Friday, October 19, 2007

Another One Bites the Dust: The Demise of the Grind

According to an email I got today, and a posting on The Grind website, it looks like another gay dance night has bitten the dust. I'm not too surprised, actually, since it seemed to be about the same formula of buff guys, diva pop tribal house blahblah, and lack of originality that has generally marked the mainstream gay club scene. The boyfriend and I went by one night to check it out after FilterSF and stopped when the door opened and we heard what was playing inside - $15 for what sounded like a watered down circuit party? Nope, thanks.

Grinder Sean Greene is moving on to the new GhettoDisco night at The Endup. So what's ghetto about a party that costs $20 - $3o bucks to get in? From the looks of it this it will be an attempt to incarnate what you would expect the Gloss crowd to be into on a weekly basis, but after Marke B.'s article on the death of circuit in the Guardian a few weeks back, I wonder if there is really an audience for this kind of event on a weekly basis? Looking around the gay nightlife scene I see many new and interesting things coming up - the Honey Sound System events, events from the Lucky Pierre crew, the mixing of gay and straight at Lights Down Low and Frisco Disco. What all of these have in common is that gay boys go to them because they can enjoy the music, dancing, and the crowd without all the baggage that is now commonly associated with the gay dance scene, from body politics to expense to crappy music. GhettoDisco is booked out through Thanksgiving with guest DJs, but it will be a real test to see if they can keep that scene going through the winter months.

The Grinders have a survey up that you can take to tell your feelings on the gay dance scene. I urge you all to go and let them know your opinion.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

this is too bad. the grind was a fun place to hang out. the cat club is a great space, and i always enjoy hanging out there. but i never really liked sean greene's musical tastes. And it really is a matter of taste, so I cannot complain too loudly. He'll have access to a much wider audience at the Endup. So with the grind gone as an event, hopefully the cat club will do something really smart. like hosting a totally kick-ass party with great music and nice people.