waldorf in the first season of Gossip Girl. “Watch and learn, ladies. The most important parties to attend are the ones you’re not invited to.”
I was originally invited to venue Rebel for the launch of much-hyped “branded” monthly NYC-LA-SF gay party Mr. Black on March 1. After interviewing promoters Joshua J and Luke Nero for this SFBG story, I got placed on the guest list. Without resorting to being totally tacky and asking, of course.
So imagine my utter horror and humiliation after glancing over said list last Thursday night and not seeing my name.
The only Oscar listed was Mr. Pineda (a.k.a. scruffy and lovely DJ Taco Tuesday) but I couldn’t go so far as to impersonate him, could I? What about if he showed up? He didn’t show up. Besides it had taken me almost all day to plan my outfit. Well, not really. I just grabbed my Normandy & Monroe sweater from my bottom drawer because a) you’re not supposed to hang sweaters and b) I “hadn’t worn it in a while.” But still.
At Rebel’s door with nothing to argue but a broken promise in the form of week-old text message from Joshua J, I paid $8 to go in. And I’ve never felt so… common.
Besides Cockfight and Dial Up and Pop Brownie and Honey Soundsystem and I Just Wanna Fucking Dance, San Francisco’s Mr. Black was the best gay party I have been to all year. So the cover charge, though steep, was worth it. Maybe it was because I had been uninvited and felt the rush from intruding into some secret underworld no one but me and 200 Facebook acquaintances knew about. Maybe it was the memories it brought back from the original underground Mr. Black in NYC. Maybe it was that I had shit tons of cocaine with me. Who knows?
In our conversation, Joshua J mentioned that Mr. Black’s notorious edge would be all up to the crowd. Which is accurate because Joshua wouldn’t know edgy if it farted in his face. Thankfully co-hostess Terry Tsipouras managed to snatch the club Some Thing crowd away from Alexander McQueen’s funeral and had them come by and give dirty looks to everyone.
The dance floor got packed once one of the Aarons from DJs Aaron & Aaron (I don’t know, the cute one who kept winking at the crowd as if he was in some real-life iteration of Grindr?) got on the Macbook. I vividly recall the utter euphoria that overtook the club when he infused ABBA’s “Gimme Gimme” with Madonna’s “Hung Up.” Brilliant, if not because it’s actually the same song. And who could forget co-hostess Lady Bear’s lower lip trembling in utter forlornness, as she mouthed “I have one thing to say… sashay, shante.” There was also a thin, chic boy eating a banana off to the side, and Heklina sent one of her clones.
Seeing all the young, beautiful things strutting about in homemade Chanel, I had one thing to say: I need a retail job at Neiman Marcus. If only for the great discounts and the flexibility to black out on a weekday.
At one point, I thought I had caught a glimpse of the real Chloe Sevigny walking in our mortal midst, but it turned out it was just this girl.
Towards the end of the night, not one but two drunken J. Crew gays I have never seen before tumbled over me and onto the floor. Of course, they wouldn’t have made it that far had they just relinquished the drinks in their hands and used them to break their fall. But on these dark, blurry, self-important nights, a cold glass full of ice and one’s own saliva is the only thing we have left to hold on to.
SUPER EGO Hey ya’ll, here are some primo parties I’m digging this week (and I just added some more great shindigs here) — remember to tap-tap-tap on the second stall door to the left and say, “Hi!” Just a wee reminder: for a lot more insanity, hit up www.sfbg.com/nightlife2012 where you’ll find a huge list of my favorite weekly and monthly parties. Hi!
AS I LIKE IT
Lovely As You Like It techno party crew founder Jeremy Bispo’s birthday means he gets his pick of talent: hard-driving Minneapolis minimal tech-soul jock DVS1, jazzy Israeli duo JuJu & Jordash, Carlos Souffront, MossMoss, Rich Korach. After party starts at 6am at 222 Hyde.
Fri/9, 10pm-5:30am, $10–$15, $5 all night for Pisces. Beatbox, 314 11th St., SF. www.ayli-sf.com
BEAUTIFUL SWIMMERS
Canny duo give disco and rare groove samples a hallucinatory ’90s feel that sometimes borders on sexily slowed-down tribal house, sometimes wormhole disco. Sapphire Slows, Magic Touch, and DJ Pickpockets round off the latest Donuts Party (yes there are donuts!) lineup.
Fri/9, 9 p.m.-3am, $10. Public Works, 161 Erie, SF. www.publicsf.com
EATS EVERYTHING
Bristol, UK’s Daniel Pearce really did eat everything with last year’s delicious and ubiquitous “Entrance Song” that welded tech-house to bass drops, with a canny Maxwell bedroom-soul sample floated atop. Unsurprisingly, SF’s likeminded dirtybird label signed him right away. here’s his local debut.
Fri/9, 10 p.m., $15–$20. Monarch, 101 Sixth St., SF. www.monarchsf.com
TASTE
Salsa dancing, food trucks, Dogpatch love? Heck yes. This new weekly at cafe Cocomo offers salsa and bachata dance lessons, food tastings, and live music — the kickoff features salsa band Avance and some fiery flamenco on the huge back patio. Very summery. This party has a lot going on, so check out the website below for more details.
Fri/9 and every Friday, 6:30 p.m., $15. Cafe Cocomo, 650 Indiana, SF. www.tastefridays.com
BRENDAN MOELLER
As noted above, 222 Hyde has reopened its doors after an extensive remodel (more about that after I black out there a couple times). New party series Realtime focuses on live electronic performances: this hot bearish dub techno South Africa-via-NYCer kicks it off.
Sat/10, 9 p.m., $10 before 11pm, $15 after. 222 Hyde, SF. Facebook invite
DJ LENGUA
Heavy contemporary cumbia vibes from the LA remixer and producer, bassed-up with dub effects and hot sonic surprises. He’s at the monthly Tormenta Tropical joint bringing some Latin heat to your cusp of spring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzJeF7nQUWo
Sat/10, 10 p.m., $10. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com
MURK
Revered ’90s house duo and record label owners (“Reach For Me,” “If You Really Want Someone”) hits the huuuge Arts & Beats party with 50+ local artists, plus DJs David Harness, Chris Lum, Adnan Sharif, and an artful ton more.
Big up some bouncy UK bass that flirts with juke and rave from this Manchester young’un. He’ll be at the raucous Lights Down Low monthly with footwork heartthrob Kingdom and residents Richie Panic, Sleazemore, Joaquin Bartra, and more.
MUSIC Even the strangest sounds tend to lose their unfamiliar aura after a few listens. But no matter how many times I spin ESG’s “UFO,” I find myself utterly incapable of identifying that synthetic warbling that meanders through the minimal groove. Is it water gurgling in old gas pipes, a whirling police siren, the ferocious grumbling of a subway train? Or something more disturbing: Clanging echoes of gunfire, successive bursts of city noise filtered through apartment hallways?
It’s as if the song prompts a flux of associations that never find a place to rest. But as much as the song prompts a heavy dose of uneasiness, it works a curative spell on the body. That mysterious noise, whose relentless growth heightens the pulse of the rhythm, ultimately triggers an urge to break out in rhythm, and to put it quite simply: dance.
“Coming up in the South Bronx, in the 1970s, we watched Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” says lead vocalist and writer, Renee Scroggins, who together with her sisters — Valerie on drums, Deborah on bass guitar, and Marie on congas — originally composed ESG with a couple friends. “At the end of Close Encounters, they have that do do do do in the background when they communicate with the aliens,” she continues. “So I was sitting at home one day, and I thought: What would it be like if a UFO just landed in the middle of the projects? And that’s how I wrote the song. It begins with chaos and craziness, because I know what would happen,” she laughs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o5vuMYQyhE
Over 30 years have passed since ESG (Emerald, Sapphire and Gold) pressed “UFO” to wax on its debut seven-inch for Factory Records in 1981. Today, the unlikely story of the vinyl’s origins seems to be the stuff of lore. While still teenagers, the Scroggins sisters had been performing in New York’s downtown scene for a couple of years. “We were opening for A Certain Ratio at a club called Hurrah in New York when Tony Wilson [of Factory Records] heard us,” Renee recalls, “and he said, ‘how would you like to make a record?‘ I was like, yeah sure, because I didn’t think he was serious. But this was on a Wednesday night, and by Saturday, we were in the studio recording with Martin Hannett.”
Hannett, Factory’s eccentric in-house producer who is likely best known for his work on Joy Division, lent his uncanny touch to ESG’s sound. Bookmarked by the diss song “You’re No Good” and the other end of the love spectrum, “Moody,” with its emotional highs and lows, the EP consists in a stripped down polypercussive funk that would mark ESG’s style for the rest of its output: loosely structured drum patterns weave around pockets of emptiness and stark bass lines, letting Renee’s vocals flutter and hypnotize. It caught the attention of Ed Bahlman at NY’s 99 Records, who was already unofficially managing the outfit but hadn’t realized its full potential in the studio. The Scroggins followed with another EP and recorded their debut full-length for 99, Come Away with ESG, at Radio City Music Hall in ’83.
Come Away solidified its magnetic role during a fertile period of New York’s musical history, in which at least three strands of musical forms encountered each other to unexpected effect. The angular edge of post-punk deconstructed the blues guitar, no wave bands challenged rock purism by stressing the danceable groove, and block parties exploded in the South Bronx, establishing the conditions for what would eventually come to be known as hip-hop. ESG — which shared the stage with the Clash, Gang of Four, and Grandmaster Flash, and performed at Paradise Garage, Danceteria and the Mudd Club — was at the threshold of all this momentum.
What might single ESG out from its peers, though, is its rooted lineage in soul. “James Brown is definitely one of the biggest influences on my writing style,” says Renee. “He would always take it to the bridge, and cut loose, and I’d be like — ‘I didn’t want that part to ever end!’ But, I thought, if I could write a song, and just keep that bridge part going, then people could dance all night.” It’s not all that surprising that ESG’s talent for elaborating, intensifying, and prolonging the aesthetics of the bridge, in frenetic jams off its debut like “Dance,” “The Beat,” and “Christelle,” would correspond with the birth of the DJ, who would attempt a similar effect by looping breaks found in dusty bins of soul, funk, and rock. Soon enough, “UFO” became one of those sampled records.
Listening to “UFO” is all the more disorienting because of the overwhelming dispersion of offspring it calls to mind. That synthetic siren has been sped up, modulated, faded behind layers of reverb, or even spliced in its pure form onto a new backbeat. There are too many to name: Big Daddy Kane’s “Ain’t No Half Steppin’,” Notorious B.I.G.’s “Party and Bullshit,” and countless more from J Dilla, Beastie Boys, Q-Bert, among hundreds, if not thousands of others. You’d think that such an influential legacy would neutralize “UFO,” finally render it to that sterile status of the familiar, but the effect is much the opposite, as if its staggered mutations have only increased the alien, yet maddeningly ecstatic element, within the song.
ESG returned to the recording studio in the 2000s, introducing both Renee’s daughter as well as Valerie’s to the family venture. It dropped two albums of solid new material for Soul Jazz, which also released compilations of its classic singles and rarities. But after more than 30 years of performing and making raw grooves as well as some pop oriented songs in the mix, ESG plans to self-release its final record, Closure, this month (esgclosure.com), to coincide with a farewell world tour. So this might just be the last time its unidentified funk touches down live in San Francisco.
ESG
Presented by No Way Back, With DJ sets from Solar, Conor, and Junior
Addressing a gathering of nightlife advocates at a California Music and Culture Association event last night, Mayor Ed Lee praised the economic and cultural role that the entertainment industry plays in San Francisco, announced plans to add a “nightlife unit” in the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and even hinted that Halloween in the Castro might be returning after being shut down during the city’s so-called “war on fun.”
“If I’m going to be about jobs,” he said, referring to his near-constant emphasis on economic development, “it should be both for the day and for the night…I do recognize this as a business, as a serious contributor to the economic engine of city.”
Lee referenced the new Controller’s Office report that was requested by Sup. Scott Wiener, which concludes that the nightlife industry generates about $4.2 billion in annual economic activity in the city (that report will be the subject of a rally and hearing on Monday at City Hall starting on the steps at noon). And he said that the benefits of a vibrant nightlife scene also help make San Francisco an appealing city for other businesses, an indirect economic benefit.
“You’re all part of a great part of the city that keeps everyone refreshed,” Lee said, later adding, “I think we can do more at night. The young people who work gobs of hours need to have an entertaining evening.”
As he announced plans to add a nightlife unit to OEWD, the office that works with private companies looking to locate or expand here, he said, “We, as government, need to fast-track things that are successful.” Yet he also said that public safety is still a challenge and called for the industry to work closely with police to keep everyone safe.
Yet Lee spoke positively about Halloween in the Castro, a once-popular event that was canceled because Mayor Gavin Newsom and then-Sup. Bevan Dufty (who Lee recently hired as his new homeless czar) feared the city couldn’t control it, and Lee alluded to plans being developed to revive it in some form. “I hate to see any event that brought so many people to the city gone,” he said.
We’re not usually ones for product placement, but Red Bull has been making some serious roads into quality nightlife. Tonight (Thu/1) the always impressive annual Red Bull Thre3style DJ competition comes to Ruby Skye, pitting several local DJs — and two from farther up the Coast — of various styles against each other for regional championships that could lead them to glory in Vegas later this year. (The “thre3style” refers to the requirement that DJs mix at least three different genres of music into their 15 minute sets.)
Red Bull Music Academy Radio is a go-to for dance music lovers who want to get clued in to what some of the best techno, house, hip-hop, and global bass DJs and producers are doing. And last month, the Red Bull Music Academy itself came to San Francisco to kick off the open-to-all Academy application period, participating in an excellent series of talks and performances by some music greats. What is the Red Bull Music Academy, you ask? (Don’t worry, there’s no quidditch involved.) You can actually be a part of it!
The Academy is a “world-traveling symposium” consisting of DJs, vocalists, producers, musicmakers, and super-fans who’ve been selected based on their applications to attend workshops, training sessions, and parties that are, well, rad. The Academy season culminates in a huge weeklong nightlife and music extravaganza in New York City. From what we saw, Academy members are a really diverse international crowd that benefits from all this networking and exposure (and energy drink?). In any case — apply already, applications are due April 2. Find out more details here.
Meanwhile, here are recordings of the interviews with the musicians who blitzkrieged SF for the application kick-off.
>>Saxophone deity (and Black Panthers soundtracker) Gary Bartz, who later appeared for a stylish, jazzy, super-diverse and nattily dressed evening at Yoshi’s with Bilal and Aloe Blacc as “The Gary Bartz Project featuring Bilal and Special Guest Aloe Blacc produced by Jill Newman Productions” (branding!)
>>Stretch and Bobbito, groundbreaking hip-hop hosts on Columbia University’s WKCR radio in the early ’90s — our friend texted us from their talk: “Their spilling all their secrets about cutting up vinyl and shit!” — who later rocked Mighty.
>>Absolutely spot-on house legends Masters at Work, aka Kenny Dope and Lil Louie Vega, spilled a few secrets of their own in their lively discussion, and then went on to play a bonkers-packed 1015 Folsom for an adoring crowd that stuck with them til 4 a.m., through Latin jazz, some R&B twists, and plenty of classics.
We’re excited to see what happens at the big Academy summit in NYC — sign up and tell us how it goes.
