Last FSLD at Deco/Pup and Lord Kook on the Playa

Hi everybody,

breaking radio silence briefly to remind you all that Lord Kook and I will be hosting the last Fuck Shit, Let's Dance (FSLD) at Deco Lounge next Friday, August 22nd, from 9PM - 3AM, and this time it's FREE! It's been a lot of fun, and real learning experience, so we hope you all will come out and party with us at this location one last time. After Burning Man we have some plans in the works to start up another night in a location that's a bit more central and well-known, all of which will be revealed in good time.

Then on Saturday it's off to the Playa! We'll be at 7.30 and Alicante, with the Pixel Zombies camp if anyone wants to stop by and say hi. We're a camp of four people, but you'll be able to find us by the giant television we're setting up. Starting on Tuesday we plan on having a great line-up of programming for anyone who wants to contemplate media and the American Dream. Lord Kook and I will also be doing some DJing. On Monday night Lord Kook will be spinning synthpop at Camp Lustre, and then on Wednesday we'll be running all over the place: from 6-8PM we'll be tag-teaming at Space Elevator, then from midnight to 1AM Lord Kook will be at Lustre again, followed by another tag team matchup from 1-3AM at Camp Zoom, which will be hosting the Homo Depot party. Hope to see you on the dusty dancefloor!

Event Review: Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! at Deco Lounge

Friday's turnout for FSLD was frankly disappointing, and as a result August will be the last installment, at least at Deco. We're a bit bummed about it, as you might expect, but also fairly sanguine, since even if this experiment didn't play out quite as expected, we did have fun with it and learned some things for our next venture.

I think we had a number of factors working against us this month, not the least of which was being forced out of what would have certainly been our best night, Pride Friday, last month. Had we had access to Deco on that date I think we could have had a very successful event that would have helped us attract a larger following. Instead, we essentially had to start up all over again after a two month break. My being out of town for a week after Pride also threw off our usual promotional schedule, then, this week I got laid up with a serious case of strep throat, so I didn't have the resources to dedicate to promoting the way I would have liked. This was also the first month we went without a headliner.

This isn't to say that we didn't have some fun this time; I particularly enjoyed watching two men in their mid-40s quasi slam dancing to Hearthrob's "Futures Past," which I can guarantee has never happened in a gay bar before. We also had a good turnout of friends and several groups of very cute alternaguys. When we talked to one group as they were leaving they told us that they thought the music was excellent and we should keep doing it, which was certainly encouraging in contrast with the older fellow who got into a long discussion with Lord Kook about how he should "make compromises" and "play some older stuff that people like to to dance to" if he wanted to be a successful DJ who got flown to New York and paid $5000 a gig. Lord Kook's response was that he would be perfectly happy to be flown to New York, sleep on somebody's couch, play for three hundred people, and have *no* expenses paid without having to compromise on his music.

I think that contrast, between the small group of younger guys who seemed to dig what we were trying to do, and the older guy who wanted us to cater to popular taste despite whatever our own aesthetic might be, sums up the whole FSLD experience for me so far. Our focus has always been contrarian, an insistence on our own aesthetic, and on presenting what we think is the most interesting and fun dance music beyond anything else. If we had played the usual fare, and gone for the usual gimmicks - baby oil wrestling and Abba, anyone? - we probably would have been a lot more popular because that's what people want and expect. As it was we did, every time, attract the kind of people we wanted to engage with, but we were never able to make the transition into being a consistent scene.

We certainly made some miscalculations and missteps along the way, and there have definitely been times when I've wondered about the effect of the opinions expressed in this blog on our status within "the scene". At the same time we also expected more support from certain quarters, but now we also have a better sense of who is really into our aesthetic and what we're trying to do, and where to focus our energies and creative engagements in the future

Just because we'll be leaving Deco in August doesn't mean we'll be leaving the scene; on the contrary, this experience has only emboldened me to be even more contrary, and to keep cultivating our small patch of the scene. I still believe in techno as some of the most interesting , fun, sexy music being produced today, and that it can serve as the foundation for nights of wild hedonism. I still believe that Lord Kook is one of the best young DJs on the scene and deserves a much wider audience. I still believe that there is a market for a dance night that strips away the shit and gets down to the heart of the matter, which is boozing, cruising, having fun with your friends, and dancing. And I completely believe that we will keep trying, again and again, until it all comes together. If you believe any of these things, come out to Deco with us on August 22nd, we'll do our best to show you a good time and lay the groundwork for the future.

FSLD August :: Your last chance to hear us for the first time!

Upcoming Event: Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! (FSLD) at Deco Lounge, Friday, July 25

After our month off for our Pride parties, FSLD returns to Deco Lounge this Friday with yours truly and Lord Kook spinning a night of techno for adventurous faggots who want to get down!

Fuck Shit, Let's Dance!
with Residents Lord Kook and DJ Pup
FREE before 10, $5 after
Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin x Turk

Pink Saturday Set List

As I mentioned in my post about Pride, DJing at Pink Saturday was one of the very best experiences I've had in a long time. It was my first time on the decks in public in almost six months, and the first time I've played a set that was exclusively on CDs. Since a couple people have asked, here's what I played:

Time to Jak - A Guy Called Gerald
Magneto - Reference
Modus Operandy - Original Mix (Digital Only) - Roland M. Dill
D-Day - Original Mix - Marc Antona
Back - Original Mix - Ben Klock
Nebula - L.exx Aurel
Unbreakable - Exercise One Fragile Mix - Sweet N Candy
Hold My Hand - Dubfire Dub - UNKLE
Krook - Hugg & Pepp
Ask Your Druggist (Lutzenkirchen Remix) - Andreas Henneberg
Half Truth - Original Mix - Arne Michel
Beautiful Life - Gui Boratto

I hope to have a recorded version of this available in the next week or so.

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming Fuck Shit, Let's Dance (FSLD) on Friday, July 25th at Deco. it's going to be just me and the Lord Kook this time, and we're really, really gonna do the techno night we've always wanted to do. Sooooo, if you see stuff in here that you like, come check us out.

The Big Pride Recap

A week after Pride, I think I’ve finally managed to process most of the experience. I went into the weekend in a rather glum mood (let’s just say that I was experiencing some scene fatigue), and on the other side that mood still prevails, but at least has been tempered by some self-realization.

Our weekend started with Mr., and the most important thing I can say about that event is how much I truly enjoyed working with Joshua J from Big Top, David and Jose from Fag Fridays, and Juan from Beatbox Events. Producing Mr. with these guys really taught me some things; up to now my experience and aim as an event producer and DJ has been focused on small, underground events where a turnout of 300 is a huge success, so having the opportunity to see how real professionals put together an event on a much larger scale was really educational. I don’t think I nearly measure up to the caliber of these guys as promoters, but I hope to have the opportunity to work them further in the future - there is talk of bringing Mr. back for a repeat performance soon, as well as the possibility of a regular night.

On Saturday night, thanks to Sister Selma Soul, we got do our own set-up in the parking lot next to Magnet. We borrowed an awesome pair of QSC powered speakers and a Mackie sub from our friend Chris and really, really rocked 18th Street. This was my most gratifying Pride experience, since we were able to focus on just the music and the crowd responded with ecstatic enthusiasm. In a way Pink Saturday is like shooting fish in a barrel; you’ve already got a crowd that’s ready to party, and almost anything you play will attract people who are into it. You don’t need to worry about promotion, or the scene, or any of the other usual trappings that go with club nights, you can just get out there and play what you love. Lord Kook and I were both apprehensive about how people would respond to the techno we had in mind, and played, but in the end what really mattered was that it was fun music that was well-mixed, and we even had the guys working the recycling center asking us about tracks.

Sunday was really a blur for me; we were up at 10.30 for Lord Kook to play the Shadowplay stage at noon, and then most of the afternoon we spent backstage with DJ6, Donimo, and Candy and a random assortment of friends; by 8PM we were passing out on the couch after watching In Bruges.

When I look back at the two major events we participated in over the weekend, what I realize is that that, taken together, they showed me something about who I am in the scene, what I’m good at and what I’m not. I’ve lamented about the state of the San Francisco gay scene because I often feel profoundly alienated from it, and that has led to my trying to create something of my own. But, at the same time, I’ve often been depressed because more people don’t respond to that, that FSLD doesn’t get a bigger turnout, or we don’t get more attention. Though I’ve never wanted to really admit this, this is at least partially because I am so critical of the scene, that I don’t have the openness, or social savvy, to be a truly successful scenester. Instead, I’m really good at being an iconoclast, the type of person who might not really be very popular, but can at least attract a small following of fellow cranky heads. I can pick good music and mix it together pretty well, and I can make passable aesthetic judgments, but I’m not really a promoter. I think this means, that, moving into the future, I need to pay more attention to the people who are good promoters, and learn from them, if I want to be successful in that area, but that my strength will always be in smaller, more intimate situations where I can focus on the things I really feel good about, like musical innovation. I don’t know if this means any real practical difference moving forward – we will still try to get the best turnout that we can for FSLD, I’ll still try to be involved with the production of other events – but now I feel like I have a better idea of who I am in the scene, and what I can be proud of.

Upcoming Event: Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! at Pride

So by now I'm sure you've all figured out that, since we're doing Mr. at Mighty, we won't be doing our regular monthly at Deco (seems arrangements were made months ago for Starfucker to have our gay pride Friday - but then, a "best cock contest" and naked twister is more in the spirit of pride than techno). However, that doesn't mean we won't be reprayzentin' - in addition to Lord Kook playing at Mr. on Friday, on Saturday night the FSLD banner will be up in the parking lot of Walgreen's on 18th Street for Pink Saturday, with sets from Neonbunny, Neco D, Lord Kook, and myself, and then on Sunday Lord Kook will be DJing on the Shadowplay stage from noon until 1PM (and I expect I'll be lounging in a shady space, nursing an epic hangover). Soooooo, if you don't make it to Mr., come by and see us for Pink Saturday or at the Shadowplay stage, we'll be happy to see you.

Oh, and we will be back at Deco in July, with a night of minimal and techno from Lord Kook and yours truly all night long. Rave, rave, rave against the coming of the light.

Event Review: Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! (FSLD) at Deco Lounge

This past Friday’s installment of Fuck Shit, Let’s Dance! (FSLD) was about all that a boy could ask for in a birthday party, though I wish I had been feeling a bit better from this crummy upper respiratory infection that has been dragging me down for the past two weeks.

For me birthdays are always a time of perspective, an opportunity to look back over the previous year and assess how things had developed, and I’m happy to say that this year’s ruminations were pretty positive. Last year I had set my sights on starting a club night, which has come to pass, and as I looked around Deco on Friday evening I had ample opportunity to think about all the new friends and acquaintances I’ve made over this past year. Even better, there were many people who I had no idea who they were, which only contributed to the feeling that things in my life are still growing and developing.

We had great sets from all participants, with Lord Kook tag-teaming with both Jovino and Kenvulsion during different parts of the night, and I think overall it was the most consistent vibe we’ve had yet. I especially enjoyed the old-school techno that Ken brought, which still sounds remarkably fresh and deep when you put it up against contemporary tracks.

Yesterday I ran into my friend Chickpea, who told me he’d been at a potluck in the East Bay where some boys were talking about going to a rave at Deco. Puzzled, he dug a little deeper and found out that they were talking about coming to FSLD. Well, it’s not quite a rave, but we’re trying. In June we’re taking a break to do Mr. for Gay Pride, and then in July we’re coming back with a slightly different format in mind, but still with techno, tech-house, and minimal as the main choices on the musical menu. We know where we want to go, it’s just a question of how to get there from here, and I have faith that next year’s birthday party will find us having successfully arrived.

Upcoming Event: Fuck Shit, Let's Dance (FSLD) at Deco Lounge, Friday May 23

It's time for your monthly dose of Faggot Techno, and this time around we've got Ken Vulsion of Honey Sound System, who has promised us a night of four-on-the-floor techno bangers, with the possibility of a special guest tag-team during his set. And if that wasn't enough, we'll also be celebrating my birthday, so I'd be happy to see all your smiling faces there. We're on hiatus from Deco next month because of Mr., the Official Pride Opening Party we're doing at Mighty with Fag Fridays, Beatbox Events, and Big Top, but in July we'll be back again.

Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! (FSLD)
with guests Ken Vulsion (Honey Sound System) and Jovino (Theory Radio)
Resident DJ Lord Kook
9PM - 3AM
$5, FREE before 10
Deco Lounge, Larkin x Turk

Event Review: Fuck Shit Let's Dance (FSLD) at Deco Lounge

Last night's fourth installment of Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! (FSLD) at Deco had a somewhat smaller turnout (a disappointment considering it was the first time it wasn't raining and freezing cold since we've begun) and we had some issues with crowd timing, but it also helped us reach a conclusion about some format changes we've been considering.

FSLD has taken off later and later in the evening since we've started, and this has complicated our sense of timing. Last night, though there was a steady trickle of ones and twos through the door after 10, it wasn't until around 11.30 that we began to see the larger groups arrive. When I checked in on the dancefloor around midnight there was a nice turnout of gay boys grooving to Lord Kook's set and I thought, cool, all is well. While there were guys who arrived early and stayed almost all the way to 2.30, there was also the typical departure of folks between 1.00 and 1.30. When the really late crowd arrived to replace them, they found a mostly empty dance floor (I subsequently discovered that about half the party was upstairs in the lounge, while the other half was outside smoking) and that, instead of our advertised techno, Donimo was into a hard electro set. As a result a group of about six gay alternaboys, and three rolly-looking raver kids, arrived, walked through the club, and subsequently departed. It left the boyfriend and I heartbroken, as this is exactly the crowd we see as being crucial to our nascent little scene, and I hope we can win them back in the future by making some format changes.

When we first conceived of FSLD we thought it would be cool to have a headliner every month because we know so many DJs, we wanted to develop a sense of community with them, and we thought we would get some cross-promotional turnout. This hasn't exactly worked out the way we expected in terms of the actual event. Since the crowd has been showing up later, it also means that they've been turning out in force toward the end of Lord Kook's set and the very beginning of the headliner. Unfortunately, a vibe is a delicate thing, and I'm afraid that we've been putting our crowd and our DJs in the unfortunate position where, just as you're getting into the groove, you have to deal with a change-up, the spell is broken, and the energy has to build itself back again.

Having already seen this happen a couple times in our four events, we've been thinking about ways to work on the timing issue, and so, after Ken Vulsion's appearance next month at FSLD, and Mr. with Beatbox Events, Big Top, and Fag Fridays at Mighty in June, we're going to change up the format in July and concentrate more on developing our own group of DJs and delivering a consistent musical journey. Practically, this probably means that we'll keep the rotating opener, which has gone over very well every time, put Lord Kook on for a longer set (probably 11.30 - 2.00), and then I'll bat clean-up for whatever duration the party continues. Though I've really loved bringing in folks like Baron von Luxxury and Johnatron, Dee Jay Pee Play, Donimo, and DJ6, what I found out last night through a couple conversations is that what people really want is techno, and I think we need to develop a trust in ourselves to deliver it to them. It's a bit funny, really, since we thought we would first need to engage people through electro or other means before springing the techno on them, but having now advertised "faggot techno" we're getting people who want true techno, so I guess we should give it to them.

Among the gratifying experiences of last night was seeing several folks who had come back for a another visit after last month, and getting a very nice compliment from David Peterson of Fag Fridays about Lord Kook's set. I think that we may have also helped facilitate at least a couple hook-ups, judging from the wink one fellow gave me as he departed with someone who had arrived much earlier and separately. I guess it's in the whole nature of the game to be fretful about your parties - it's a consistent topic of conversation with other promoters I know - and want them to blossom into this perfect, ideal event, but, no matter how you plan and promote, everything comes down to the interactions between individuals, and those are the things against which you need to judge your success, rather than that ideal. Everyone wants to have a big party, since there's status behind that, and it provides both material and emotional support for what you're doing, but size only matters as a means to putting an optimal number of objects in motion and having them bounce off one another, so to speak. As long as we can keep things moving, as long as we can keep catalyzing reactions and combinations, through whatever musical or other means, I think it's worth continuing on with the experiment even if we need to adjust our formula.

Upcoming Event: Fuck Shit, Let's Dance at Deco Lounge, Friday April 25

Man, that was a fast month! This Friday, April 25, Fuck Shit Let's Dance, aka FSLD, presents another installment of Faggot Techno at Deco Lounge. This time we have the Prince of Lounge Grooves, DJ Mak, opening up and easing you into your Friday evening, then Lord Kook takes to the decks from 10.30 - 12.30 with all kinds of funky minimal, tech-house, and nu-funk grooves, followed up by the incomparable DJ Donimo of Lucky Pierre, Substance, and Shadowplay fame providing his interpretation of faggot techno for the crowd that likes to dress in black. Last time we had to kill the dancefloor at 3AM because one of the bartenders got sick, but this time we're going to see if we can keep it going until 4, so come prepared!

Fuck Shit, Let's Dance (FSLD)
presents
Faggot Techno!
A dance party for queers and their friends
Guest DJs Donimo and DJ Mak
Resident DJ Lord Kook
9PM - 3AM
FREE before 10, $5 after
Deco Lounge, 510 Larkin x Turk (4 blocks from Civic Center MUNI)

Event Review: Fuck Shit Let's Dance! at Deco Lounge

This past Friday was our third installment of Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! at Deco Lounge, and I was amazed that, at 2AM, we had a crazy dancefloor and, at 3AM, we had to reluctantly shoo people out of the club. The dance action started at 10PM with Neco D's set, continued on through Lord Kook and PeePlay, and I think we could have kept it going until 4AM with a hardcore crowd of draq queens and club kids if one of the bartenders hadn't gotten sick and needed to head out.

I'm beginning to think that the words "Fourth Fridays" are synonymous with rain; as we were loading the gear into our carshare Scion at 7.30 the first cold drops were starting to come down, and when we arrived at Deco it was looking like a soggy night. Fortunately the rain cleared off later in the evening, but I think it might have played a part in a slightly smaller turnout this time. No matter; whatever deficit we had in patrons, the ones who were there more than made up for it with being some of the most dedicated dancers I've seen in ages. There were guys (and a couple girls) who danced their way through all three DJs, from Neco D's housey grooves up through Lord Kook and PeePlay's excursions into Faggot Techno. We gave away almost all our copies of the "Now That's What I Call Faggot Techno Vol. I" CDs that had been put together by Lord Kook, and I talked to a couple guys (including a cutie who works down at Cliff's Variety Store on Castro) who said that, though they had come out to FSLD purely out of random motivation, it was one of the best nights of being out dancing that they had in a long time.

As for me, this was the installment of FSLD that convinced me we might really be on to something, that the very simple idea of a night dedicated to dancing, drinking, and having fun with friends is something that people want, and that the music we're interested in playing is something that others enjoy as well. We had a hugely diverse crowd, everyone seemed to have a good time, and I think it's more than worthwhile to keep this experiment going for a while longer to see what we can really make of it.



Neco D gets the floor moving.



PeePlay gets their hands in the air, and I can only watch and smile.



Lord Kook contemplates his next move.



PeePlay and Lord Kook grooving on some collaborative tag-team action. Bonus points to anyone who can identify the punk rock track where the lyrics "You are the target" come from (contained also in the first track from our "Now That's What I Call Faggot Techno" compilation).

Upcoming Event: Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! Friday March 28

It's that time of the month kids, another installment of Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! at Deco Lounge this Friday, March 28. Our line-up:

Neco D - 9 - 10.30ish
Lord Kook - 10.30 - 12.30
PeePlay - 12.30 - 2.30

And after PeePlay it's the freeform set, so we'll see what the crowd is like at that point and who wants to get up on the decks. Whatever happens, it will be a night of Faggot Techno like you can't hear anywhere else!

Here's the deets:

9PM - "late"
Deco Lounge, Turk x Larkin
$5, FREE before 10PM

See you all there!

Dueling Drag Diva Divertisements

I was postering through the Castro yesterday evening for Fuck Shit, Let's Dance, and as I was about to tape a poster to a lightpole I noticed something; every other event that had postered that pole featured a drag queen. There was Suppositori Spelling on the Lucky Pierre poster (who, that night, actually played strip poker and we got to see how much of a boy she really is!); Heklina on the Bearracuda poster (which advertised a full-on drag show at midnight); the Monster Show with Cookie Dough at Harvey's; and two Trannyshack events, the Big Sleazy and the Trannyshack Reno show.

Now, granted, I assumed that the forces of Heklina were behind several of these posters, but it did stop and make me think about something I've been pondering for a while, which is the significance of drag to the San Francisco gay nightlife scene. Aside from these events, there's also Charlie Horse at The Cinch and other events at Deco and Aunt Charlie's Lounge, and drag shows have also been big parts of parties from Comfort and Joy and Honey Sound System; in fact, it seems that, if you don't have some kind of drag performer or performance associated with your event, you're missing an important component of what people have come to expect.

Now, I'm not being critical of this - Lord knows, after the dust-up with the furries, the last thing I need is a bunch of pissed-off drag queens on my ass - but I do find it curious, as I don't remember drag being such a big deal when I first moved here in 1999. I was later talking with a friend about this, someone who has lived here a lot longer than I have, and he confirmed that drag queens did seem to be a much bigger deal in the scene now than they were back then.

My theory is that it all has to do with the success of Trannyshack, and the number of Miss Trannyshack winners who have decided to use their title to further themselves in the nightlife scene, which is entirely appropriate. I think Juanita More is the first former Miss Trannyshack I became aware of as an actual promoter, and then there's Midnight Mass from Peaches Christ as well.

So, I'm curious to hear from you all about this; do you think that drag has increased in prominence in the SF scene over the past decade or so, and, if so, why? If it's because of Miss Trannyshack, do you think that, since it's now coming to an end, this will change the complexion (so to speak) of the overall scene? What do you think drag means for the scene in general?

Event Review: Fuck Shit Let's Dance at Deco

Our second installment of FSLD matched the first in terms of numbers, though the energy was a bit different and the presence of gay boys somewhat diminished. The compensating factor was a crossover of "straights," which, along with a conversation with Baron von Luxxury on the history of disco, helped me refine my idea of what I'm trying to accomplish with this night. We also learned that we can function with great agility in the face of the, um, challenges that club promoting presents. We still have a few things to figure out about this particular space and event, but I think that's what makes throwing a monthly party an interesting experiment in party logistics and mass psychology.

First, the numbers: the clicker showed 126 when we closed out, which is nine short of the last time. There were some people I was expecting to see who didn't make it out, which would have filled in a good chunk of that. In the further game of "who are these people," we had one group of five young Asian couples show up, and during Lord Kook's set he had the rapt attention of four young women who let out with a periodic "wa-hoo!" while grooving to his set - though a rather unusual situation for him, he did seem to enjoy their enthusiasm. There were several male/female couples, including the very hip DJ Candy (Bender, Heat) and her husband Twig (artist-in-residence at Heat), and another couple that I swear were tripping tits, since I couldn't understand a damn thing they were saying to me all night (I later had reason to believe that she was the ex-propriertress of Jezebel's Joint, the club that had previously been in the Deco building, though I couldn't find anyone to confirm that). The gay guys who did show up were of a pleasingly diverse variety, though I was especially happy that the neo-tribal and punkish alternaboys were well represented. Among our scenester stars were Johnny Cocksville, who wandered the club with a crop, looking for a suitable object upon which to apply it, Dan Karasic and DJ Donimo of Lucky Pierre, and DJ6 of Lucky Pierre and Bender. I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the giant pink and green rabbit, and Superboy.

As for the challenges, they ranged from personnel problems to blown speakers. Kitty, our coat check girl, called me at 5.30 and told me he'd had to go in for a root canal during the morning and was in no shape for a long late night. I was able to find a substitute, but then when we arrived at the club it was pointed out to us that one of the main suspended floor speakers, a JBL 15, had a completely shredded cone. We all scratched our heads over how this had happened (Kiko, the security guy, said it was like that when he showed up for work on Wednesday, and the club was closed on Monday and Tuesday), since those things are pretty indestructible, but there was only one thing to do: I got in the rental car, came home, loaded up one of my own JBLs, and got back to set it up fifteen minutes before we we were supposed to open. This still left us with the tasks of setting up the downstairs and cleaning up the coat check area, but all was ready on the dot of 9.

Though we were ready to go at the appointed time, it still took a while for things to take off. At 10.30 I was wondering where the hell everybody was, but by 11.30 we had a solid dancefloor. Neonbunny played a great set of harder electro to an unfortunately mostly empty room, and when Baron von Luxxury and Johnatron came on after Lord Kook they too had moments when the dancefloor seemed to thin out. This seemed to be another big difference from the first FSLD, when the dance floor was packed the entire time, though we also had a lot more in and out traffic this time as well. I was scheduled to go on at 2.00 when the Baron and Johnatron came off, but the dance floor energy was fragile enough that I decided it needed a more confident and able guide, and turned things over to Lord Kook again.

During a smoke break outside the Baron and I had a long conversation about disco music (broadly defined), and though our tastes run in somewhat different directions, we do share an interest in the social/cultural implications of the disco experience. This, along with a conversation I had with a gentleman at the end of night at the coat check, really made me put some thought into what I would like to accomplish with this night. He seemed to be a Deco regular who decided to come check out the party; in kidding tones he said he was suprised at the way the upstairs was set up "without glory holes." He then asked me when the next Starfucker was going to be, and I told him that it was done as a regular night, but would be back for Pride (taking over our fourth Friday, in fact).

What these conversations did was make me realize that, though we don't have a lot of the features you would associate with a gay night, like go-go boys, baby oil wrestling, wet jockstrap contests, or glory holes, I am more interested in the possibility of creating a night that, by virtue of the music that was played and the energy that was put forth, had a crossover appeal that could bring all kinds of people together. Sure it's important to me that our emphasis is on "a dance party for queers and their friends," but I want the friends as much as the queers. Something I realized later was that, despite having a sign on the door that advertised the night as exactly that, there were many non-queers who came through the door and hung out anyway. To me, that epitomizes the disco spirit; something that's associated with queers, but is also about openness and respect for everybody. I know we could get more gay guys to show up if we had go-gos or some kind of performance to appeal to prurient interests, but the moment we begin to do those sorts of things, I think we'll also begin to lose that crossover crowd. It's important to me that we don't do that because I do have this idea that, if club nights are about creating culture, I want to create something that enables people to transcend the barriers that exist between us, rather than something that closes us off in an insular world.

FSLD is pretty clearly going to be a work in progress for a while; aside from the abstract philosophical issues that need to be considered, there are very practical matters as well, like how to get more people through the door before 10PM (I'm open to any suggestions you all might have in that regard), working out the timing of the DJs for the different phases of the night, and what we can do to bump everything up a notch. I think there's a lot of room for us to grow, but as long as we can keep a steady crowd coming for the next few months, I also think there's the potential to do something we can really be proud of.

Upcoming Event: Fuck Shit, Let's Dance This Friday at Deco Lounge!

Yes kids, it's been a month since the premiere of Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! Last month we had torrential rains, cold, and yet still managed to have a crazy crowd of over 130 dancing away to electro bangers from DJ6 and Lord Kook, so this Friday we hope it will be even bigger and crazier. Here's our line-up:

Neonbunny - our good friend from Bunny Jam, Faerie Freedom Village, and Further Confusion (I think he might be the only person associated with that event who will still speak with me) will be opening with a set of the crazy electro he's known for.

Resident Lord Kook will come on around 10.30, and this month has not only created our visuals, but also has a special remix of a Ben Mono track that he will premiere.

And then there's our headliners, Baron von Luxxury and Johnatron on a tag-team disco workout. Both have been producing and remixing tracks left and right, so we're hoping for a night of music you won't hear anywhere else!

And, if things are still going strong at 2.00AM, I might even hop on the decks for a little dark electrotech to finish off the night.

Here's the deets:

Fuck Shit, Let's Dance!
Deco Lounge, Larkin x Turk
9PM - 3AM
FREE before 10, $5 afterwards
Jaeger Shots, Vodka Tonics, and Bud Lite Specials!

http://myspace.com/clubfsld

Hope to see you all there!

Thanks to Everyone for a Smashing Debut of Fuck Shit, Let's Dance!

On Friday evening Lord Kook and I were seriously worried about how well the debut of Fuck Shit, Let's Dance would go over. We'd done all the work you're supposed to do, we'd sent the emails, put up the posters, handed out flyers left and right, even gotten the MySpace page up and running, but then came the rain. Driving up from San Jose on Friday afternoon, where I had to go to pick up Lord Kook after another gig he'd played on Thursday night (more on that later), I resolved myself to the idea that if we just had a few friends turn out, had some drinks and played some music, that would be fine. I was ready to pay the DJs and everyone out of my own pocket, just to make sure that everyone was covered for the night.

Well, who would have thought that we could get 130 people to show up on one of the worst nights, weather-wise, that we've had in weeks? At one point I looked in on the dance floor during DJ6's set and could only think "wow, this is my happening and it kind of freaks me out." Boys and girls, gay, straight, and everything in between, were shaking their asses with an intensity like I have not seen at any Deco event previously. Many friends were in attendance, but there were also many people I didn't know, so I guess we must have done an OK job of getting the word out.

So I owe special shout-outs to members of the local crews who came out and supported us: Kitten, Randerella, Neon, and a whole bunch of other fun folks from Comfort and Joy; Jeff, Gary and Sparky from Drunk and Horny; Ken Vulsion and DJ Pee Play from Honey Sound System; iii for providing us with a DVD of awesome visuals; DJ Candy from Bender; and Alex and DJ Donimo from Heat. And of course, there was the FSLD crew, with DJ Neco D helping out as our coat check girl, and Scooter on the door. Huge thanks to everyone for coming out, it was an awesome, awesome night and we're looking forward to our next installment on February 22nd with our guests Baron von Luxxury and Johnatron tag-teaming, and Aaron Neonbunny opening. It'll be a night of crazy, crazy electro, and this time maybe it won't rain!

Upcoming Event: Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! Friday, January 25 2008

Last night the boyfriend and I plastered the Castro with flyers for the debut of our club night at Deco Lounge, Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! Though we've gone back and forth over the flyer design, I'm particularly pleased with the way our logo stands out among the other flyers posted around; we still seem to be the only promoters in the gay scene who don't feel it's necessary to put an image of a guy on our promo materials, but we do have horses rampant, as they say in heraldic circles, so I'm sure that counts for something.

As for the details:

Fuck Shit, Let's Dance!
Friday, January 25
Deco Lounge, Turk @Larkin
9PM - 3AM (and maybe a tad later if it's really bumpin')
FREE before 10, $5 afterwards

DJs: Pup (yours truly) at the opening, Lord Kook (the boyfriend) as resident, and DJ6 (Lucky Pierre, Bender), laying down electro techno minimal disco-punk grooves for your boogie pleasure. We may not have a show, wet jockstrap contest, or go-go boys, but we will do our best to make sure that you dance your ass off.

BTW, if you're on myspace, hit the link in the first paragraph to see our profile and become our friend.

Fuck Shit, Let's Dance!

Event Review: Saturday Night in the Loin: White Walls Gallery, Chrome, Joystick, Bearracuda

After being up until almost 4AM following Bender at The Transfer on Friday Night, and looking forward to a late night at Honey Sound System's Mineshaft party, the boyfriend and I decided we'd have an easy night of bar tours and flyer distribution for Fuck Shit, Let's Dance. Our agenda had been to head to Chrome at the Gangplank and then walk up to Joystick at The Cinch. However, things being what they are, I managed to have a buzz-killing mishap, and instead of hanging out in bars we wound up perusing art and going into the bear cave at Bearracuda.

First, my mishap; we were desperately trying to flag down a cab on Market Street at 9.30 when we thought we spotted one across the street by Cafe Flore - but just because cabs have their lights on doesn't mean they're available, as we found out several times during the evening. We were running across Market to try and flag this cab when I lost my balance and fell full force on my right shoulder in front of the Noe and Market F-car stop. It was so painful that I was unable to move my arm for several minutes, and most of my attention for the rest of the evening was diverted wondering whether I had broken something. At the very least, it had wounded my ego, and I spent a lot of time rubbing the warm knot in my trapezius and feeling like a doofus.

We arrived at The Gangplank around 9.40; a couple older, morose-looking guys were standing around outside smoking cigarettes, and when we peeked through the door there were only a couple local denizens at the bar, so we decided to check out the gallery show next door at The White Walls gallery.

Wow. I have not seen a show of new artists like this in along time, nor have I seen so many things that I would happily hang on my walls that are so reasonably priced (most pieces averaged around $500 - $1000, and the ones that were more were definitely worth it in terms of both materials and artistic vision). Though the show features at least a dozen artists, there was a very interesting cohesion of vision that I would describe as "dream-like" or psychedelic. Since this was the opening I assume that the show will be up on their site in the next few days, so you should hit the link or go by and have a look for yourself.

We looked back into the Gangplank a little after ten; same people. We went to the back and found the DJ set-up, and a B-52s track was spinning on the turntable, so presumably the party had started. However, we didn't feel like hanging out long enough to be sure. I double-checked the flyer just now, and it definitely says that the party starts at 9PM. Maybe that was a misprint, but if I show up at a bar at 9PM, when the flyer says things are supposed to start, and what I wind up hearing is The B-52s rather than the "hard rock" described on the flyer, my tendency is go elsewhere. So, in this case we didn't even stay long enough to have a drink, turned on our heels and headed to Joystick at The Cinch.

Joystick is a cute idea; console video games, anime, and 80s music. It's also a nice bar, and so we were pretty enthusiastic about it. But, after a couple rounds of Soul Caliber II and Pac-Man and two drinks, there didn't really seem to be that much going on to keep us there. I think the problem is that what makes this night distinctive, the video games, are also what suck the energy out of it; though I enjoy watching the boyfriend drive swords through his enemies as much as the next guy, it's not the kind of thing that I could spend a whole night at a bar doing. In fact, I associate video games in bars with being bored and feeling awkward, so it's hard to think about that as the whole focus of my night out.

We left around 11.00 and found ourselves wondering what to do with ourselves; I was in too much pain to contemplate really partying, nor did either of us feel like any major expenditure of energy or cash - for a moment we discussed going to The Show at The EndUp, but the boyfriend felt that it was a bit too "heftig" for his mood. Since we were already walking down Polk we decided to check in and see what was happening at Deco.

We hesitated for a moment when we saw the sign "Bearracuda $5" on the door. I've made fun of this event in the past based almost purely on that groan-inducing pun of a name, and I continue to have issues with the way that gay events segregate their audiences based on body types, as well as the somewhat reactionary nature of "bear culture," but we figured, what the hell, let's check it out.

Bearracuda is currently Deco's most successful night, and when we arrived there was a sizeable crowd in attendance and plenty of eats (pop tarts, jalapeno poppers, cheez doodles, corn dogs, etc.) laid out on the pool table. We immediately ran into our friend Matt and several of his friends, and wound up having a pretty pleasant couple drinks with them. It's funny, being in an environment where I expected absolutely nothing made for a very enjoyable experience. It was "hard rock night," and this time the DJs actually delivered; Jon Ginoli of Pansy Division was on the slate to spin, and had it not been for my increasing need put some ice on my shoulder, I think we would have stayed later just to hear what he played. Bearracuda is obviously much more of a socializing and pick-up scene than it is a dance night, and the crowd was pretty friendly to a couple of distinctive non-bears such as ourselves. It's not an event I would necessarily go out of my way to attend, as it's not really my scene, but if you're a bear, or into bears, this is obviously the place to be, and if your not either of those things, it's a decent place to hang out and have a couple drinks as long as you don't mind paying a $5 cover to do so.

By time we got home around midnight my shoulder was so messed up that I couldn't get the keys out of my pocket, much less turn them in the lock. It was a pretty abbreviated Saturday night, but even if I hadn't sustained a nearly crippling injury early in the evening I don't know that we would have had much better luck with our bar tour. For reasons I don't quite understand Saturday continues to be the weak night on the calendar for going out unless you're into the big club scene, or perhaps it's just that, after most of my Friday nights, I'm just not feeling it as much on Saturday.

Event Review: Lucky Pierre at The Stud

After two extremely busy weekends, the boyfriend and I decided to take it easy this past weekend and do something different, like go to a movie on Saturday night (The Golden Compass, mainly because the boyfriend wanted to see the talking polar bears). After the movie we did stop into Drunk and Horny for a sociable drink with Big Red, Sparky, and Gary, but our real going-out experience for the weekend was Lucky Pierre on Friday night where we found a very fun dancefloor and the boyfriend got a little adventurous playing strip poker.

It's always satisfying to see a club night that you like grow and develop; we first checked into the Lucky Pierre scene back in August on the occasion of their six month anniversary, and in the past four months it feels like the scene has definitely grown. DJ6 and Donimo continue to spin crowd-pleasing electro and indietronica (including original remixes, something you almost never hear at other clubs), and this seems to be bringing in not only a diverse and pretty cute crowd of alternaboys, but also a fair number of sexually diverse clubbers who simply seem to be looking for a good time on a Friday night.

In addition to a fun dancefloor, Lucky Pierre also offers some of the "playful" hanky-panky for which SoMa bars in general, and The Stud in particular, have been infamous for over the years. This time the boyfriend got in on a round of Artemis Chase's strip poker, and while I won't say just how far the boys stripped - I think there are some laws about that, or something - I certainly got to see a loin-stirring variety of physical proportions and attributes. It's even better when you realize that most of these guys have never played a hand of five card stud in their lives, leaving it up to Artemis to determine the winners and losers of each hand. The boyfriend didn't last very long through the poker playing, but he was extremely popular afterwards.

Lucky Pierre shows signs of only getting better with age, and it's certainly your best bet for a $5 cover on a first Friday. Keep in mind that these are also the same guys who bring you Heat on third Fridays at The Stud, and that DJ6 and friends are behind Bender on second Fridays at The Transfer. There, something to do every Friday of the month leading up to Fuck Shit, Let's Dance at Deco.

The Identity Politics of Gay Club Flyers

For the past couple weeks the boyfriend and I have been working on a logo/flyer for Fuck Shit, Let's Dance! (a version of which can be seen here: myspace.com/clubfsld). One of the first things we decided was that, contrary to just about every other gay club night (Honey Sound System being the only exception that comes to mind), we weren't going to put a guy on the flyer. This may be promotional suicide, as it remains to be seen whether or not gay guys will go out to a party that doesn't overtly advertise sex, or the possibility of it, but choosing what kind of guy to put on the flyer is so stepping into the minefield of gay identity politics that we didn't want to deal with it, and we really wanted to communicate the idea that our night is about music and dancing more than picking up (though if you want to get into something in Deco's basement we'll be happy to provide the soundtrack).

Here's what I mean about "identity politics:" pick up any gay club flyer and check out the guy on it. Chances are he will be a) a bear b) a muscle boy c) a 70s mustache queen d) an "alternaboy". Each of these options is designed to communicate not just what kind of guy you might be able to pick up at this party, but also a whole set of associations that you can identify with yourself. In our own particular bubble each of these sets of associations is usually opposition to the others; if you're a bear you won't identify with, or necessarily want to associate with, shaved muscle boys, while if you're an "alternaboy" you won't want to hang out with muscle queens either. Meanwhile, mustache man tells us that this party wants to associate itself with some nostalgic gay identity from the 70s, which might be kind of a turn-off for the muscle boys. Etc., etc., etc.

When I look at gay club flyers in San Francisco I see a scene that has factionlized around body types and whatever identity associations come with them. This really bothers me, as I can remember a time when clubbing was about bringing the community together, without fetishizing body type or facial hair or anything else; we all just wanted to get together, dance, flirt, maybe pick up, and have a good time. I place the blame for the current situation on circuit promoters like Gus Bean, who played the biggest role in associating one body type with a particular party scene, but I also think some responsibility must be shared by those who have taken a reactionary stance against circuit parties and created their own factions.

When we started talking about doing Fuck Shit, Let's Dance!, this is exactly what we wanted to get away from; that's even what the name means. Fuck all this shit about what body type you are, whether you're hairy or smooth, whether you identify with this group or that one, whether you're queer, gay, post-gay, lesbian, baby dyke, bisexual, omnisexual, straight, het, alterna, mainstream, whatever - let's just get together and dance and have fun! One of our original ideas for the flyer was a set of infographics that would depict a bear, a guy, a girl, a heart, whatever else we could find to communicate the idea that this party was for everybody, but it got a little complicated and busy, so we decided instead to go with something that would communicate the idea that it was all about the music.

So that's our utopian idea; the boyfriend and I both really believe that dancing together brings people together, and that's what we hope we'll achieve with Fuck Shit, Let's Dance!