US District judge Vaughan Walker has struck down California’s ban on same-sex marriage. Turns out the 18,000 same-sex marriages left intact from before the proposition was passed were key. Dang, I just planned my wedding in Connecticut.
Marke B.
Trip the light
marke@sfbg.com
SUPER EGO Oh, Andy Warhol, your profile Polaroid is, like, 10 days old. We need immediate updation! Curious, though, how we seem to be moving away from digital club photography as mere virtual portraiture suitable for Facebook framing — and more toward an experimental hyperrealism that treats Clubland as a given medium. What better place to try out new effects than on the dance floor? Cabbage patch that F-stop! Here are three photogs who really caught my eye this year, and added a new dimension to club flash.
SADIE MELLERIO
“I am captivated by the documentation of performances and people in the new wave, dark synth, and electro music scenes that I care so much about. My objective is to capture all the elements that create the mood of an event: performers, people, lighting, dancing, space, fashion. While I shoot at least one show or club event a week for myself, I have shot professionally for New Wave City, Fringe, Temptation, and Gossip.”
Dancer at Lords of Acid show, DNA Lounge
Sean Heskett and Ricky Wayne Garrett of Inferno of Joy (check them out here), Club Gossip, Cat Club
CABURE A BONUGLI (SHOT IN THE CITY)
“I started off by shooting mostly bands in Austin, which is where I found my love for low light photography. I wanted to capture shows without interrupting the mood. I’ve lived in SF for a year — and with the music scene being so underground, I’ve turned my lens to drag queen performance artists. The lengths some of them go to, and the amount of thought they put into their acts, still blows me away.”
April Mei Joon at “9/11 in July,” Some Thing, The Stud
Fireworks outside The Tubesteak Connection, Aunt Charlie’s Lounge
ISAAC BENJAMIN
“I started studying photography in 1993. It has been a consistent passion of mine since then. I met Juanita More in 2002 and have been working with her since. I currently take portraits of the personalities who attend her and Joshua J’s club Booty Call Wednesdays at Qbar.”
Mutha Chucka networks at Booty Call
Gang Gang glamour at Booty Call
BEST OF THE BAY 2010
Welcome to the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay 2010! This is our 36th annual celebration of the people, places, and things that make living here such a ridiculous joy — from Best Burrito and Best Amateur Sports Team to Best Strip Club and beyond.
Thousands of our readers voted in our 2010 Best of the Bay Readers Poll for their favorites in more than 200 categories. You’ll find the results inside — as well as 150 Editors Picks that highlight some Guardian favorites, old and new, that we think deserve special recognition for lighting up our lives this year.
This year our theme is “A Celebration of Local Heroes.” We’ve chosen eight individuals who we feel embody the current spirit of the Bay Area and its unique values. We hope you’ll be as inspired by their stories as we are. But really, our readers and everyone who contributes to making the Bay Area a better place to live are our local heroes. So throw on that magic cape, hop on your pedal-powered Batmobile, and let’s do it!
In 1974, Esquire magazine asked us for ideas for its Best of the USA issue, which led to us publish the original Best of the Bay. Made by the people of the Bay Area for the people of the Bay Area, it’s our annual opportunity to celebrate the people and places that make this city great. We were the first weekly paper to publish a regular “best of” issue. Thirty-six years on — and 44 years after we opened our doors — we’re still going strong.
Editing this year’s installment was a hoot. I shower grateful smooches on all my collaborators, especially my right-hand amiga Caitlin Donohue, creative wiz Mirissa Neff, amazing Local Heroes photographers Keeney + Law, the totally rad Blue Sky Studios, photographer Ben Hopfer, and the ever-supportive Hunky Beau, my own personal Best of the Bay. But most of all I thank you, dear reader, for your generous participation, for making the Bay Area such an astounding place to live, and for turning us on to some great new things this year.
CELEBRATE WITH US
The Guardian’s free annual Best of the Bay party is legendary — and you won’t want to miss this one. Schmooze with all the winners at Mezzanine! Rock out with Chuck Prophet, Stephanie Finch and the Company Men, and The Bitter Honeys. Thrill to the hip-hop improv of The Freeze! DJ Ome, Polite in Public photobooth, Burgermeister truck, and more!
Thursday, Aug. 5, 9 p.m., free
Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF.
BEST OF THE BAY STAFF
BEST OF THE BAY EDITOR
Marke B.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Mirissa Neff
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE
Caitlin Donohue
ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR
Ben Hopfer
LOCAL HEROES PHOTOGRAPHY
Keeney + Law
PHOTOGRAPHY LOCATION
Blue Sky Studios
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Rebecca Bowe, Bruce B. Brugmann, Kimberly Chun, Paula Connelly, Caitlin Donohue, Cheryl Eddy, Nicole Gluckstern, Johnny Ray Huston, Steven T. Jones, Virginia Miller, Tim Redmond, Paul Reidinger, Charles Russo, Amber Schadewald, David Schnur, Diane Sussman, Stephen Torres
BEST OF THE BAY PHOTOGRAPHY
Ben Hopfer, Mirissa Neff
COPY EDITORS
Caitlin Donohue, Diane Sussman
SPECIAL ASSISTANCE
Liz Brusca, Michelle Neville
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHY
KEENEY + LAW
Michael Keeney and Jasmine Law met at the Brooks Institute of Photography. It didn’t take long for them to realize that their approaches complemented one another. Together they are Keeney + Law, a team that successfully balances being both professional and life partners. In photography, their shared vision is based around the idea of a vignette, where every photo is a short story with an emphasis on good light. Always striving to connect with their subjects, Keeney + Law’s collaborative process was a perfect fit for this year’s Local Heroes portrait project.
BLUE SKY STUDIOS
The Guardian’s Local Heroes portraits were shot at Blue Sky Studios in San Francisco (with the exception of Vernon Davis, who was shot on location by Peter Bohler). We used Blue Sky’s state-of-the-art Light Grid, which is the first fully robotic lighting mechanism of its kind.
Cloudbustin’
What the HTML will happen when “cloud computing” renders our desktop monoliths obsolete? I drool at the thought, while thoughts are still my own, of the coming retro fashion movement, enshrining the clumsy keyboards and monstrous monitors of yesteryear: boxy eggshell skirts, CPU tower heels, flat-screen kneepads, air can earrings, novelty glasses of scratched and sneezed-on anti-glare shields, flash drive panties, Ethernet cologne, USBriefs, “laptop ass,” “modem face,” brominated flame retardant blush, tantium base, phthalate plasticizer mascara … Alt+F fashions are freakin’ toxic in 2k17.
For now we’ve only gaseous intimations of the handheld, continuously updating future. And I’ve become addicted to the free Soundcloud.com (product placement!), on/at/in which I can listen to tens of thousands of DJ sets via my Stone Age Mac.
In fact, the unrefudiatedly dirty little secret of my dance music knowledge lately has been superstar Soundcloud user R_co (www.soundcloud.com/r_co), current online master of the techno-and-house nexus, who posts up to a dozen sets a day nabbed from famous and not-yet-famous DJs, from clubs like Berlin’s Berghain and Detroit’s Oslo (and our own Temple), from as far back as the 1980s to just last night. Soundcloud’s crouching trainspotters are quick to identify tracklists, relieving me of that whole, embarrassing “whistle it into Shazam and hope” thingy.
“I’m just a regular guy with a passion for electronic music,” R_co, a.k.a. Rico Passerini told me over e-mail. “I frequented the clubs in Manchester, Leeds, and London for most of my adult life. But I needed more, so I moved to Berlin a year and a half ago for the music scene. If I told you how I got the sets I post, I’d have to kill you. Nah, to be honest I had a big collection of music that I picked up over the years, and more recently I’ve been lucky enough to get sent music from DJs, record labels, and various club nights across the globe.”
Mike Huckaby – Long Track Radiocafé, Budapest – 16-05-2009 by R_co
So, Guru Rico, what do you love? “Mike Huckaby plays the best deep house. Sven Weisemann too. I love Peter Van Hoesen’s techno right now, and of course you’ve gotta love Ricardo Villalobos. Clubs? Berlin’s Suicide Circus is my latest favorite.”
With everyone’s sets immediately available on the Internet, and musicmakers being able to respond instantly to each others’ work, is there a danger that dance music is melting into one giant stew of similar-sounding mush?
“The Internet is definitely changing how DJs and producers hear and make music,” Rico replied. “It’s a lot easier to get samples, for one thing. I do understand how all the old school DJs are saying that music is getting worse because it’s too easy to produce it now. However, if you’re a 16-year-old kid, it’s not likely you’ve got the cash to spend on hardware, more likely you have access to a laptop and some software. So in a sense it’s a good thing, it gives new artists of all capabilities the chance to experiment from home.
“But in terms of all the music out there at the moment, everyone hearing and being influenced by each other more and more, it’s probably harder to make a unique sound. I guess we’ll never see another acid house. At the end of the day, though, we don’t write the future, so there’s no point in fighting it. There will always be good music and there’ll always be shit music. I like the good shit!”
TRANNYSHACK SIOUXSIE TRIBUTE
Jeepers creepers, twisted drag queens will seize the red light and leave your city in dust as they genuflect before the goth goddess.
Fri/23, 10 p.m.–3 a.m., $12. DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF. www.trannyshack.com
TODD EDWARDS
Todd Edwards is the right hand of the house god. The New Jerseyite pioneered the prophetic cutup vocal sound that’s influenced everyone from Burial to Justice, and takes the spiritual aspect of dance music very seriously. Get lifted when he joins the Icee Hot crew.
Sat/24, 10 p.m., $10. 222 Hyde, SF. www.222hyde.com
SMACK!
Detroit takes over SF for a kicky house and techno reunion. DJs Gay Marvine and Jason Kendig handle the decks, clubkid Nathan Rapport accepts birthday wishes, and Juanita More oversees it all.
Sat/24, 10 p.m., $5. UndergroundSF, 424 Haight, SF.
OUT SIDE ART: A BLOCK PARTY BENEFIT
I have to keep mum for now, but this awesome-sounding block party is the start of something big on the SF nightlife scene. A huge posse of street artists pumping up a Banksy mural and a host of bigtime DJs including Richie Panic, J-Boogie, and Chris Orr join to benefit Root Division’s youth program.
Aug. 1, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., $5. 161 Erie, SF. www.rootdivision.org
She’s a briiide
marke@sfbg.com
SUPER EGO A couple of Friday evenings ago, Hunky Beau and I went out on a bourgeois love date in SoMa. It was there that I was reminded that, along with loquats, plums, figs, and fat guys on the Internet pretending they’re in armed militias, we are in the midst of bachelorette season. Children, be warned!
To kickstart our romantic rendezvous, Hunky had called me from Mr. Smith’s, a bar that still exists, where he’d gathered with coworkers for clock-out cocktails. Alas, I couldn’t hear him over all the squealing. “Always a bridesmaid. Always.” he texted. “Run for your wife!!1!” I pecked back. We sheltered ourselves in the tidy environs of Terroir (www.terroirsf.com) on Folsom Street, a chill unmarked wine bar that reminds me of Seattle’s Living Room, with a nifty furnished mezzanine and vinyl Shins and Cure on the phonograph. Settling in with a few glasses from the smart and sassy list and some fatty-licious French food cart grub from Spencer On the Go across the street, we commenced our rendezvousing. Until a look of terror clouded the cute Terroir co-owner’s face and the screaming started streaming in. No exit! Bachelorette attack! It was Sex and the City 3-D: less menopause, more claws.
Hastily, the besieged Terroirier apologized, saying “We’re not usually this back country.” I would’ve gone off, but mocking roving bachelorette parties (or BPs, ’cause that shit’s toxic and endless) is like shooting Kardashians in a barrel. Viva stereotypical drunk heterosexuals, all is full of love. So I just plugged my good ear with a Bordeaux cork and marveled at my favorite BPers: the sheepish bridesmaid of color, the childhood friend who can’t stop making toasts to hide her unfathomable bitterness, the warring former college roommates, the pushy “leader,” and — bestest— the puggy one with bad bangs and a lemon face who wanders around picking fights with random strangers, slurring, “Leave ‘er alone … sh-sh-she’s a briiide.” Snooki lives. And I want a girls night out with 10 of her.
Treasure Island preview: Get your Long John Silvers out — the lineup’s been announced for this year’s festival on Oct. 16 and 17, and it’s pretty rad. “Electronic music” highlights? Four Tet, Holy Fuck, our own Wallpaper party boys, LCD Soundsystem, and (zef yes!) Die Antwoord. Kruder and Dorfmeister will be drifting us back to the early ’00s. I am typing the name Deadmau5. Full lineup and tickets at www.treasureislandfestival.com
HOT WAX
An all-vinyl night always guarantees my nightlife blessing — and this regular one at 222 is too-too-too nice to pass up. This month’s installment is themed “Ladies of the ’80s,” with an all-female DJ crew that includes Sweaterfunk’s DJ Mamabear, Shred One, Chungtech, and Sabrina spinning you delightful, deep-crated retro R&B and soul shakers of the XX-generated variety.
Thu/15, 9 p.m., $5. 222 Hyde, SF. www.222hyde.com
DJ DRM
I’m loving the jazzy beats revival raining down this summer, spawned by the choppy R&B re-edits scene, dubstep’s more melodic turn, a Latin funk infusion, and a general interest in sparkling, danceable vibes. Killer weekly Loose Joints is bringing in Brooklyn sizzler DRM of Bastard Jazz Recordings to get swingy. Loose Joints regulars Tom Thump, Centipede, and Damon Bell warm it up.
Fri/16, 10 p.m., $5. Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., SF. www.makeoutroom.com
SOME THING ELSE
Fresh off its cheeky “9/11 in July” night, weekly dragstravaganza Some Thing is getting even more dangerous, with an imposters night that sends up San Francisco’s most boisterous queens of stage and toilet. Newcomers will impersonate — with affection! — old-schoolers. Expect some bewigged heads to explode as some big fish in our little pond get roasted, one birdseed boob at a time.
Fri/16, 10 p.m.–late, $7. The Stud, 399 Ninth St., SF. www.studsf.com
RAIZ
Vividly named L.A. brothers Vangelis and Vidal Vargas, formerly known as Acid Circus, have aptly switched monikers to Raiz, but still deliver the throbbing, bass-heavy minimal tech that razes the roof. They’ll be in town, accompanying local melodic thumper DJ Zenith, to celebrate the fierce monthly Tekandhaus party’s first anniversary.
Fri/16, 10 p.m., $5. Anu, 43 Sixth St., SF. www.tekandhaus.com
Summer Wavelengths: Richie Panic
Party prince Richie Panic likes to pile it on in a good way. Although he’s been a keen-eared staple of the SF scene for years, he really blew up with the Blow Up party, blasting the table-wrecking new-electro bangers and always eliciting a Panic-specific “oh sh*t!” from the crowd Now he helms two weekly clubs, Wanted (Mondays at Q Bar) and the Boner Party (Wednesdays at Beauty Bar), and his style has morphed a bit into slightly more nuanced territory. It’s still shiny-shiny, with plenty of gold-teeth bite, but now he’s a master craftsman, giving his mixes some thoughtful sheen and a clearer dancefloor narrative.
In this new Wanted Weekend Warrior Mixtape — not an actual mixtape but Richie should rap it’d be Brazilian melons — he rides a summer jam-wave, giving us a few clever twists. Listen, especially for the orgasmic drop at 19:22 as the Burns remix of Heavy Cross by the Gossip starts to sag a bit … then bam! Richie splices in part of the Tim Green 2010 remix of 1999 Cassius classic “99,” which glides from a loopy overload into bonafide floor-thump funk. Wooden claves alert! And then straight into the post-disco glory of Alex Metric’s “Stylo” total rework, what? Afterwards, Bjork gets nu-cumbia’d. It all winds up with homeboy Topher, a.k.a. Gold Chains, the creator of one of my favorite pre-mixtape tracks of all time, teaming up with the delish Tiny Bones for a “Heat” sendoff – into the hot summer nights ahead.
A WANTED WEEKEND WARRIOR MIXTAPE BY RICHIE PANIC by richiepanic
“You’ve come from so much diversity — and you’ve overcome it”
Liza: is there nothing she can’t do? The ever-amazing Rich at FourFour watched all two hours of Liza Minelli’s Home Shopping Network extravaganza. And of course he made a highlight reel. Give that man a Z!
Lips, Inc.
SUPER EGO Pride was huge and mostly cute, although I was bummed out by all the trash. (The litter, I mean.) I say next year everyone who goes has to prove their queer credentials by designing dazzling outfits recycled from castoff compostable cups, clove butts, loose boa feathers, meat-on-a-stick sticks, leftover rainbow Smirnoff wristbands, and broken drag newbie heels.
Stand and wobble with me, sustainable sisters of the night!
Still, it was nice to see Pride acknowledge the tastes of its changing demographic with an expanded emphasis on Latin music, soul, and hip-hop at the dance stages. That replaced classic diva house and disco with an alternative musical history of Pride, and it was a lovely change. This year, it fell to the radical faeries of the Freedom Village to preserve that certain old-school strain of gay celebration with rare disco tunes, historical shrines (walking through the rest of the celebration, you’d have been hard-pressed to find any visual evidence that Pride was older than Rihanna’s hair), and, of course, a drag queen named Margaret Cholo drinking her own urine as she lip-synced to “Party in the USA.” Pride.
I’m on a homo-historical bent lately because word just came down that my spiritual pen mother, the ever-saucy nightlife gossip columnist Sweet Lips of the Bay Area Reporter, is retiring at age 87 after 39 years of covering a vibrant slice of the San Francisco gay scene. Child, she did not go easy — for the past few years she was homebound, but that didn’t stop her from sending her “spies” out into the bars and reporting all the scandal and drama. I was terrified of these spies. Sweet Lips knew all, and wasn’t afraid to say it.
In 39 years I’ll be 42, and I write about all kinds of scenes besides the gay one. But I stand on the padded and studded shoulders of Sweet Lips, Mr. Marcus (her leather-scene chronicling coworker who passed away earlier this year), and all the other dishy, insomniac, probably slightly alcoholic, definitely devoted nightlife columnists who came before me. Thank you, Ms. Lips: Long live the mouthy queens.
DAM FUNK
If you haven’t tuned in to this Angelino master of Princely funk — or at least tripped out once to the deconstructed ’80s wonder of his recent Toeachizown — then you crazy. Live, he’s even better, and will be joined by synth-loner Nite Jewel. (They’ll both join forces for a Nite Funk performance as well.) DJ Pickpocket presides.
Thu/1, 9 p.m., $15 advance. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com
SINGULAR SENSATION
Let’s get sweaty! Far-too-hip Los Angeles dance instructor Ryan Heffington is coming to town to Olivia Newton your John on the dance floor. Think Richard Simmons without the peek-a-boo shorts and closet. Fauxnique and Husband host, DJs Pee Play and Stanley Frank lube up the legwarmers.
Thu/1, 10 p.m., $7. Paradise Lounge, 1501 Folsom, SF. www.paradisesf.com
MARQUES WYATT
With his weekly Deep parties, Marques has pretty much held down the L.A. fort for soulful house music, single-handed, for the past 13 years or so. His sets can get heady — he’s not afraid to take you into some fierce and spiritual headspace — but build so much organic rhythmic momentum that you won’t mind leaping into the void. With M3 and Jayvi Velasco.
Fri/2, 9 p.m., $10. Triple Crown, 1760 Market, SF. www.triplecrownsf.com
JANAKA SELEKTA
Bay homeboy Janaka wickedly melds classical Indian sounds to deep dub and dread bass, and new album Pushing Air is full of sweeping melodies and haunting breakdowns. He’ll be supporting the rumbly nodding of our own Mighty Dub Killaz at one of SF’s raddest weekly parties, Dub Mission.
Sun/4, 9 p.m., $8–$11. Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF. www.elbo.com
INDEPENDANCE
An annual July Fourth weekend tradition, Stompy and Sunset’s 12-hour extravaganza on the patio of Cafe Cocomo brings together some of the best names in funky house and techno in town. This year, they’re adding legendary deep house pioneer Kerri “Kaoz” Chandler as headliner. Could it get any better? Hell yeah, there’s a BBQ before 9 p.m., too
Sun/4, 2 p.m., $10–$20. Cafe; Cocomo, 650 Indiana, SF. www.pacificsound.net
Summer Wavelengths: White Girl Lust + Shane King
There’s a lot of lovely local summer mixes being tossed into my inbox lately, so I thought I’d share a few through regular Summer Wavelengths postings.
Let’s kick things off with something energetically breezy, a post-electro yet still gonzo poppy mix from Shane King and local duo White Girl Lust of the Solid Bump label. (There’s even a little bit of can-can kiki house near the end during WGL’s addictive “Oui.”) This one’s to promote their upcoming party, Fri/2 at Mezzanine, with Carte Blanche, a superstar DJ duo composed of Mehdi from France and the UK’s Riton. All the tracks are either composed or remixed by the aforementioned gentlemen.
As for the party itself, Shane tells me: “It’s going into some 909 Chicago house-influenced craziness (and we just got some professional back up dancers to do a Chicago house routine).” If they can pull that off it’ll be a doozy. And I bet they can.
Listen after the jump.
Scraper bikes rock the block
There’s a truly inspiring movement going on in Oakland. Scraper bikes — brightly colored, their spokes woven with foil and often decorated with subverted corporate logos — are weaving through the streets.
Started by the young and motivated Tyrone Stevenson Jr., a.k.a. Baybe Champ, the Scraper Bike King, the Original Scraper Bike Team aims to, in Tyrone’s words, “make a change in young people’s lives, ’cause it’s getting them away from the negative things that Oakland has to offer: gangs, drugs, and violence. Youth that’s involved with the Scraper Bike Movement are dedicated and passionate about rebuilding our community by fixing and riding our bikes.”
Tyrone requires that Scraper Bike Team members maintain a 3.0 grade point average, reside in Oakland, and always ride single file. After videos of Tyrone’s work started popping up a couple years ago on YouTube, “more and more kids in my community wanted a Scraper Bike. I had all the kids come to my house and work on bikes,” he told us. He’s currently working toward starting up a shop. “We need a location in our neighborhood so we can come and fix on our bikes and build the Scraper Bike Team.”
Check out the Original Scraper Bike Movement at originalscraperbikes.blogspot.com.
All photos by Matthew Reamer.
Attack of the Biebians!
Lesbians who look like Justin Bieber. You’ve followed it online, but the awesome Cockblock party made it a reality with a recent lookalike contest This weekend, hit up Cockblock after-Dyke March party (Sat/26) and Les Beaux after-Pride joint (Sun/27). Details here. You’ll be “one less lonely girl.”
Here’s your big gay homo-cone with sprinkles, sugar: a lickable listicle
Alas, we have no year-round Big Gay Ice Cream Truck like they do in the Big Apple. But, as SFist alerted us today (via Haighteration), our own beloved zany-zygote Three Twins Creamery has gone all light in its scoopers for Pride weekend, Fri-Sun offering such lavender lickers as “Rainbow/Gay Sherbet, Pink Triangle (‘a fruity chocolate base with pink chocolate triangles’), Pride Vanilla, Hot Cookie (‘with cookies from the Castro’s favorite cookie shop’), Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (‘vanilla ice cream with blueberry dessert from military rations mixed in’), Rice Milk Harvey Milk and Cookies, and Salted Nuts.” Plus, well, lavender.
Sounds delish. And we have some more ideas.
As SFist editor Brock Keeling suggests, why not “Juanita More Dulce de Leche Please? Sondheim ‘God That’s Good’ Swirl? Bambi Lake‘s Butterscotch Stain?” Here’s our own list of confection suggestions named for notable local homos, beyond Ms. Milk:
Anise Conda
Bevan Marshmallow Fluffty
Carole Migdenscotch
Dan Chipoletta
Mark Praline-o
Tom Amaretto
Clevanilla Jones
Donna Sorbet
Chillvester
The Choclettes
Harry Britt and Nut
Armistead Brownie
Dustin Lance Blackberry
The Sisters of Perpetual Indul-Mint
Cookies and Cream and Phyl and Del
Jose Sa-ripple I, the Strawberry Norton
Cranistat
Brockolate Keeling
Your big queer week
ONGOING
Boys in their Bedrooms Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; (415) 863-2052, www.lexingtonclub.com. Mon-Thu 5 p.m.–2 a.m., Sat–Sun 2 p.m.–2 a.m. Through June 30. Photographer Amos Mac of Original Plumbing zine gets up close and personal, chronicling the trans male lifestyle.
Chronotopia SOMArts, 934 Brannan, SF; (415) 552-1770, www.somarts.org. Explore “the past, present, and future of queer histories” with this eye-popping photography exhibit that celebrates the spectrum of queer images.
Faetopia Festival Old Tower Records space at Market and Noe streets, SF; Various times and prices. Through June 26. www.playajoy.org/faetopia. The lovely, radical faeries of Comfort and Joy take over this huge space for a “remix of the past and present for future utopias,” including eco-homo installations, “cuddle cinema” events, and a gossamer wing-load of ideas and performances.
Frameline Film Festival Various locations; see website for dates and times, www.frameline.org. The humongous citywide queer flick fest is still going strong, with dozens of screen gems.
Golden Girls Mama Calizo’s Voice Factory, 1519 Mission, SF; (415) 690-9410, www.voicefactorysf.org. Thu/24 and Fri/25, 7p.m. and 9 p.m.. $20–$25. Heklina, Cookie Dough, Matthew Martin, and Pollo Del Mar are joined by Mike Finn and Laurie Busman for live-action versions of two all-new episodes of the beloved TV show.
National Queer Arts Festival Various locations; see website for details, www.queerculturalcenter.org. Experience scandalously good spoken word, cabaret, art installations, and so much more as this powerhouse monthlong celebration of queer revelations continues.
WEDNESDAY 23
Allstars 4 The Garage, 975 Howard, SF; (415) 518-1517, www.975howard.com. 8 p.m., $10-$20. An array of one-person shows and monologues that focus on the diversity and struggle of queer daily life.
Booty Call Q Bar, 456 Castro, SF; (415) 626-7220, www.qbarsf.com. 9p.m., $3. Juanita More, Joshua J, and photographers whip up dirty tunes and photobooth eye-candy, with DJ W, Jeremy of House of Stank.
HomoEvolution El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; (415) 282-3325, www.elriosf.com. 8p.m., free. LGBT hip-hop showcase in full effect, with Foxxjazell, Bry’Nt, Benni E, Drew Mason, and Sgt. Sass.
Mary Go Round LookOut, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-3111, www.lookoutsf.com. 10 p.m., $5. House of Glitterati invades the weekly drag show, anchored by Suppositori Spelling, Cookie Dough, and Pollo Del Mar.
OH! Powerhouse, 1347 Folsom, SF; (415) 552-8689, www.powerhouse-sf.com. The Bright Young Gentlemen’s Adventuring Society cordially invites you to get it on. With DJs Taco Tuesday and PDX hottie Stormy.
Pullin’ Pork for Pride Pilsner Inn, 225 Church, SF; (415) 621-7058. 6 p.m.–9 p.m. free. Hot pork in hot buns (free sandwiches from the Funk N Chunk crew, we mean). It’s the Guardian’s annual free-for-all shindig with DJ Stanley Frank of Vienetta Discotheque, games, surprises, more.
Radar: Old School 3 San Francisco Public Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin, SF; (415) 557-4400, www.radarproductions.org. SF’s top writers reimagine the lives and legacies of queers gone by. With Justin Chin, Len Plass, Cyd Nova, and more.
THURSDAY 24
A Spot of Tea African American Arts and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton, SF; www.queerculturalcenter.org. 8 p.m., $12–$20. Original Plumbing brings on an all-transmale cabaret extravaganza with Chris Vargas, Berlin Reed, Ketch Wehr, Glenn Marla, and more.
Bad Reputation Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; (415) 863-2052, www.lexingtonclub.com. 9 p.m., free. The sexy Lex’s infamous Pride kick-off, with DJs Jenna Riot and Dee Dee Crocodile, go-gos, drink specials. Oh, and smokin’ hot grrrls.
Bedtime Stories A Different Light, 498 Castro, SF; (415) 431-0891, www.adlbooks.com. 7:30 p.m., free. Fabio, oh, Fabio? Erotic gay romance author G.A. Hauser steams up the windows of A Different Light.
Carletta Sue Kay, Brent James, Pepperspray The Eagle, 398 12th St., SF. (415) 626-0880, www.sfeagle.com. 10 p.m., $5. Faggotty rock time. A screwed-up Appalachian-ish crooner, a naughty country high-flyer, and four heavy metal drag queens take over the Eagle. What’s not to love?
Gold Queers in the Night 111 Minna, SF; (415) 974-1719, www.111minnagallery.com. 9 p.m., $7. The Stay Gold and Hella Gay crews team up with Blood, Sweat, and Queers for an epic night of youthful, sweaty jams in the indie dance vein.
Gretchen Phillips and Phranc El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; (415) 282-3325, www.elriosf.com. 8 p.m., $8–$15. Texan Phillips and “all–American, Jewish, lesbian folksinger” Phranc bring the Sapphic sounds.
Marga Gomez is Proud and Bothered New Conservatory Theater, 25 Van Ness, SF; (415) 861-4914, www.nctcsf.org. 8 p.m., $28 advance. Also Sat/26. The hilarious lesbian Latina queen of comedy takes a sharp-shootin’ walk of shame through her not-so-Prideful past.
Nightlife California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse, SF; (415) 379-5128, www.calacademy.org. 6 p.m.-10 p.m., $8–$10. Get thee to the awesome museum for tunes by Juanita More!, LadyHouse, and Stanley Frank, plus Sex Talk with Jane Tollini, and, of course, live penguins.
Queer Radicals New Valencia Hall, 625 Larkin, SF; (415) 864-1278. 7p.m., free (summer buffet for $7.50). A panel of queer and transgender activists discusses how to build a militant movement for LGBT liberation.
The Sound of Fabulous Mission High School, 3750 18th St., SF: www.sfprideconcert.org. 8 p.m., $15–$40. Also Fri/25. The Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco celebrates 30 years of, yes, fabulous, joining forces with the Gay Men’s Chorus, and the Freedom Marching Band for some “out loud and proud.”
Sybaritic Cougars with Ecosexual Tendencies Good Vibrations Polk, 1620 Polk, SF; (415) 345-0400, www.goodvibes.com. 6 p.m.–8 p.m., free. Sex-positive activists Annie Sprinkle and partner Beth Stephens host a retrospective of their Love Art Lab series.
The Tubesteak Connection Aunt Charlie’s, 133 Turk, SF; (415) 441-2922, www.auntcharlieslounge.com. 10 p.m., $4. A sticky, finger-lickin’, Hi-NRG hijinks tribute to bathhouse disco and funk rarities, swarthy clones, and outfits Grace Jones would die for. With DJ Bus Station John.
FRIDAY 25
Art Attack Pride Supperclub, 657 Harrison, SF; (415) 348-0900, www.supperclub.com. 9 p.m., $20. Video artist III paints the club fuchsia for DJ Lady Kier of Deee-Lite, the return of drag-rock amazers Pepperspray, and LA mesh-wonder Fade-Dra.
Bearracuda Pride DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF; (415) 626-2532, www.dnalounge.com. 9 p.m.-late. $20. Two floors of beard rubs, belly bumps, fur fun, and hairy hijinks as the city’s wild bear club goes big. DJ Ted Eiel heads up.
Bibi Gay Middle Eastern Mega Pride Party Paradise, 1501 Folsom, SF; (415) 252-5018, www.paradisesf.com. 9 p.m., $15. One of the most-anticipated parties of the season, with DJs Nile, Nadar, and Cheon delving into global sounds for a hip-shaking, ululating crowd of all stripes. Hookahs! Hotties! Bellydancers!
Folsom Friday Various SoMa venues, www.folsomfriday.com. 10 p.m.–2 a.m., free. Shuttles run down Folsom Street all night for a sleazy-fun bar crawl in SF’s other mecca for queer venues, including Truck, Chaps, Powerhouse, Blow Buddies, Lone Star, Mr. S, and Off Ramp Leathers.
MR. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF; (415) 626-7001, www.mighty119.com. 8 p.m.–4 a.m. $15. Break out your giant fake mustaches: NYC’s Larry Tee and our own house hero David Harness rock all night at this annual campy hoot. Yes, there’ll be a hot ‘stache (and ‘stache-riding?) contest.
San Francisco Trans March Dolores Park, Dolores and 18th St.; (415) 447-2774, www.transmarch.org. 3 p.m. stage, 7 p.m. march; free. Join the transgender community of San Francisco and beyond for a day of live performances, speeches, and not-so-military marching.
Some Thing Biggest Bestest Gayest Funnest Drag Show Sensation! Ever The Stud, 399 Ninth St., SF; (415) 863-6623, www.studsf.com. 9 p.m.–4 a.m., $10. Er, the name kind of says it all? The packed weekly club goes nuclear. VivvyAnne ForeverMore, Glamamore, Juanita More, Down-E, Diamond Daggers, Anna Conda &ldots; who’ll walk away with the mushroom cloud?
Original Plumbing presents Unofficial! Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF; (415) 552-7788, www.elbo.com. 9 p.m., $10. A party in honor of trans pride and visibility — plus, it’ll be a blast. Rocco Katastrophe and Jenna Riot host, DJs Chelsea Starr and 100 spokes spin, furry photo booth, trans slideshow, performances by Glenn Marla and Ice Cream Socialites.
Trans March 2010 Dolores Park, 17 Street and Dolores, SF. Rally at 3:30, march at 7 p.m.. www.transmarch.org. “United by Pride, United by Power” is the theme of this year’s inspiring event, with performances by the Transcendence Gospel Choir, Nori Herras, and a ton more.
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SATURDAY 26
Big Top vs. Trannyshack Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; (415) 431-1151, www.eightsf.com. 9 p.m., $10 adv. Surely, it will be a circus when these two balls-out parties collide. Big Top brings the half-naked cockring-masters, Trannyshack brings the barkers. With DJ W. Jeremy. Midnight dragocalypse with Heklina, Ambrosia Salad, Miss Rahni, and more.
Bootie: Lady Gaga vs. Madonna DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF; (415) 626-2532, www.dnalounge.com. Could it get any stereotypically gayer? Don’t worry, punkers, the Bootie mashup crew are here to subvert it into happy chaos. Huge drag show at midnight.
Chaser: The Imminent Return EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF; (415) 896-1075, www.theendup.com. 5 p.m.–10 p.m., $10. Monistat lives! Her ass-whoopin’, drink-spillin’ drag club resurrects itself, with a full-on show of every insanely entertaining alternaqueen in the phonebook, apparently. Plus DJ Guy Ruben.
Cockblock Mega-Pride Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF; (415) 861-2011, www.rickshawstop.com. 9 p.m., $20-$25. Wild, wet, and more wild at this ecstatic, high-hoofin’ joint for lezzies, queers, and lovers. With DJs Nuxx and Motive and hot chicks galore.
Excuses for Skipping and Lauren DeRose Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; (415) 863-2052, www.lexingtonclub.com. 3 p.m., free. Warm up for the Dyke March with these two live rockin’ acts.
Go Bang! Pride Edition Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF; (415) 346-2025, www.decosf.com. 9 p.m.-after hours, $5. One of our cutest disco and house parties goes pink with DJs Jason Kendig, Marcelino Andrade, Sergio, and more. Expect to be turned out, put upside-down, and spun around.
Lights Down Low Pride Edition Triple Crown, 1760 Market, SF; (415) 863-3516, www.triplecrownsf.com. 8 p.m.–4 a.m., $15. The gonzo electro party delivers a worthy Pride blackout with DJs Larry Tee, Kim Ann Foxman, Saratonin from Brownies for my Bitches, Sleazemore, Derek Bobus, and more. Hosted by the Miss Honey kids and Davi.
LGBT Pride Celebration Civic Center, Carlton B. Goodlett Place and McAllister, SF; (415) 864-3733, www.sfpride.org. Noon–6 p.m., free. Celebrate LGBT pride at this free outdoor event featuring DJs, speakers, and live music. This is the first half of the weekend-long celebration sponsored by SF Pride, featuring hip-hop, a battle of the bands, and more.
LGBTQ History Bike Tour Meet at Cupid’s Arrow on the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building, SF; 2 p.m.–5 p.m., $5 donation. Get smart (and fit) for Pride on this eight-mile tour of queer history hotspots, ending up at the Dyke March.
Love and Happiness SOM, 2925 16th St., SF; (415) 558-8521, www.som-bar.com. 10 p.m.–4 a.m., $15. It’s a glorious old-school house reunion for the rainbow children, with David Harness and Ruben Mancias on decks, Robnoxious at the door, and Joseph Solis hosting.
Kiss Me Deadly Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; (415) 863-2052, www.lexingtonclub.com. 9 p.m., free. After the Dyke March, cool off (most likely get hotter) with DJ Bunnystyle of Blood, Sweat, and Queers.
Mango After Dyke March Party El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; (415) 282-3325, www.elriosf.com. 8 p.m., $10/$15. Food, drink, dancing, and girls, girls, girls at this juicy ladies night.
Pink Pleasure Party Good Vibrations Valencia, 603 Valencia, SF; (415) 522-5460, www.goodvibes.com. 8–10p.m., free. Drop in, dyke out, gear up for a sensual Pride at this Good Vibes mix n’ mingle.
Pink Saturday Castro District, SF; www.thesisters.org. 6p.m.–midnight, donation requested, all ages. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence host their cuckoo annual outdoor event, featuring entertainment, beer, cocktails, food, and, duh, cruising galore.
Pink Triangle Installation Twin Peaks Vista, Twin Peaks Blvd parking area, SF; (415) 247-1100, ext 142, www.thepinktriangle.com. 7:30–10:30 a.m., free. Bring a hammer and your hunky work boots and help install the humongous pink triangle atop Twin Peaks for everyone to see. Volunteers needed! Do it!
San Francisco Dyke March Dolores Park, Dolores and 18th St., SF; www.dykemarch.org. Rally at 3 p.m.. March at 7 p.m.. Free. The one “do not miss” event of Pride, with tons of entertainment and speakers, impossibly sexy crowd, and a “Dyke Planet, Green Planet” theme.
Sundance Saloon Pride Dance Hotel Whitcomb, 1231 Market, SF; (415) 626-8000, www.sundancesaloon.org. 8 p.m., $10. Also Sun/27. Shine up your spurs for a country line-dance party that’ll put you in a hootin’ mood.
SUNDAY 27
Body Rock Temple Bar, 600 Polk, SF; (415) 931-5196. 11 a.m.–6 p.m., 18+ free. Delightfully tawdry Miss Monistat queens it over this all-day dragstravaganza, featuring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Mutha Chucka, Cher-A-Little, and others. With crazy beats from Electronic Music Bears, High Fantasy, and more.
Gay Shame Goth Cry-In Outside LGBT Center, 1800 Market, SF; www.gayshamesf.org. 2 p.m.–3:30 p.m., free. Protest and grieve the commercialization of Pride and the community – throw on your blackest black and let the tears roll.
Juanita MORE!’s Pride Party 2010 Kelly’s Mission Rock, 817 Terry Francois Blvd, SF; (415) 626-5355, www.juanitamore.com. 2 p.m.–2 a.m., $35. Pretty much the charitable Pride party of the year, flooded with cool kids, admirers, and the sounds of the mind-blowing Cougar Cadet Corps Drumline. DJs James Glass, Chelsea Starr, Kim Ann Foxman, and many more. Benefiting Bay Positives. Shuttles available from the Pride Celebration.
Les Beaux SOM, 2925 16th St., SF; (415) 558-8521, www.som-bar.com. 3 p.m.–9 p.m., $10. Don’t catch your breath after Pride, girls. Get beautiful with Cockblock’s DJ Nuxx and decks guests Sarah Delush and Rapid Fire.
LGBT Pride Celebration Civic Center, Carlton B. Goodlett Place and McCallister, SF; (415) 864-3733, www.sfpride.org. Noon–7 p.m., free. The celebration hits full stride, with a buttload of musical and dance performances and, truly, something for everyone. Don’t forget your sunscreen or little umbrella.
LGBT Pride Parade Market at Davis to Market and Eighth Sts, SF; (415) 864-3733, www.sfpride.org. 10:30 a.m.–noon, free. This 40th annual parade, with an expected draw of 500,000, is the highlight of the Pride Weekend in the city that defines queer culture.
Honey Pride Paradise, 1501 Folsom, SF; (415) 252-5018, www.paradisesf.com. 6 p.m.–2:30 a.m., $3. Legendary (actually) disco DJ Steve Fabus goes classic house on us, joining the regular Honey Soundsystem discaires for stylish specialness all around. $8 beer bust 6 p.m.-9 p.m..
Queerly Beloved Pink Sunday Party El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; (415) 282-3325, www.elriosf.com. 3 p.m.–8 p.m., $5. Courtney Trouble and Tina Horn host this benefit for queerporn.tv. DJs Campbell and Venus in Furs, performers Alotta Boutte and Dexter James, kissing and kink booths, and dirty, sexy queers.
Too Fast for Love Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; (415) 863-2052, www.lexingtonclub.com. 9 p.m., free. “Shake it, fake it, take it” as DJ Campbell spins the dirty at this Pride after-affair.
Your big queer week
ONGOING
Boys in their Bedrooms Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; (415) 863-2052, www.lexingtonclub.com. Mon-Thu 5 p.m.–2 a.m., Sat–Sun 2 p.m.–2 a.m. Through June 30. Photographer Amos Mac of Original Plumbing zine gets up close and personal, chronicling the trans male lifestyle on the sexy Lex’s walls.
Chronotopia SOMArts, 934 Brannan, SF; (415) 552-1770, www.somarts.org. Explore “the past, present, and future of queer histories” with this eye-popping photography exhibit that celebrates the spectrum of queer images.
Faetopia Festival Old Tower Records space at Market and Noe streets, SF; Various times and prices. Through June 26. www.playajoy.org/faetopia. The lovely, radical faeries of Comfort and Joy take over this huge space for a “remix of the past and present for future utopias,” including eco-homo installations, “cuddle cinema” events, and a gossamer wing-load of ideas and performances.
Frameline Film Festival Various locations; see website for dates and times, www.frameline.org. The humongous citywide queer flick fest is still going strong, with dozens of screen gems.
Golden Girls Mama Calizo’s Voice Factory, 1519 Mission, SF; (415) 690-9410, www.voicefactorysf.org. Thu/24 and Fri/25, 7p.m. and 9 p.m.. $20–$25. Heklina, Cookie Dough, Matthew Martin, and Pollo Del Mar are joined by Mike Finn and Laurie Busman for live-action versions of two all-new episodes of the beloved TV show.
National Queer Arts Festival Various locations; see website for details, www.queerculturalcenter.org. Experience scandalously good spoken word, cabaret, art installations, and so much more as this powerhouse monthlong celebration of queer revelations continues.
WEDNESDAY 23
Allstars 4 The Garage, 975 Howard, SF; (415) 518-1517, www.975howard.com. 8 p.m., $10-$20. An array of one-person shows and monologues that focus on the diversity and struggle of queer daily life.
Booty Call Q Bar, 456 Castro, SF; (415) 626-7220, www.qbarsf.com. 9p.m., $3. Juanita More, Joshua J, and photographers whip up dirty tunes and photobooth eye-candy, with DJ W, Jeremy of House of Stank.
HomoEvolution El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; (415) 282-3325, www.elriosf.com. 8p.m., free. LGBT hip-hop showcase in full effect, with Foxxjazell, Bry’Nt, Benni E, Drew Mason, and Sgt. Sass.
Mary Go Round LookOut, 3600 16th St, SF; (415) 431-3111, www.lookoutsf.com. 10 p.m., $5. House of Glitterati invades the weekly drag show, anchored by Suppositori Spelling, Cookie Dough, and Pollo Del Mar.
OH! Powerhouse, 1347 Folsom, SF; (415) 552-8689, www.powerhouse-sf.com. The Bright Young Gentlemen’s Adventuring Society cordially invites you to get it on. With DJs Taco Tuesday and PDX hottie Stormy.
Pullin’ Pork for Pride Pilsner Inn, 225 Church, SF; (415) 621-7058. 6 p.m.–9 p.m. free. Hot pork in hot buns (free sandwiches from the Funk N Chunk crew, we mean). It’s the Guardian’s annual free-for-all shindig with DJ Stanley Frank of Vienetta Discotheque, games, surprises, more.
Radar: Old School 3 San Francisco Public Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin, SF; (415) 557-4400, www.radarproductions.org. SF’s top writers reimagine the lives and legacies of queers gone by. With Justin Chin, Len Plass, Cyd Nova, and more.
THURSDAY 24
A Spot of T African American Arts and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton, SF; www.queerculturalcenter.org. 8 p.m., $12–$20. Original Plumbing brings on an all-transmale cabaret extravaganza with Chris Vargas, Berlin Reed, Ketch Wehr, Glenn Marla, and more.
Bad Reputation Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; (415) 863-2052, www.lexingtonclub.com. 9 p.m., free. The sexy Lex’s infamous Pride kick-off, with DJs Jenna Riot and Dee Dee Crocodile, go-gos, drink specials. Oh, and smokin’ hot grrrls.
Bedtime Stories A Different Light, 498 Castro, SF; (415) 431-0891, www.adlbooks.com. 7:30 p.m., free. Fabio, oh, Fabio? Erotic gay romance author G.A. Hauser steams up the windows of A Different Light.
Carletta Sue Kay, Brent James, Pepperspray The Eagle, 398 12th St., SF. (415) 626-0880, www.sfeagle.com. 10 p.m., $5. Faggotty rock time. A screwed-up Appalachian-ish crooner, a naughty country high-flyer, and four heavy metal drag queens take over the Eagle. What’s not to love?
Gold Queers in the Night 111 Minna, SF; (415) 974-1719, www.111minnagallery.com. 9 p.m., $7. The Stay Gold and Hella Gay crews team up with Blood, Sweat, and Queers for an epic night of youthful, sweaty jams in the indie dance vein.
Gretchen Phillips and Phranc El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; (415) 282-3325, www.elriosf.com. 8 p.m., $8–$15. Texan Phillips and “all–American, Jewish, lesbian folksinger” Phranc bring the Sapphic sounds.
Marga Gomez is Proud and Bothered New Conservatory Theater, 25 Van Ness, SF; (415) 861-4914, www.nctcsf.org. 8 p.m., $28 advance. Also Sat/26. The hilarious lesbian Latina queen of comedy takes a sharp-shootin’ walk of shame through her not-so-Prideful past.
Nightlife California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse, SF; (415) 379-5128, www.calacademy.org. 6 p.m.-10 p.m., $8–$10. Get thee to the awesome museum for tunes by Juanita More!, LadyHouse, and Stanley Frank, plus Sex Talk with Jane Tollini, and, of course, live penguins.
Queer Radicals New Valencia Hall, 625 Larkin, SF; (415) 864-1278. 7p.m., free (summer buffet for $7.50). A panel of queer and transgender activists discusses how to build a militant movement for LGBT liberation.
The Sound of Fabulous Mission High School, 3750 18th St., SF: www.sfprideconcert.org. 8 p.m., $15–$40. Also Fri/25. The Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco celebrates 30 years of, yes, fabulous, joining forces with the Gay Men’s Chorus, and the Freedom Marching Band for some “out loud and proud.”
Sybaritic Cougars with Ecosexual Tendencies Good Vibrations Polk, 1620 Polk, SF; (415) 345-0400, www.goodvibes.com. 6 p.m.–8 p.m., free. Sex-positive activists Annie Sprinkle and partner Beth Stephens host a retrospective of their Love Art Lab series.
The Tubesteak Connection Aunt Charlie’s, 133 Turk, SF; (415) 441-2922, www.auntcharlieslounge.com. 10 p.m., $4. A sticky, finger-lickin’, Hi-NRG hijinks tribute to bathhouse disco and funk rarities, swarthy clones, and outfits Grace Jones would die for. With DJ Bus Station John.
FRIDAY 25
Art Attack Pride Supperclub, 657 Harrison, SF; (415) 348-0900, www.supperclub.com. 9 p.m., $20. Video artist III paints the club fuchsia for DJ Lady Kier of Deee-Lite, the return of drag-rock amazers Pepperspray, and LA mesh-wonder Fade-Dra.
Bearracuda Pride DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF; (415) 626-2532, www.dnalounge.com. 9 p.m.-late. $20. Two floors of beard rubs, belly bumps, fur fun, and hairy hijinks as the city’s wild bear club goes big. DJ Ted Eiel heads up.
Bibi Gay Middle Eastern Mega Pride Party Paradise, 1501 Folsom, SF; (415) 252-5018, www.paradisesf.com. 9 p.m., $15. One of the most-anticipated parties of the season, with DJs Nile, Nadar, and Cheon delving into global sounds for a hip-shaking, ululating crowd of all stripes. Hookahs! Hotties! Bellydancers!
Folsom Friday Various SoMa venues, www.folsomfriday.com. 10 p.m.–2 a.m., free. Shuttles run down Folsom Street all night for a sleazy-fun bar crawl in SF’s other mecca for queer venues, including Truck, Chaps, Powerhouse, Blow Buddies, Lone Star, Mr. S, and Off Ramp Leathers.
MR. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF; (415) 626-7001, www.mighty119.com. 8 p.m.–4 a.m. $15. Break out your giant fake mustaches: NYC’s Larry Tee and our own house hero David Harness rock all night at this annual campy hoot. Yes, there’ll be a hot ‘stache (and ‘stache-riding?) contest.
San Francisco Trans March Dolores Park, Dolores and 18th St.; (415) 447-2774, www.transmarch.org. 3 p.m. stage, 7 p.m. march; free. Join the transgender community of San Francisco and beyond for a day of live performances, speeches, and not-so-military marching.
Some Thing Biggest Bestest Gayest Funnest Drag Show Sensation! Ever The Stud, 399 Ninth St., SF; (415) 863-6623, www.studsf.com. 9 p.m.–4 a.m., $10. Er, the name kind of says it all? The packed weekly club goes nuclear. VivvyAnne ForeverMore, Glamamore, Juanita More, Down-E, Diamond Daggers, Anna Conda &ldots; who’ll walk away with the mushroom cloud?
Original Plumbing presents Unofficial! Elbo Room, 647 Valencia, SF; (415) 552-7788, www.elbo.com. 9 p.m., $10. A party in honor of trans pride and visibility — plus, it’ll be a blast. Rocco Katastrophe and Jenna Riot host, DJs Chelsea Starr and 100 spokes spin, furry photo booth, trans slideshow, performances by Glenn Marla and Ice Cream Socialites.
Trans March 2010 Dolores Park, 17 Street and Dolores, SF. Rally at 3:30, march at 7 p.m.. www.transmarch.org. “United by Pride, United by Power” is the theme of this year’s inspiring event, with performances by the Transcendence Gospel Choir, Nori Herras, and a ton more..
SATURDAY 26
Big Top vs. Trannyshack Club Eight, 1151 Folsom, SF; (415) 431-1151, www.eightsf.com. 9 p.m., $10 adv. Surely, it will be a circus when these two balls-out parties collide. Big Top brings the half-naked cockring-masters, Trannyshack brings the barkers. With DJ W. Jeremy. Midnight dragocalypse with Heklina, Ambrosia Salad, Miss Rahni, and more.
Blow Off Slim’s 333 11th St., SF. (415) 255-0333, www.slims-sf.com. 10pm, $15-$20. DJs Bob Mould (of Sugar) and Rich Morel spin the rock remixes for a packed crowd of large hairies, scruffy fairies, and their admirers. Get into it.
Bootie: Lady Gaga vs. Madonna DNA Lounge, 375 11th St., SF; (415) 626-2532, www.dnalounge.com. Could it get any stereotypically gayer? Don’t worry, punkers, the Bootie mashup crew are here to subvert it into happy chaos. Huge drag show at midnight.
Chaser: The Imminent Return EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF; (415) 896-1075, www.theendup.com. 5 p.m.–10 p.m., $10. Monistat lives! Her ass-whoopin’, drink-spillin’ drag club resurrects itself, with a full-on show of every insanely entertaining alternaqueen in the phonebook, apparently. Plus DJ Guy Ruben.
Cockblock Mega-Pride Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell, SF; (415) 861-2011, www.rickshawstop.com. 9 p.m., $20-$25. Wild, wet, and more wild at this ecstatic, high-hoofin’ joint for lezzies, queers, and lovers. With DJs Nuxx and Motive and hot chicks galore.
Excuses for Skipping and Lauren DeRose Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; (415) 863-2052, www.lexingtonclub.com. 3 p.m., free. Warm up for the Dyke March with these two live rockin’ acts.
Go Bang! Pride Edition Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin, SF; (415) 346-2025, www.decosf.com. 9 p.m.-after hours, $5. One of our cutest disco and house parties goes pink with DJs Jason Kendig, Marcelino Andrade, Sergio, and more. Expect to be turned out, put upside-down, and spun around.
Lights Down Low Pride Edition Triple Crown, 1760 Market, SF; (415) 863-3516, www.triplecrownsf.com. 8 p.m.–4 a.m., $15. The gonzo electro party delivers a worthy Pride blackout with DJs Larry Tee, Kim Ann Foxman, Saratonin from Brownies for my Bitches, Sleazemore, Derek Bobus, and more. Hosted by the Miss Honey kids and Davi.
LGBT Pride Celebration Civic Center, Carlton B. Goodlett Place and McAllister, SF; (415) 864-3733, www.sfpride.org. Noon–6 p.m., free. Celebrate LGBT pride at this free outdoor event featuring DJs, speakers, and live music. This is the first half of the weekend-long celebration sponsored by SF Pride, featuring hip-hop, a battle of the bands, and more.
LGBTQ History Bike Tour Meet at Cupid’s Arrow on the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building, SF; 2 p.m.–5 p.m., $5 donation. Get smart (and fit) for Pride on this eight-mile tour of queer history hotspots, ending up at the Dyke March.
Love and Happiness SOM, 2925 16th St., SF; (415) 558-8521, www.som-bar.com. 10 p.m.–4 a.m., $15. It’s a glorious old-school house reunion for the rainbow children, with David Harness and Ruben Mancias on decks, Robnoxious at the door, and Joseph Solis hosting.
Kiss Me Deadly Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; (415) 863-2052, www.lexingtonclub.com. 9 p.m., free. After the Dyke March, cool off (most likely get hotter) with DJ Bunnystyle of Blood, Sweat, and Queers.
Mango After Dyke March Party El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; (415) 282-3325, www.elriosf.com. 8 p.m., $10/$15. Food, drink, dancing, and girls, girls, girls at this juicy ladies night.
Pink Pleasure Party Good Vibrations Valencia, 603 Valencia, SF; (415) 522-5460, www.goodvibes.com. 8–10p.m., free. Drop in, dyke out, gear up for a sensual Pride at this Good Vibes mix n’ mingle.
Pink Saturday Castro District, SF; www.thesisters.org. 6p.m.–midnight, donation requested, all ages. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence host their cuckoo annual outdoor event, featuring entertainment, beer, cocktails, food, and, duh, cruising galore.
Pink Triangle Installation Twin Peaks Vista, Twin Peaks Blvd parking area, SF; (415) 247-1100, ext 142, www.thepinktriangle.com. 7:30–10:30 a.m., free. Bring a hammer and your hunky work boots and help install the humongous pink triangle atop Twin Peaks for everyone to see. Volunteers needed! Do it!
San Francisco Dyke March Dolores Park, Dolores and 18th St., SF; www.dykemarch.org. Rally at 3 p.m.. March at 7 p.m.. Free. The one “do not miss” event of Pride, with tons of entertainment and speakers, impossibly sexy crowd, and a “Dyke Planet, Green Planet” theme.
Sundance Saloon Pride Dance Hotel Whitcomb, 1231 Market, SF; (415) 626-8000, www.sundancesaloon.org. 8 p.m., $10. Also Sun/27. Shine up your spurs for a country line-dance party that’ll put you in a hootin’ mood.
SUNDAY 27
Body Rock Temple Bar, 600 Polk, SF; (415) 931-5196. 11 a.m.–6 p.m., 18+ free. Delightfully tawdry Miss Monistat queens it over this all-day dragstravaganza, featuring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Mutha Chucka, Cher-A-Little, and others. With crazy beats from Electronic Music Bears, High Fantasy, and more.
Gay Shame Goth Cry-In Outside LGBT Center, 1800 Market, SF; www.gayshamesf.org. 2 p.m.–3:30 p.m., free. Protest and grieve the commercialization of Pride and the community – throw on your blackest black and let the tears roll.
Juanita MORE!’s Pride Party 2010 Kelly’s Mission Rock, 817 Terry Francois Blvd, SF; (415) 626-5355, www.juanitamore.com. 2 p.m.–2 a.m., $35. Pretty much the charitable Pride party of the year, flooded with cool kids, admirers, and the sounds of the mind-blowing Cougar Cadet Corps Drumline. DJs James Glass, Chelsea Starr, Kim Ann Foxman, and many more. Benefiting Bay Positives. Shuttles available from the Pride Celebration.
Les Beaux SOM, 2925 16th St., SF; (415) 558-8521, www.som-bar.com. 3 p.m.–9 p.m., $10. Don’t catch your breath after Pride, girls. Get beautiful with Cockblock’s DJ Nuxx and decks guests Sarah Delush and Rapid Fire.
LGBT Pride Celebration Civic Center, Carlton B. Goodlett Place and McCallister, SF; (415) 864-3733, www.sfpride.org. Noon–7 p.m., free. The celebration hits full stride, with a buttload of musical and dance performances and, truly, something for everyone. Don’t forget your sunscreen or little umbrella.
LGBT Pride Parade Market at Davis to Market and Eighth Sts, SF; (415) 864-3733, www.sfpride.org. 10:30 a.m.–noon, free. This 40th annual parade, with an expected draw of 500,000, is the highlight of the Pride Weekend in the city that defines queer culture.
Honey Pride Paradise, 1501 Folsom, SF; (415) 252-5018, www.paradisesf.com. 6 p.m.–2:30 a.m., $3. Legendary (actually) disco DJ Steve Fabus goes classic house on us, joining the regular Honey Soundsystem discaires for stylish specialness all around. $8 beer bust 6 p.m.-9 p.m..
Queerly Beloved Pink Sunday Party El Rio, 3158 Mission, SF; (415) 282-3325, www.elriosf.com. 3 p.m.–8 p.m., $5. Courtney Trouble and Tina Horn host this benefit for queerporn.tv. DJs Campbell and Venus in Furs, performers Alotta Boutte and Dexter James, kissing and kink booths, and dirty, sexy queers.
Too Fast for Love Lexington Club, 3464 19th St., SF; (415) 863-2052, www.lexingtonclub.com. 9 p.m., free. “Shake it, fake it, take it” as DJ Campbell spins the dirty at this Pride after-affair.
Editor’s Notes
marke@sfbg.com
The official theme for Pride this year is “40 and Fabulous.” So let’s all grab an organic cocktail and strap ourselves in for a good ol’-fashioned midlife crisis!
Some of us have already had some practice. Many gays long ago traded in cracked and hectoring first wife Madonna for trophy floozy Lady Gaga, raced around town in those sleek Miata MX-5 convertibles, and reached for the HyperGain. (Don’t get me started on lesbians and Justin Bieber here.)
But for queers of a more radical bent, it’s an opportunity to take stock of the past and wonder about the future — despite the fact that 40 is the new 20, at least in online marketing campaigns. Branding, darling, branding.
Or maybe that’s boring. Yes, we could lament the commercialization of Pride and kvetch that all our resources have been poured into trying to secure property rights through state-sanctioned social contracts and the chance to invade the wrong country, causing the unnecessary deaths of thousands. We could be awestruck by the amazing power and inspiration of our queer youth, despite the fact that hundreds of them become homeless every year. We could honor and celebrate the heroism of our elders, even while they’re pushed to the margins and out of their apartments.
But doing all that means sitting on our collective asses. Isn’t the whole point of a midlife crisis to change everything before it’s too late? Maybe, due to political expediency and because it makes us more acceptable to society, we’ve allowed queerness to become defined as something we are, rather than something we do. I’m not saying many of us aren’t born “that way” (or denying the social legitimacy that fact, apparently, confers). But what the hell are we doing? Fine. We’re fabulous. Now let’s fix things.
Mundo Via Afrika: Roll up your shorts and kick it
World Cup fever has produced its share of pop tributes and hot girls visuals. You get both combined in the vibrant video for local boy Gavin Hardkiss‘ “Mundo Via Afrika!”
Can the ban
superego@sfbg.com
SUPER EGO Don’t blame it on the rave. You may have heard about the tragic deaths of two men, ages 23 and 25, who overdosed on ecstasy during the humongous Etd.POP 2010 party at the Cow Palace over Memorial Day weekend. (Eight other people were hospitalized.) Now state Sen. Leland Yee and San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier are calling for a ban on raves at the Cow Palace. Must this tired anti-rave misguidedness pop up again?
Here are the facts. The Etd.POP thing is an annual affair, drawing up to 16,000 people, ages 16-plus. Two people died at a similar party in 2003. According to CBS 5, 73 people, mostly from out of town, were arrested this year on drug-related charges. The promoters, Skills DJs, enforced a strict no-drug policy and even, somewhat creepily but understandably, welcomed undercover cops into the venue. They immediately made a sympathetic statement after the hospitalizations and are cooperating fully with authorities.
There’s no evidence that the adults who died took tainted drugs. According to the Chronicle, a spokesperson for SF General, where the injured were treated, said those affected “were suffering injuries consistent with someone taking drugs, dancing, and not getting enough water and of being in a hot, closed environment.” I’ve been to the Cow Palace during megaraves, and it gets hot as blazes. This year several people complained about the heat online, and even headline trance DJ Armin Van Buuren tweeted that it was “really warm.” As for water, it needed to be much more available. Skills sent me the venue map they handed out at the entrance, and it gives directions to two water fountains and two beverage vendors, all outside the main arena. Not enough, folks. The three most important words when throwing parties of any size: Free. Water. Everywhere. Yes, there’s also a danger of overhydration, but even the non-Eing can collapse in a “hot, closed environment.” If you can’t afford to give out water, then why are you flying some DJ in from Amsterdam?
Look, as a matter of personal musical taste, I’m all in favor of banning raves at the Cow Palace. And please bust dealers who target kids. But beyond that, hysterical rave-banning is bullpucky. Newsflash from 1968: some people take drugs at (more likely before) parties. These adults are responsible for their own choice. Force the Cow Palace to get better ventilation. Require promoters to hand out free water on the dance floor. But don’t deny the thousands of drug-free young kids getting together to dance — rather than, say, ethnically cleanse Uzbekistan — their opportunity to have some electronically fueled, and by now old-fashioned, fun. You can blame rave for a lot of things, but it doesn’t kill people.
THE LEAK
Tired of disco? Unphased by wave? At last, the backlash against our dance-floor obsession with the past has begun. The LOWSF crew is dedicating this monthly to recently released bangers and jams only. Get fresh at the weekend.
Fri/18, 10 p.m., $3. Showdown, 10 Sixth St., SF. www.lowsf.com
1994
OK, but here’s more of the past — in an irresistibly goofy vein. The delirious 1994 party returns, with revisionist fashion shows, questionable tunes, and tipsy sing-alongs aimed at a new generation of beer-goggled nostalgists. Slap bracelets!
Sat/19, 9 p.m., $10. Paradise Lounge, 1501 Folsom, SF. www.club1994.com
MEGA-TETRIS
How can you resist? Multimedia artist Bryan Von Reuter is turning the Lab into a giant game of Tetris, projecting that old-school video game — the key to the world, really — onto the walls and letting you play, mega-style. Tunes by DJ Middle D stack the blocks.
Sat/19, 8 p.m., $5–$15. The Lab, 2948 16th Street, SF. www.thelab.org
LARRY HEARD
It’s been a long time since Larry Heard, a.k.a. Mr. Fingers, helped invent the quintessential Chicago house sound — heck, he’s even based in Tennessee these days — but the soul shivers still rain down when he lets his decks do the walking.
Sat/19, 9 p.m.-4 a.m., $25. SOM, 2925 16th St., SF. www.som-bar.com
Even would-be terrorists love their kit-tehs
Or, birth of a meme: Princess Tuna! Not that we’re trolling for snuggly jihadis, but this pic of New Jersey’s recently detained (for the usual wannabe-terrorist idiocy) Mohamed Alessa, from this NYT story about his troubled but scarily typical teens, caught our attention. “Death to the West!” scream the crazy space-eyes of Princess Tuna (actual cat’s name).
Parties without borders
marke@sfbg.com
“My body’s over Guam somewhere.”
DJ Adrian was triangulating his sleep deprivation coordinates, trademark fuchsia dreads grazing a gourmet cheese platter at Starbelly in the Castro. It wasn’t easy. He and his partner, Mysterious D, who both spoke with me last week, just spent two months bringing their Bootie party (www.bootiemashup.com) to three continents, including stops in Helsinki, Singapore, Cork, Vilnius, Rio, Budapest, and Hong Kong. They’d had to deal with volcanoes in Iceland, rabid Britney fans in São Paulo, and breakneck drives across Poland. They were leaving for Brooklyn the next day, then on to Seattle. All this without pausing their original gig, simulcast on Second Life, which for the past seven years has lured capacity crowds three Saturdays a month to DNA Lounge in San Francisco’s SoMa district. “I would say I’m jetlagged as fuck,” Adrian laughed, “but that would completely exhaust me.”
I didn’t believe him for a minute. Sure, racking up all those SkyMiles might drain the pink from anyone’s locks, but judging from the constant stream of music production, multiple-site updates, and live performances, Adrian and D operate at a superhuman level “manic” only begins to cover. Yet this was no mere gonzo DJ world tour. It was the Bootie Expansion Tour. Adrian and D were supporting and promoting various global franchises of the Bootie party brand, and testing the waters for future ones.
DJs often travel beyond the confines of their regular club nights, of course, sometimes bringing a certain attention to flyer design, opening support, and club décor with them to insure a singular party vibe. But the notion of entire independent parties — alternative in nature, low on capital, and intimately linked to the underground — expanding their brands internationally, establishing regular installments beyond homebase, is a phenomenon only possible in the Internet age. It’s also an opportunity that tech-heady San Francisco’s intensely creative, DIY nightlife scene is perfectly poised to take advantage of. Four very different local parties — Bootie, Trannyshack, Blow Up, and Bearracuda — have leapt to the forefront of the new “parties without borders” reality. And as they become more known worldwide, the promoters are also slyly exporting some uniquely San Franciscan cultural and sexual values. Trojan nightlife: we like that.
OPEN SOURCE CLUBBING
Musically, Bootie specializes in that wildly popular and mostly extralegal 21st-century art form, the bootleg mashup, which digitally Frankensteins two or more hit songs from disparate genres to reach a goofy-beauty sweet spot.
DJ Adrian and Mysterious D. Photo by Jeffery Cross
Billed as “the biggest bootleg mashup party in the world,” Bootie parties at the DNA are mashups in their own right, usually incorporating several guest DJs, batty drag and live musical numbers, mass sing-alongs, dress-up themes, slick flyers that meld famous faces together, free CD giveaways, and a fantastically mixed crowd. Oh, and giant inflatable pirates (Adrian and D are cheeky, or crazy, enough to foreground the allegedly piratical aspects of their musical operations.)
“Bootleg mashups are an integral part of the whole ‘open source’ debate,” D told me. “So we wanted to take that one step further and experiment with open source nightlife. We’re the party everyone associates with mashups. And there are people making mashups on their laptops in bedrooms around the world. So when they want to start a regular party, they write us and ask us how. These are mostly people who’ve never dealt with venues, never promoted before. Obviously we can’t come there every week and host. So we talk to them more, see if they’re the right people, and guide them through it. We only ask that they conform to our quality standards regarding look and feel. It’s our baby. And if they can add in the performances and fly us out to play once in a while, that’s great, too.”
“In fact,” Adrian added, not joking, “we’re developing a Bootie in a Box extension kit for people to download and start their own.” (Said box would include such things as hi-res logos and flyer images for consistent branding, a copy of the Bootie font, music downloads, DVDs of looping visuals, server space and a URL on the Bootie site, and, yes, a six-foot inflatable pirate design.) “It’s about making the Internet do the work for us.”
LOG ON, BLOW UP
The Internet has certainly worked for knockout photog Ava Berlin, who puts on Blow Up (www.blowupsf.com) with her husband, Jeffrey Paradise, and genius-eared DJ Richie Panic. She told me, “People know Blow Up from the videos they see on YouTube. A lot of promoters in other cities are like ‘How do you get the crowd to go crazy like that?’ They see what’s going on in San Francisco, and it really inspires them to go buck wild.”
Ava Berlin and DJ Jeffrey Paradise. Photo by David Espinoza, styling by V Vernard
Until it was recently shut down due to capacity issues, Blow Up was our infamous winning entry in the balls-out electro party sweepstakes, for five years drawing a glamour-forward, sensually uninhibited 18-and-over crowd to the Rickshaw Stop. (The party still survives — Blow Up launches a monthly “summer concert series” on Sat/12 at Kelly’s Mission Rock.) It was one of the first club nights to truly harness the power of social media, posting shareable party photos and slickly edited vids practically before last call was over.
“Three or four years ago, people started sending us links to websites in other countries — young people in Germany, Japan, Paris, Bangkok that collected Blow Up flyers, photos, and videos on their blogs and MySpace pages,” Berlin continued. “These people hadn’t even had a chance to go to one of the parties, but through the Internet they’re part of it.”
Some of those people wanted to throw their own Blow Ups, and the party quickly spread to Los Angeles, Tokyo, Atlanta, Osaka, Miami, and New York. Before the Blow Up promoters license their name, though, one of them might go out first to check out the scene. And, except in L.A., where a regular franchise has been operating for some time, they consider their presence crucial to the event’s success. (A physical compensation for virtual fame?) “We never appear as Blow Up unless we know the promoters personally or they’re recommended by trusted friends,” Berlin said. “We work closely with them on almost everything, even the type of security guards. People need to feel free to make the right vibe. We’re really particular.”
FEEL THE BURN
Extending your party brand can have its pitfalls, as the colossally coiffed Heklina of celebrated trash-drag party Trannyshack (www.trannyshack.com) has found. Whereas Bootie has so far only had to “politely remind people that we exist” to keep them from poaching its concept, Heklina’s been caught in a litigious nightmare. “Everyone loves Trannyshack — so much that they’ve tried to steal the Trannyshack name all over the world. I could pass the bar with all I know about copyright law now,” she told me.
Before it ceased its weekly operations at the Stud after 12 years (it still holds occasional, gleefully packed “tribute nights” at DNA Lounge), Trannyshack’s indelible blend of retro tunes and fluid-filled drag performances had reached London, New York, L.A., Seattle, Portland, Waikiki, Santa Fe, and New Orleans. The raucous annual Trannyshack Reno bus trip, now a decade old, pioneered the exportation of freaky San Francisco fun to an often-stunned outer world. “I love that people love us, but Trannyshack is what I do, and I need to protect the name,” said Heklina. “Because who knows what I’ll want to do in the future? It’s only natural to want to broaden our audience. But I’ve found in far-off places like London and New York, where I can’t check on everything in person, the concept gets watered down. Queens outside of San Francisco just don’t get it. I’ve had to shut them down.
Heklina. Photo by Jeffery Cross
“Trannyshack as a whole is harder to franchise, too,” Heklina said, “because it’s about the show. If you want a Trannyshack, you have to fly at least five queens out and put us up. We don’t just send a DJ. That’s why I stick to the West Coast now. I only really make money that way — I can just load everyone in a van and drive out, not have to spend all week, and actually get paid. In fact, I have a great deal in Portland right now. I host a monthly “Miss Thing” contest. I just go up there myself, but mentor the local queens who’ll be competing beforehand — how to put a performance concept together, what lighting they’ll need. I control them remotely through the Internet,” she laughed.
KA-CHING? KA-CHING
Now let’s talk about money. To some, throwing a party elsewhere may sound as easy as connecting with the right people, finding a venue, and posting a Facebook invite. (It’s not, of course.) But does expansion make fiduciary sense? Shrewd business gal Heklina has actually shrunk and reconcentrated her brand to better capitalize. The Blow Up kids usually settle for standard DJ and travel fees — 18-plus crowds don’t bring in much bar money to split. Adrian and D know from personal experience that it can take years for a Bootie party to establish itself and become profitable, so they’re currently engaged in a kind of vast seed-growth investment project. (“The real reward, way beyond money,” D told me, echoing the other promoters, “is seeing our vision, something created in a studio apartment in San Francisco from pure passion and our own imagination, exist in another place, in a totally different culture, but it being the same.”)
“I love gay people, but I love money more,” tall, scruffy Matt Mikesell of Bearracuda (www.bearracuda.com) deadpanned over the phone. “And yes, world domination is the goal.” Four years ago, he began Bearracuda — now twice monthly at Deco Lounge — as “a place for big, hot, hairy gay guys to dance somewhere that was attitude-free, but could still get crazy.” To his surprise, the simple-sounding concept quickly filled a niche and exploded. Bearracuda parties were soon established in L.A., Portland, Seattle, and New Orleans. (“I try to be at every one I can, and I exert total control over the DJ selection, the flyers, and the look.”) In the near future, Sydney, Auckland, Vancouver, Atlanta, and Orlando will see their own Bearracudas, and Mikesell is even taking over the famed Lazy Bear Weekend in Guerneville this summer, temporarily replacing it with his own party, called Bear Market (www.beargetaway.com.)
Having worked with Trannyshack and Bootie, Mikesell knows that expansion beyond the West Coast isn’t profitable, especially when he charges less than $10 cover. “Frankly, I was astounded at how much more they’re willing to pay in Auckland and Sydney, so I’m trying it out,” he says. “Plus, more parties mean I’m still fresh meat.”
But what he’s exporting may be invaluable. No diss on the resilient, light-hearted Bearracuda, but bear parties are old news here, and have even gone through several evolutions. Yet bears in other cities aren’t as spoiled as ours. “Portland has, like, some little shack out in the country for them,” Mikesell says. Originally meant to buck the tanned-and-toned body fascism of the gay scene, bear culture was developed in Northern California and honed in SF, so Bearracuda is actually repping a local, sexually subversive commodity to the world.
Matt Mikesell. Photo by Jeffery Cross
It doesn’t stop there with the exporting of San Francisco values. “We were booked in straight clubs. We were booked in gay clubs. Outrageous trannies and total bros showed up.” Adrian said of the Bootie tour. “People didn’t know what to expect from our descriptions, since there are so few mixed parties outside of SF. And then, of course, there’s us. They saw D, they saw me, and sometimes they couldn’t figure it all out.” Adrian and D. were legally married six years ago (at Burning Man, natch), but still maintain an openly queer, and, in Adrian’s case, androgynous status. “People got a little bit of an education about San Francisco-style sexualities on that tour.”
Heklina sums it up nicely: “We were doing Trannyshack L.A. last year, and this queen from there got up on stage with a bunch of guys in yellow raincoats. I think she did a Whitney Houston number or something. Anyway, at the climax, the guys stood above her and started pissing all over her. I went up to her afterward and said, ‘That was amazing, dear! But you know, it’s been done before. Years before. In San Francisco.’ I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
Spill it over
I may be at wit’s end over the crude-stained feathers of everything else, but I’m more than OK with music so far in 2010. Sounds are stretching out, sonic categories are superimposing translucent wings, folks are taking chances for granted. For the past five years, the best DJs have been slowing down their sets, some to the point of blissful stasis — lightly back-pedaling in the midst of history’s traffic. This year that’s help lead to a swelling of the unexpected: indie rock fusing with ghostly rave (Delorean’s sublime Subiza, Caribou’s tricky Swim, Toro Y Moi’s soul-phasic Causers of This) and the return rush of breezy Balearic vibes, with analog synths and subtle digital dubbiness lending a just-left-of-human touch.
Casual experiment is the norm, and even cracked electro-pop stunners like Sleigh Bells’ melted-cheerleader Treats or the skitter-goth Atarics of Crystal Castles’ eponymous new disc make it seem like ultranoise just ain’t no thang. And hey, if I could marry the cinematic hypnodrome-hop of Seattle’s Shabazz Palaces to the sly live techno canter of Zurich’s Galoppierende Zuversicht — both coming to town this weekend — I would be in aural heaven. (I think that’s legal in Portugal now?)
In short, we may be entering a genre-free experiential zone. So why not step it up by immersing yourself in the two-month wonder of our very own experiential music festival, Soundwave? Trust, it’ll be amaze. There will be illuminated forests. There will be “extreme natural resonance” drones in abandoned bunkers. There will be live string duets inside famous sculptures.
This is the fourth installment of the fest, whose theme this time is “green sound.” Artists from around the world will be generating sonic experiments that play off the green ideal. Bike-powered stages, solar- and wind-powered music, real and imagined environments, fantasy creatures — all on the menu and then some.
“The green thing is so big in culture, especially in light of recent events,” Alan So, executive director of Project Soundwave (and total babe, btw) told me. “We want to showcase a full creative, innovative range of responses to the ideas of sustainability and reuse. It’s far from literal, though. There’s a spectrum of ideas. We have a sonic fabric artist from Texas, Alyce Santoro, who makes her clothes out of old cassette tape and then plays herself. She’ll be performing during our month-long Illuminated Forest residency at the Lab.
“Another great thing will be Inflorescence at the Civic Center on June 17. Brett Ian Balogh will install tiny solar-powered devices he calls ‘florets’ in the trees that will collect sound all day, and then at sunset they’ll ‘bloom’ as little lights emitting a sonic tapestry. And our opener on June 6, Resonance, gathers artists to the awesome Battery Townsely concrete military bunker in the Marin Headlands to really play with the possibilities of leftover architecture. Different perspectives, sonic ecology, that type of thing.”
So brings an installation art and design background to bear on the proceedings, insuring a 360-degree experience. The Bay, of course, has a huge experimental music history and a still-thriving scene. But Project Soundwave’s youthful programming, consciously or not, parallels a lot of local nightlife developments, from the gonzo digital culture offerings at the Tenderloin’s Gray Area Foundation for the Arts (www.gaffta.org) to the sonic vanguardism of live analog party OK Hole (third Saturdays at Amnesia, 853 Valencia, SF. www.amnesiathebar.com).
And Soundwave’s green attempts could provide a tingly synthesis of experiment and action. “It’s easy to assume a passive role as an artist or musician,” So told me. “Political art can be so off-putting in its bluntness or perceived negativity that, for an artist, pure abstraction is the only attractive way. We’d like to take a stab at changing that. Developing and utilizing alternative technologies to create ideal states can be both a statement and a contribution.”
SOUNDWAVE FESTIVAL ((4)) GREEN SOUND June 6–Aug. 13, various times and prices, www.projectsoundwave.com
RED BULL BIG TUNE PRODUCER BATTLE with Shabazz Palaces, Rick Rock, and DJ Toomp. Fri/4, 8 p.m., $5. DNA Lounge, 375 11th Street, SF. www.redbullbigtune.com
[KONTROL] FIVE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY with Galoppierende Zuversicht and Craig Richards. Sat/5, 10 p.m.–6 a.m., $20. EndUp, 401 Sixth St., SF. www.kontrolsf.com
“Leather Gimp” wins it!
Just in time for Pride Month, the winner of this year’s International Mr. Leather competition (held this past weekend in Chicago) is New Mexican transman wheelchair-user — and self-described “Leather Gimp” — Tyler McCormick. We teared up at his speech. Diversity x 1 million = work the runway. In a leather jockstrap, even.
Party Radar: Strap yourself in for the long weekend
This week, I took advantage of our Video Issue to gush in the Super Ego column about some digital developments in Clubland that fascinate me. But of course upon us comes the three-day bonanza known as Memorial Weekend to the outside world (Blackout McBlackety-Blackout Weekend to party peeps). So here’s a few picks to guide you tipsily down the Memorial Hole. Rat your wig and grip that PBR, because here we go. And check out our Weekly Picks for more craziness.
First to get you in the mood while you read this, here’s a primo mix from one of my new fave “fun time” DJs, Alex Niggemann, suitable for throwing down, vogueing, or just doing up your go-out mascara:
Alex Niggemann Live @ Soulfooled, Watergate, Berlin – 14-04-2010 by R_co
(Feeling deeper? Try this Snobo mix. Or just bhangra out of control.)
MISS HONEY
Get real, get fierce, get runway ($200 cash prize for voguers who rule) at the one year anniversary of this kiki favorite all the children flock to. DJs Errol, Chelsea Starr, Nikki B. play an interesting melange of the danceable — ironic pop to disco depths. Domonique and Artist Malcolm Drake preside over the ovah.
Fri/28, 10pm-3am, $7. Supperclub, 657 Harrison, SF. www.supperclub.com
NEW 7TH HEAVEN ROLLER DISCO II
Bump hips and try not to trip when you strap into your skates and go for a wild, wild ride at Mezzanine. DJs Chris Orr, Conor, Jordan, and BT Magnum give you the spins. Plus best promo ever: “What do you get when you take 23 afros, 37 scrunchies, 19 side ponytails, 45 satin bomber jackets, 132 knee socks, 240 bootie shorts, 3 fog blasters, 18 lasers, 52 sexy disco cuts, put them in an open spaced industrial warehouse space, shake it up, a drizzle of neon, a sprinkle of glitter, and a smorgasbord of wheels?” My Tuesday?
Fri/28, 9pm, $7. Mezzanine, 444 Jessie, SF. www.mezzaninesf.com
SOME THING
It’s DJ Down-E’s birthday, and a gaggle of alternadrag queens will be flocking to the stage for “Some Thing Special” to pay tribute. Faux King Awesome, Beth Amphetamine, Glamamore, Phatima, and so many more will help blow out the candles. DJs Hoku Mama Swamp and Juanita More put on party hits.
Fri/28, 10pm-4am (shows at 11 and midnight), $5. The Stud, 399 9th Street, SF. www.studsf.com
STACEY PULLEN
The Kosmik Messenger of Detroit techno flies in with his mindblowing combination of tribal soul and electronic forward-thinking. I’ve known him and heard him for about 21 years now, and he never fails to delight, deepen, and surprise.
Fri/28, 10pm-4am, $10. Teple, 540 Howard, SF. www.templesf.com
TEENAGE DANCE CRAZE– LIVE!
DJs Sergio Iglesias, Russell Quan, and dXXX bring on the old old school (we’re talking Motown, rockabilly, and French 60s pop here) for a hip and giddy crowd — and enliven it with a live performance from the Teenage Dance Craze house band. Kids keep swingin’.
Fri/28, 10pm, $4. The Knockout, 3223 Mission, SF. www.knockoutsf.com
BOYZ NOIZE
Trust, no Zs when this banger invades Mighty. Not quite an all-out electro overloader — he throws in some subtle, even disco-y effects — but yeah, he’s a bit of joyous nutso. OK, I changed my mind, there will be overload. Freaky overload.
Sat/29, 10pm-very late. $20. Mighty, 119 Utah, SF. www.mighty119.com
SIXXTEEN’S CHERRY BOMB PROM!
Rock it. Roll it. Blow it up! One of SF’s most “cherished” (punny, maybe!) rock ‘n roll extravaganzas returns for prom-prom-prom. Dressed in your finest fucked-up formal wear and lose it sublime. Lusty Ladies dance, Merkley??? hosts, Nicky Bangles performs, Lady Bear serves, nuns are there, and DJs Omar, Jenny, and a hell-heaven host of others rip up the tables. Tons of prizes awarded to nuttiest prommers — including Prom King, Biggest Queen, Class Slut and Stud. Why do I keep typing “porn” instead of “prom”?
Sat/29, 9pm-3am, $10. Cat Club, 1190 Folsom, SF. www.sfcatclub.com
TABOO: THE NEW JOURNEY
DJ David Harness‘s classic soulful house affair is back this weekend, at SOM. This should have an amazing and diverse crowd of deep lovers in it for the dance, not the showin’ off.
Sat/29, 9:30pm-4am, $10. SOM, 2925 16th Street, SF. www.som-bar.com
CHICKENBEAR
The whole gay “identify with an animal” thing has gone too far. Let’s mock it by taking it farther! Mica and Walter host this Sunday evening homo “in between” party at the Powerhouse (sexy!) to “get wild.” Tons of kooky funsters and drink specials expected. Music by DJ Dirty Knees. Plus this: “Wanna be the reigning CHICKENBEAR? Then practice your mating call and get ready to strut your stuff for a CASH prize! You can get some pointers from our feral gogo dancers!” CASH. It’s a theme.
Sun/30, 7pm-11pm, $5. Powerhouse, 1347 Folsom, SF. www.powerhouse-sf.com
HONEY WITH SPUN
The Honey Soundsystem boys are bringing in fabulous disco-house spinner DJ Spun from Rong Music for their “extended Memorial Day mix.” Goddess help us all.
Sun/30, 6:30pm-2:30pm, $3. paradise Lounge, 1501 Folsom, SF. www.paradisesf.com
LIGHTS DOWN LOW
The too-hip electro free-for-all is back for jamz. The awesome HOTTUB rap trio tears off their clothes, DJ Them Jeans from LA provides some gonzo (yet pretty keenly smart) slices, and our two biggest saw-wave table-ravers Richie Panic and Sleazemore flash their pearly jaws.
Sun/30, 9pm, $10. Triple Crown, 1172 Market, SF. www.triplecrownsf.com
STOMPY+SUNSET JAMBOREE
Smooth house hero Kevin Yost returns, and hometown kings Solar, J-Bird, Galen, Deron, and Tasho (with a headlining appearance by Lance DeSardi) make it work at this marathon bonkers outdoor-patio Beat-BQ (you can eat til six), brought to us by the delerious Pacific Sound. You could lose a day here, easy.
Sun/30, 2pm-2am, $10. Cocomo, 650 Indiana, SF. www.cafecocomo.com
SWEATER FUNK
This regular Sunday night party is so cute I don’t know what to do with it. If you like to boogie — and I don’t say that ironically, it gets funky and sweaty in the basement of Li Po — then join E Da Boss, Eddy Bauer, and the Sweater Funk crew for some lively, local, laidback-attitude times. Sweeet.
Sun/30, 9pm, free. Li Po Lounge, 916 Grant, SF.
Where’s the pickle?
superego@sfbg.com
SUPER EGO Look at this fucking nightlife column! It’s the Guardian’s Video issue, so I thought I’d roam into the upload zone — lubricate the Yubehole, VIP the Vimeo, Flip the embed — and click-up a wee rundown of club developments on the streaming front.
While I may lament the omnipresence of distractive screens at most dance spots (we possess one of the oldest “video bars” in the world, Midnight Sun in the Castro — historical!), and I’m terrified of holograms (like the one of a geisha-like gamin over the bar at Infusion Lounge, who gives one a come-hither shimmer before, I think, tearing into a virtual ham hock), there are oodles of inventive digital doodling going down and golden nuggets of club history being dug up.
That inventiveness is taken to a whole other level at Art Attack, video surrealist III’s night at Supperclub (www.supperclub.com), every third Thursday of the month. There, the ingenious young eye-popper gathers some of the kookiest (and most talented) personalities on the scene to interactively perform with his cunning projections, painting the white walls of that upscale gawk-box with digital dreamscapes. Warbling drag queens step straight out of silent-movie scenarios, aerialists Tarzan through jungle lushness. It’s a rad mind-melt, with fab DJ programming to boot, and one of my favorite stops to spot what the kids are really up to these days.
Out of the clubs and into the cloud: another recent bit-rate bonanza has been the emergence of video flyers. Although nothing, to my meatspace mind, can beat old-school hand-to-hand invite action, I’m all for less litter and more Twitter. Since most parties are announced via social networking sites, it only makes sense that flyers move beyond the static into new design dimensions.
Our very own Leo Herrera and his gaily forward Homochic posse (www.homochic.com) have pioneered an especially moody, erotic, and impressionistic form — pairing just-released dancefloor hummers with titillating cinematic scenes that float from bathhouse to arthouse. No hooting gel-balls doing body shots off fake tits here. Not that there’s everything wrong with that.
And lately I’ve been revisiting, enthralled, the incredible short-film work of Tom Rubnitz, clubkid bon vivant, musician, and recording angel to that incandescent slice of nightlife history: downtown Manhattan in the late 1980s. He passed away from AIDS in 1992 at age 36 (and really, as a youngish queer man watching any vids from that era, the question that unfortunately ghosts to the back of the mind is always “Are they dead?”) — but his song and video for his own “Love is the Message” will forever sound and look like my February of 1989.
Rubnitz made the 1987 documentary Wigstock: The Movie about that wild dragsplosion and directed music videos for waterfall-coiffed John Sex, but it was his hyperreal shorts that guaranteed him a place in the YouTube pantheon. A few years ago, queer cult filmmaker Charles Atlas inherited Rubnitz’s ancient reels, and gems like “Pickle Surprise” and “Strawberry Shortcut” — which meld inappropriate sound effects, jarring edits, extremely trashy processed foods, downtown’s crème de la crème of the underground scene (including Lady Bunny, RuPaul, Billy Beyond, and Sister Dimension), and, at one memorably hilarious point, a church-chime version of Maurice’s “This is Acid” — made their way online. You can watch Rubnitz’s collected “Sexy, Wiggy, Desserty” works at www.vdb.org.
“Pickle Surprise” became an instant Internet hit, with hundreds of tributes posted, and has influenced a new gaggle of filmmakers and scenesters. (I was actually reminded of the short by fresh-faced DJ Pickle Surprise.) The fact that Rubnitz’s V-hold overloads — you must watch “Made for TV,” an epileptic channel-surf Armageddon that documents a young Ann Magnuson at the height of her freaky powers — didn’t quite transfer intact to streaming digital format only adds to their hysterical impact. “I wanted to make things beautiful, funny, and positive — escapes that you could just get into and laugh through. I felt like good could triumph over evil,” Rubnitz said at the time. He and his magic misfits now live on forever, pixilated pixies hawking Wonder bread and sandwich spread.
I am going to this thing
I don’t know what you’re planning for your long weekend ahead — Carnaval? Himalayan Fair? DEMF? Rehab? — but I’m heading back up to Arcata and Eureka to peep the Kinetic Sculpture Race, the “triathlon of the art world.” It is truly one of the wonders of California — and yes, those things have to go into the water.