Event Review: Honey Soundsystem 4 Year Anniversary at Holy Cow

I signed a lease on a shared space in the Castro last Saturday, and ever since then it's been a whirlwind of moving, cleaning, setting up, and dreaming of the future. There have also been some moments of pure anxiety, as I contemplate the ratio of expenses to savings and how long the latter will last without a job to replenish it. It's a good thing, then, that the Honey Soundsystem 4 Year Anniversary party at Holy Cow came around at just the right moment to remind me of why I moved back to San Francisco.

Honey Soundsystem first came to my attention by way of Marke B. of the Bay Guardian's Super Ego column. We had been having an email exchange about techno in the SF music scene, and he told me I should check out this DJ PeePlay and his comrade-in-arms Jason Kendig. And then, just about the same time, Kitten Calfee of Comfort and Joy told me he'd been contacted by this group calling themselves Honey Soundsystem about playing at an Afterglow party. Did I know anything about them, and could I recommend them? And that, as they say, is how history is made.

Checking out the posters for past Honey events at the party reminded me of what I have always appreciated about them: they focus on the music and creating a big open vibe for everyone, rather than playing to the typical marketing ploys, usually based on identity stereotypes, of other club promoters. Honey Soundsystem has never put a guy on their flyers, never proclaimed that their parties are for this type, or that one, but for everyone. You could see the effect of this at the party - there were club kids and "mature elders" like me, bears and twinks, Asians and Latins, women and drag queens, all there because they wanted to go out and have a good time on the dancefloor with each other. Which brings me around to the music: while I have not always grooved on every musical orientation of Honey Soundsystem, these are guys who always care deeply about the music they play, and who go out of their way to use the music to create something that is a true expression of their ethos. You can go to any bar or club in the Castro and consume pre-digested pop dance pablum, but Honey Soundsystem will always feed your ears and your soul with something substantial and carefully cultivated.

On this particular night, the sound had a distinct acid/retro house feel, and as I danced for the first time in months, on a dance floor full of shiny happy people, I had a flashback to some of the great Sunday night parties of the past, like Pleasuredome at King Street Garage, or the tea dance at The End Up. Sunday night is always a special time in clubland, a time when those who have a different relation to the workweek come out and party, but it's also a night when you're not necessarily looking for the peak experience of a Friday or Saturday. In this case, Honey hit that sweet spot (oh man, I can't believe I wrote that), between uplifting and groovy that, for me, has always defined the essence of a good Sunday night out. I shook it loose for about two hours, had a nice conversation about the Hawaiian lifestyle with a couple of very friendly guys on the back porch, and re-connected with some old friends before I finally gave in to exhaustion and headed out the door around 12.30. At that point, the club was packed and there was a line that looked like something out of Satyricon stretching down the sidewalk, so I'm sure the festivities kept up well until last call.

Honey Sundays at Holy Cow is going onto my list of San Francisco Essentials, things you must do when you're in the city. And to PeePlay, Kendig, Robot Hustle, and Ken Vulsion, my thanks for reminding me of what makes this a great city, and why it's worth whatever it takes to be here. Long Live Honey!

Check out the weekly Honey Potcast for a taste of Honey and special guests.

Upcoming Event: Honey Sound System "SPKR" Benefit, March 12

My friend DJ Mermaid, Queen of Disco, claims Bobby Viteritti as her all-time favorite classic disco DJ, so, thanks to the boys of Honey Sound System, you can go kick it old school and contribute to the worthy project of the LGBT Historical Society at the same time.

Honey Soundsystem, in association with San Francisco’s GLBT Historical Society, present:

SPEAKER
An amplified history of San Francisco’s queer dance floors
Saturday March 12, 2011
Public Works
Music by Honey Sound System, Steve Fabu, and Bobby Viteritti
$50 VIP Catered Reception // 8pm - 10pm
Public Event & Gallery Show Opening // 10pm - 3am
Tickets Available Here

Upcoming Event: Honey Sound System Hard Energy and New Year's Eve

The Honey Sound System boys are holding down Sunday nights at Paradise Lounge with some cool stuff lined up for the rest of this month, plus an All Night Disco Party for New Year's Eve!

dec 7 Honey Sundays w/ Residents FREE w/ Drink Special at Paradise Lounge (loft upstairs)

dec 14 Honey Sundays + Chilidog Present Horsemeat Disco at Paradise Lounge (loft upstairs)

dec 21 Honey Sundays w/ Jeffrey Sfire (Ghostly International)

dec 28 Honey Sundays w/ DJ SPUN (rong music)

NEW YEARS EVE:

"LOVE UNLIMITED"
ALL NITE DISCO PARTY

DJ Spun (Rong Music/ NYC)
Cosmo Vitelli (I'm A Cliche/ Paris)
Conor (Ferrari)
The Honey Soundsystem DJs
Derek Love (Gemini Disco)
BT Magnum (Beat Electric)
Primo (Ferrari)
Pickpocket (Donuts Disco)
Bus Station John (Tubesteak Connection)
Jon Blunck + Guillermo (Sweater Funk)

Visuals by AC
Hosted by Christopher McVick

Paradise Lounge
1501 Folsom
415.252.5018
paradisesf.com

9:00 PM - 9:00 AM

$15 Limited Advance Tickets
$20 Tickets after 12/15/08
$30 Day of Show

Complimentary Champagne Toast at Midnight
Party Favors
4 AM Breakfast

Bottle Service Packages Available

Event Review: Honey Soundsystem Presents Hard Energy at Paradise Lounge

Honey Soundsystem has taken on the rather considerable challenge of presenting a new weekly, on a Sunday, in a new space, but from what I saw this past Sunday, they're as able to meet the challenge as anyone.

The boyfriend and I showed up with our friend Toka just as they opened the doors at 8PM and stayed for a three-drink conversation. Kendig was first up on the decks, and though his set was way too retro disco for my taste (especially after he teased us with some very cool contemporary tech at the beginning and middle of his set), he gave the space a comfortable Sunday evening t-dance vibe. I was more into the set PeePlay laid out after him, since he mixed in more contemporary sounds and made me feel like I was out for a night of grooving and dancing rather than an episode of the gay music history channel. He came on just as the crowd began to arrive around 10PM, and I saw several dancers enthusiastically take to the floor during his set, with the promise of more to come.

Paradise Lounge just recently re-opened, and PeePlay told me that they had originally planned on using the upstairs, rather than downstairs, space. I personally couldn't see anything at all wrong with what they had on the opening night since there was a good-sized dance floor, a cozy space off the dancefloor with banquette seating where you could chill and have a conversation, and lots of little tables and stools in the bar and dance areas where you could perch or have more intimate interactions. Nonetheless, PeePlay assured me that the upstairs space would be even cooler, and I know I'll go back again to check it out. There's not been much to do on Sunday evenings for a while, at least nothing that has the kind of cool alternative flair that Honey Soundsystem brings, so I hope the boys will be able to build Hard Energy into a Sunday evening destination.

Upcoming Event: Bloodpact at SoMarts, Halloween Friday October 31

Just got this from Lord Kook for all you homos looking for something to do on Halloween . . . a superfun looking all-ages (18+) gay party at SoMarts!

super excited about this one, folks! it's gonna be pretty rad... the HSS kids are holding it down with their sister club from LA, along with some (the kind where the walls start to breathe after a while) with some crazy electro / tech-house / kitchen-sink-shit from me, Liam Shy, Digital Paradigm, and Richard Oh?!. this is a homo-friendly party (duh), it's 18+ (bring yer little brother!), there's a full bar for those of us old enough to swerve legally, and the whole thing goes till 5am! it's almost enough to make me forget about what a mess the city made of halloween!

no, wait, it totally is.

more info as it comes...

Music on the Playa

If there's one definitive thing I can say about music on the playa this year, it's that I've now heard all the James Brown I need to hear for an entire year. Every day, several times a day, I would hear The Godfather testifying from somewhere, and even saw him being towed in effigy around the Esplanade behind a bicycle one day.

The aural omipresence of James Brown was an indication of what seemed like the general musical mood; breaks and big electronic thumps certainly had their place at 10 O'clock and along the Esplanade, but when you got into the small soundsystems the vibe was much more about easygoing party pop 'n' rock. On Thursday night, trying to find my way among various pathways of the mind, the dance party at a camp down Allante made me think I had stumbled back into Drunk and Horny, while during the day I had happened into a Rolling Stones party at the Solar Snow Cone camp.

There were of course plenty of big whoo-whoo parties with electronic music, but distance and the difficulty of getting around on bikes due to the sand traps kept me from really going out to the big dance camps like Opulent Temple. There's something about the scale of those camps, too, that I find a bit off-putting; if being around a thousand fucked-up people at 1015 seems a little much to deal with, try adding a couple thousand more people to the mix. Just think about the amount of dust generated by all those stomping feet.

My best musical moment came on Friday at the Deep End, where Worthy of Dirty Bird fame had the opening set. I had been up for a pretty intense twenty-four hours at that point, and had become even more doggie than usual, but Worthy's set sparked me back to life for a few more hours. After that, though, I was basically done with dancing at Burning Man; I checked into the Honey Sound System party at Comfort and Joy after midnight that night, deemed it too hot and reeking of sweaty faeries for my physical condition, and soon after was passed out in my tent (J, though, later told me that Pee Play laid out a fun set).

I did play a set at Camp Zoom on Wednesday night, but it was Lord Kook who can lay claim to two truly awesome sets, both at Glitter Camp on the Esplanade. On Tuesday, after struggling through a dust storm on Monday and then spending all day Tuesday working on our camp art project, we were ready to party, and so, it seemed, was everyone else there. LK held that space for a solid two hours that night, drawing in lots of wandering gay boys, including Pee Play, who was drawn in by the whoops that went up when LK dropped Lindstrom's "Another Station." LK returned on Wednesday to play a tag-team with Jovino that lasted a full five hours, until both of them were just too exhausted to play another track.

On the Burning Man census this year there was a section to check off the things that brought you to the playa, and one of them was "the music scene." I ticked this off as one of my attractions, but I really think that the version of the Burning Man music scene that I experience here, through Opulent Temple, Space Cowboys, and the host of fundraisers is a lot more interesting for me than what I've encountered on the playa. In many ways, the sound of the playa has become pretty predictable, and the scale of the event makes it both very difficult to find things that are more off the beaten path, and to get to them when you do find them. I know, though, that all these things move in cycles, and just as breaks superseded trance as the sound of the playa, something else new will eventually come along; I just wish it would hurry up and happen already.

Upcoming Event: Hercules and Love Affair with Honey Sound System at Mezzanine, Saturday July 26

It probably won't get any gayer than this. Hercules and Love Affair come to Mezzanine as an actual live band this time, with a live acid house set from Steve Summers, sets from DFA's Banjeee Boys and Girls from NYC, performances from Chris McVick and Ambrosia Salad, and DJ sets from Omar and Honey Sound System on the main floor and upstairs lounge all night long.

10PM - "late"
$16 presales at Urban Outfitters and Mezzanine Box Office, $20 at the door
Mezzanine, 444 Jessie Street x Mint

Event Review: Honey Soundsystem Presents Stefan Goldmann at Club Six

Honey Soundsystem’s party with Berlin producer Stefan Goldmann at Club Six this past Friday was a bit disappointing, attendance-wise, for reasons I suspect having to do with it being in competition with Gentleman’s Techno as well as the location of Club Six, but the music was stellar, in a space that was almost perfect for evoking the vibe of a Berlin techno club.

The boyfriend and I arrived around 10, during Ken Vulsion’s set. He laid down some solid four-on-the-floor acid tracks, including some stuff that I suspect was first issued a decade ago, but it still sounded fresh and engaging, and was some of the best techno I’ve heard since his set at FSLD last month. Unfortunately, I don’t think there were more than fifty people in the club at the time to hear it. When Jason Kendig came on around midnight and dug into some deeper, Detroit-style techno, there was a small dancefloor of about twenty or thirty people, but not nearly the kind of crowd I had expected.

Some of the issue may have been with the party taking place at Club 6, which does not have the best reputation in the club world, mainly because it’s on Sixth Street, and is generally unfamiliar territory for many of the gay boys who make up the core of the Honey Soundsystem constituency. I hadn’t been there for several years myself, but the downstairs space was just about perfect, with plenty of lounge areas off the main dancefloor and a really fabulous sound system. There was the matter of the $8 well drinks, but I would be happy to check out more parties there.

The boyfriend and I took off around 12.30 after getting a text from our friend J, who we met up with over at The Stud, so we missed out on Goldmann’s set. I’m hoping that more folks showed up after we left, but when we got over to The Stud, which was hosting Lucky Pierre, we found a small crowd there as well, leading us into endless speculation about the state of the club scene. It does seem that there is a much smaller audience for DJ-oriented nights these days, such that if you have two techno events on the same night, one winds up cannibalizing the audience for the other. But, in general, it also seems that that the comment made by Joshua J in a conversation we had several weeks ago holds true, that people generally go to a party not necessarily because of the music, but because of the kind of scene they expect to find there, and when it comes to gay club nights, where they expect to find the kinds of guys that they are into. Any night that focuses on bringing in specific kinds of guys, whether they’re muscle boys, bears, Asians, or whatever, will always have a higher turnout, regardless of the music, than music-focused nights, because they offer a well-defined product for their consumers. Music-focused nights, on the other hand, are about appealing to a different expectation of experience, one that’s harder to sell to a sex-focused market. If HSS had advertised “hot go-go boys” or "baby oil wrestling" for the Stefan Goldmann party I have no doubt that they would have attracted more of a gay clientele, but that would have also shifted the focus of the event and made the music something that was simply there to support the prospect of sex. If focusing on the music means getting a smaller, but more enthusiastic, crowd, then I think that’s an acceptable trade-off, and I hope that groups like Honey Soundsystem will continue to bring us more music-focused events despite the somewhat discouraging attendance numbers.

Upcoming Event: Timo Maas with Hercules & Love Affair and Honey Sound System at Mezzanine, Friday April 11

From some of the flyers I've seen you'd think that Hercules & Love Affair were the headliners for this event, and while I'm certain they hold higher stature in the minds of some than Timo Maas, I think it would be a serious mistake to underestimate just what the man will be bringing to Mezzanine on Friday night. It's been a while since I heard anything new from Timo, but "Pictures," with Brian Molko of Placebo, was one of the scariest, sexiest tracks I've heard in a long while, and the fact that it was about boy-on-boy action (no matter how depraved), made it stand leagues above the pop dross being spun by his contemporaries, and "First Day," remixed by the likes of Adam Freeland, gave dance floors a much-needed dose of revolutionary sentiment. "Music for the Maases 2," arguably his best dance mix, shows a DJ who is willing to tread into darker, harder territory than label mate Paul Oakenfold, and I've anxiously been waiting for him to appear someplace other than Ruby Skye for a long time. So, get there early to check out Hercules & Love Affair, go get gay groovy with the boys from Honey Sound System upstairs, but don't miss out on what is sure to be an interesting set from Timo Maas.

Upcoming Event: Honey Sound System Presents Dancer from the Dance, Sunday, March 23

This Sunday Honey Sound System will present "Dancer From the Dance: A Recreation" at 103 Harriet Street (yep, that's the downstairs lounge of 1015) from 9PM to 3AM, with special guests Jeffry Sfire (Ghostly International NYC) and Steve Summers (Confused House SF). I had a pretty good time at their last Sunday night disco event back in December, so if you're into a recreation of the poppers-fueled house/disco scene of late 70s New York, you should definitely check it out.

Event Review: The Rod at Deco

There aren't many parties that lead to the boyfriend and I having a passionate debate about the meaning of parties and the scene, but that's exactly what happened Friday night at The Rod at Deco: while everybody else was in the front room cheering on the wet jockstrap contest, there we were in the back room by the pool table, throwing around words like Gesamtkunstwerk and pondering the necessity of gay men connecting with their own history in a way that, while troublesome in its nostalgic aspects, also gives them a sense of their possibility in the present. On the boyfriend's side he thought I needed to lighten up a bit, since the evidence was all around us that people were there having a good time and connecting with something, and I had to concede that, at times, my contrarian nature, suspicious as it is of all things popular and fun in the tradition of Theodor Adorno, clouds my critical perspective. On the other hand, my position remains that the party scene is about creating culture, and if we are going to take a critical perspective upon it, it can't be from the perspective of whether or not people are simply having a good time - after all, people have great times at circuit parties, which are the target of numerous dismissive comments within the "alternative" gay community - but it must be from the perspective of the kind of culture that is being created and the meaning of that for those participating in it. And from that perspective I continue to have issues with the culture being created by The Rod, because, to me, it feels like a step backwards in the evolution of San Francisco's gay culture.

The Short Version of the Review - Is It Fun?

I am perfectly willing to accept that this point about the place of The Rod in San Francisco's gay culture probably doesn't really matter to anybody else but me, so here I'll give you the the standard nightlife magazine review of The Rod and you can continue on with the rest of your online reading without further ado. The Rod, on the 2nd Friday of the month at Deco Lounge, is among San Francisco's longest-running gay nights, having celebrated its 3rd Anniversary this past Friday. DJ Bus Station John, who has advanced leagues as a DJ since I first heard him spin a couple years ago at Aunt Charlie's place, where he continues with his very popular Tubesteak Connection, has one of the best collections of rare-groove disco, Hi-NRG, and original New York electro ever assembled. If you closed your eyes during one of his sets you could easily imagine yourself back in a San Francisco disco or bathhouse circa 1979, and if you opened your eyes the photocopies and projections of vintage porn, featuring pre-steroid swollen guys with feathered hair (many of whom look exactly like the guys who gave me boners when I was in high school) might convince you that you are really there. The Rod is an almost perfect emulation of a particular moment in gay history, and if the attendees were sporting more polyester and facial hair you might think that the door to Deco was really a time portal.

That The Rod has been going on for three years should be enough testament to its popularity, and on any given Friday night you can rest assured of a sizable crowd of guys and a few girls as well. Since it's a Tenderloin bar the crowd is definitely scruffier and more alternative than you would find at any given Castro bar, and I suspect that many of the guys competing for the $100 prize in the wet jockstrap contest might otherwise be trying to get that sum by walking the beat of Polk Street. To my eye the crowd skews a bit older, since the music attracts many guys who probably heard it when the grooves were fresh off the cutting press, but I also saw a few twenty-somethings of my acquaintance. Though I've usually seen a few guys boogieing in front of the DJ stand, The Rod doesn't really come across as a big dance party, but more of a mingling scene, and the music provides a great background for the naughtiness that people get up to later. We noticed that, after the patio closed and the wet jockstrap contest began the crowd seemed thinner, or perhaps just more concentrated in two rooms, one where they were watching the contest, and another where they were carrying through on the instincts it aroused. All in all, if you are looking for a laid-back, sexy (for a late-70s value of sexy) night out with a crowd that isn't too precious or grotesquely buffed, and your main goal is some sleazy fun, then The Rod is a great choice.

I Come Not to Bury Bus Station John, But to Praise Him

And what, you might ask, is wrong with a party simply being a good time? In the present moment of the event itself, nothing - people come and have a good time, connect with each other, and maybe leave with a feeling of satisfaction in whatever form they were seeking. But the success of The Rod is also, in my mind, what opens it up to a higher level of examination. I admire Bus Station John for having created a total aesthetic, for the way he combines sound and visuals to bring forth a vibe that others connect with. Despite the boyfriend's protestations that this is a pretentious way to put it, I think Bus Station John has created a work of art that is distinctive in the San Francisco gay scene, and that The Rod is an example of someone really creating culture. And this is where I believe that the critical perspective comes into play, where its legitimate to ask, what kind of culture is being created, what ideas are being put forth in this creation? As I pointed out before, many of my friends and acquaintances have no problems with negative criticism of the culture being created by other promoters, such as Gus Presents, when that culture is not part of their own aesthetic, when the ideas they see being put forth are in contrast to their own. Things get trickier when the object of critical perspective is within one's own cultural milieu. I will admit that in my previous review of The Rod, I was bitchier than I needed to be, since I thought that tone was necessary to make my voice be heard. But since then I have softened my stance a little bit - I have heard disco played under circumstances when it felt right and was enjoyable, and I have absolutely nothing against the man himself; though I don't know him personally, many other folks of my acquaintance do, and by all accounts he is a really great guy who's heart in the right place. In fact, I am quite sympathetic to the intention that I think is behind Bus Station John's nights, I just disagree with the way he is materializing that intention. I hope that a greater degree of respect for that intention is evident in this review; if I did not feel some respect for the ideas that someone was putting forth, believe me, I would not be spending my Saturday afternoon in front of this laptop, hoping that my perspective might, in some way, help further those ideas.

Disco of the Past, Disco of the Present

My main issue with The Rod is its nostalgic foundations. In an interview with the Bay Guardian, in which he was asked about his take on the current gay club scene, Bus Station John said " . . . I've retreated to the past, where I dwell happily with my pre-AIDS, pre-crack, pre-MTV, pre-PNP vinyl collection. Greetings from 1981! Visitors are welcome." Given the rather bland state of the gay club scene over the past few years, with its endless rotation of the same DJs playing the same music to the same crowd of guys over and over gain, I can't blame Bus Station John for wanting to recreate the vibe of an earlier time, when the scene was more about joy and sex and fun than meth and money (though it seems contradictory to be anti-PNP and have a giant cut-out of a bottle of poppers in the front window of the club). And I can even understand wanting to return to music that has, at its core, genuine warmth and emotion after listening to the hours of anthem tribal dreck that is spun at most circuit events. But, even with the best of intentions behind it, this approach is essentially reactionary and regressive, and says that the best solution to the "ennervating" (to use Bus Station John's term) state of current gay club culture is to retreat to the past.

I can't deny that there is a legitimate place for disco in current gay club culture, and I've found myself increasingly drawn to music from contemporary producers like Justus Koehnecke, Prinz Thomas, and Lindstrom that updates the disco sound with modern production. There is a looseness in its composition and upbeat hipness in its sonic palette that can't help but bring a twitch to my hips and a smile to my face. And, thanks to the recent Mineshaft party from Honey Sound System, as well as Bus Station John's set at the recent Paradise All-Night Disco Extravaganza, I've found a way to connect with it in the club experience. I think that, periodically, the gay club scene needs to re-connect with its roots as a means of rediscovering its values, and in this regard I have no problem with the occasional disco party (as long as nobody plays Donna Summer or Gloria Gaynor, that is). My problem is when the disco party is seen as the height of gay club culture, carrying with it the statement that there is nothing of value at all to be found in contemporary culture, when this plainly isn't so. I also worry that, in the context of creating culture, disco nostalgia keeps us from participating in the creation of a new cultural identity for ourselves. This is what I like most about parties like Lucky Pierre and those coming from the Honey Sound System; they are in touch with the past and recognize its importance, but are also actively engaged in using contemporary msuic and culture to create a new sense of gay identity. In fact, from things I see going on right now, I think 2008 might very well be a banner year for the San Francisco gay scene, one in which many groups come together to once again create a sense of excitment and joy about being a San Francisco queer. Looking back to the past will never really get us to that point, because once you step beyond the door of the time portal, your're right back where you started from.

Say No to Nostalgia, Say Yes Creating the New World

Nostalgia is a powerful impulse, and after the eight years of shit we've all lived through, it's no wonder that so many people, gay and straight, are looking back to the past, when things seemed easier, more fun, and certainly less dire (just think about all the 80s, disco, and "return to . . ." parties that have gone down over the past year). But, ultimately, what we have to deal with is the here and now, and nothing from the past will really solve our present problems. Looking back to the past may give us ideas about how to deal with the present, but it's up to us to put those ideas in a contemporary context. 1970s era disco might help us connect with a set of values, but that doesn't mean we need to precisely emulate that era, it means we need to create the disco of the 2000s. The Rod is a great place to go on every second Friday to have fun and reflect on the original disco era, but the moment you start thinking "yeah, it was all so really great back then, I wish we could go back" is the moment that you enter into bad faith with the present. Rather, you should be thinking "yeah, how do we bring this into the now, how do we create this feeling with contemporary music, images, fashion, and people?" Formulating the answers to that question should be the main task of the San Francisco gay scene over the next year, because when the elections happen in November, we need to be ready to make our contribution to the change that will ensue.

Upcoming Event: Honey Dog at the Transfer with Discodromo, Tuesday January 8

Honey Sound System is teaming up with the promoters of Chili Dog at the Transfer to present the dirty cosmic disco sounds of Italien producers Discodromo. Check out the Discodromo mix over at the Honey Sound System website.

FREE
9PM - 2AM
The Transfer, Church x Market

Year End Wrap-Up

I think that sometime this morning, after having a chocolate chip pancake, two sausage patties, and a cup of coffee, I finally got over my holiday hang-over. Thursday morning I was still bleary from one last evening of indulgence after helping the Drunk and Horny crew clear out of their ill-fated occupation of The Gingerbread House, and the weekend's rain and power loss mostly inspired me to stay home and huddle in front of the TV.

Actually, I'm a little disappointed in myself when I look back over the holiday festivities; I had a whole calendar of events that I wanted to check out, and yet most of my party time was spent inside private residences. I did make it out to French Kiss on the Sunday before Christmas, though it was obviously an off-night, and also found myself at The Transfer for part of DJ Kidd Sysko's set at Big Top, though it was also not quite what I had mind for the night. Aside from a social call at Lucky Pierre this past Friday those were the only club events I made it to over the full thirteen days I had off. There was also helping out with the Comfort and Joy Solstice and Afterglow parties, and of course Drunk and Horny New Year's Eve, but I can't really say that I partied at any of those events. Instead, the boyfriend and I hosted an orphan's Christmas at our place, enjoyed hanging out with Jeff and Gary and other members of the DnH crew after clearing out the Gingerbread House, and had quite a nice early morning of tuning our third-eyes when we got back from the impromptu NYE party that the guys generously held when their original plans fell through. This isn't to say that I didn't engage in some serious indulgence over the holidays, and, in fact, I let loose so much that some New Year's resolutions were made as a result.

Looking back over the year it seems that this was the year in which the party scene picked up a little energy, even though the continuing economic conditions of the city are making it increasingly difficult to re-capture the freewheeling party lifestyle that ruled back in the glorious pre-dot-com days. Several new parties, like Lucky Pierre and Frisco Disco, demonstrated that there is still an underground energy that people respond to, and Honey Sound System almost single-handedly revived the otherwise moribund gay dance scene. At the same time, there were some notable losses, like the demise of the How Weird Street Faire and the cancellation of Halloween in the Castro, and there are continuing issues around mixed use spaces in SoMa and the ability of the Entertainment Commission to keep our nightlife alive in the face of encroaching condominium development.

Even with the party scene picking up a bit, though, there remains the question of whether there are really enough people going out to support it. On many occasions I have gone out to an event to find it almost completely empty, leading one to wonder if we have enough of a party population to support more than a few club nights. Under these circumstances it's hard to muster much excitement for going out, since it's often a case of the same people, the same music, the same scene week after week, and there's nothing so discouraging as spending our hard-earned dollars for taxi rides, cover charges, and overpriced drinks (and all the bars seem to have raised their prices as of January 1) only to realize that the night we gambled on has turned out to be a fizzle.

Looking into the New Year I realize that these are the weeks of slack, the times when everybody hunkers down a bit and gathers their world around them rather than going out into it. My hope for this new year is that we will see a little more excitement return to our scene, and that I will feel a bit more anticipation for the approach of the weekend. I hope that reading this blog will help each of you find an adventure of your own, and I hope that the boyfriend and I will be able to show you a good time at Fuck Shit, Let's Dance. And finally, sometime this week let's all find a moment to raise a glass and say "So long, George Bush, and don't let the door hit your ass on the way out."

Event Review: Honey Sound System's Mineshaft Disco at 1015 Folsom

OK kids, I gotta be up front here: when an event involves the words "disco," "Sunday night," and "1015," I'll usually take a pass. However, being that those words were also accompanied by "Honey Sound System," I was determined to check out this party. When I walked out the door on Sunday night, unaccompanied by friends or boyfriend, and felt the drizzle on my face, I almost turned back around, and when I arrived at 103 Harriet Street at about 9.15 and was unable to find any sign that a party was going on, I was ready to ditch it once again. But, I had already spent cab fare to get there, so I decided to take a walk around the block in the hope that the doors would be open when I returned. Even though it was 9.40 when I was finally let in, I was ultimately glad that I stuck it out to attend the best event of the weekend.

There were problems with the doorman (Ken Vulsion let me and a couple other guys in as he was going out to grab a bite to eat since no doorman had showed up) and a mixer transplant had to be performed about a half hour after I arrived, but the HSS team made the basement of 1015 feel like a special warm, cozy space that made enduring these issues worthwhile. After walking into the dark entrance I spotted curtains of red and silver mylar forming a hallway to a flight of stairs leading down, and from below I could hear the music - it was like walking into a small, secret, underground space, even though it was in the basement of the biggest club in SoMa. In the space itself (which has a very cool round dance floor surrounded by booths and pulsating lights in the ceiling) the kids had put up a central display of packing boxes and record sleeves, along with some informational posters about the old Mindshaft club, and 1015's former existence as the infamous Sutro bathhouse. In another corner there was a memorial to Sylvester, whose death date was Monday, and all the table tops were decorated with more record sleeves and big plastic happy face whistles. My god, I thought, these guys have put together an actual theme!

There were only a couple other people in the club for the first half hour I was there, but by 11, which I had originally estimated as my departure time, it had picked up so much that I reconsidered. I saw several people I knew, and the crowd was really quite diverse, friendly, and fun. There were straight kids and gay kids, young guys and older, trannies and maybe even a couple muscle queens (it was certainly warm enough for shirts to come off, but maybe a little early), all getting down and smiling at one another on the dancefloor. More than any other events I've been to lately, HSS events seem to bring together a community of people who are interested in new experiences, new music (even if it is vintage), and meeting new people. It's the kind of vibe that I associate much more with raves than I do clubs, and I think it's a sign that these kids have tapped into a desire that many of us have for a scene that is about something more than body types, designer clothes, and music for the lowest common denominator.

As for the music - I danced to disco. Did you ever think I would write those words? The difference was that, in this case, I wasn't having to deal with the cheezy or the overly-familiar. It was during Jason Kendig's set that I found myself really listening to the music, and in his selections I heard the early days of house and the foundations of electro. I was suprised by some of the synth lines I heard, and how infrequently the tracks relied on overused disco devices like strings, horn sections, and warbling diva vocals. It was a much different tour through disco than what I have heard in the past, and it was enough to make me think that I need to look into this further.

Over the course of the evening I kept texting the boyfriend that he should get off the couch and come down, that the party was shaping up to be quite awesome, but he was firmly rooted in place, and so, by the time midnight rolled around, I knew that I needed to take off. As soon as I got home, though, I sent Pee Play an email saying that I hoped they would consider making this a monthly or semi-regular event. We sure could use use a little happy disco action in the community right now, and next time, I'll be better prepared to stay until the last track plays.

Upcoming Event: Honey Sound System Presents The Mineshaft, Sunday December 1

A couple weeks ago Ken Vulsion of Honey Sound System was telling the boyfriend and I about meeting John Hedges, aka Johnny Disco, the founder of Megatone Records, which itself was home to artists like Sylvester and Patrick Cowley. Mr. Disco recently moved to Palm Springs and bequeathed over 2000 classic disco singles, along with three boxes of stuff that included unreleased tracks still on the original tapes, to the HSS crew.

This Sunday the HSS boys are setting the wayback machine for 1978 and hosting a party at the former home of the Sutro Baths, where they hope to revive some of the hedonistic glory of Hedges' days as resident DJ at the Mineshaft club. Of course disco drives me crazy, but if there's a crew that I trust to make it work for even a grump like me, it would be these guys.

103 Harriet Street (Folsom x 6th)
$5
9PM - 3AM

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!

The Long Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving is a hard holiday for all those San Francisco residents who are émigrés from elsewhere; it’s the one time of the year when you might reasonably be expected to make the expedition to see your family, however they may be defined, while, on the other hand, anybody who has experienced the long cattle drive of holiday travel might be more inclined to hunker down and wait out the whole weekend with a stock of food and booze. The pull between these two directions leaves the city seeming somewhat hollowed out over the long weekend, and the faces you see when you do go out are just as likely to belong to someone visiting their Uncle Bruce as they are to an actual resident.

I had five days off to look forward to over this holiday weekend, and I went into them thinking that I had a good idea of how they would pass; stock up on food, booze, and pot, hit a couple parties, maybe get a little crazy. Instead I found myself drawn more to the comforts of the hearth and wound up cooking a steak dinner, getting a Christmas wreath for the front door of the apartment, and, god help me, becoming a cat-owning gay resident of the Castro.

Wednesday evening the boyfriend and I were in total agreement for what we wanted: to go out anywhere. We started prowling the Castro around 9.00 PM and were drawn into The Bar by the sound of some decent club electro from DJ PB, who was warming up the crowd for Juanita More’s Booty Call party. It was a surprisingly lively crowd, though I suppose all of us who were there didn’t really have anything to do the next day. The boyfriend wound up talking to a guy from Sacramento who was visiting, and after two drinks we decided to hook up with our friend Matt and see what was happening at The Transfer. We were a bit surprised when we got there by both the sparseness of the crowd and the sound of dub step coming out of the sound system. We had a drink while we waited for Matt to arrive, but since we were feeling self-conscious about being the only guys there not wearing black hoodies, we decided to head back to The Bar. On the corner of Market and Fillmore we ran into Gary of Jeff and Gary fame, passed some time with him and other denizens of Drunk and Horny at an apartment across the street, then headed back to The Bar. After our experience at Juanita More’s Playboy I was somewhat hesitant about another of her parties, but this time the music was much better and the mixing somewhat improved; in fact, Juanita sounded tighter than both the DJ who preceded her and the one who followed, and was considerably better than when we last heard her at The End Up. We hung out for a few more drinks and then stumbled our way home. In retrospect this was the best evening of the entire weekend; the boyfriend and I had the pleasure of one another’s company, we set out looking for adventure and had spontaneous fun with our friends, and when we went home, it was with a feeling of satisfaction that we had found what we wanted for the night.

Thursday the plan had been to visit some friends in the Outer Richmond prior to dinner, come back, cook for ourselves, and head over to Gobble at Temple. Plans that require a lot of activity tend to go astray, however, after many bottles of champagne and a delayed, then sedating, dinner. At 4PM we thought we had better be going, but since “dinner is almost ready,” we decided to stick around to sample the delicacy of Tur-Duck-Hen. At 6.30 we finally sat down to eat, and after our trek at 8.00 PM to find a cab in the wilds of 45th and Geary, we decided we had had enough of socializing for the night, came home, watched an episode of Family Guy, and passed out. Lameness, thy name is mine.

Friday was the day of false anticipation; as some readers made me aware, the all night Disco Party at Mezzanine, for which we have tickets and were expecting this past Friday, is actually this coming Friday, so we went with the back-up plan of Honey Sound System at The Transfer. We arrived early and had a nice chat with Ken Vulsion about their inheritance of a record collection from one of the founders (along with Sylvester) of Magnetone records, which not only includes vinyl but actual session tapes. They will be debuting some of these finds at an upcoming part, but Friday Ken gave a little tour through disco to whet the appetite. I must admit that I still find it hard to listen to disco; hearing Rod Stewart’s “Passion” on Friday night brought back a number of unfortunate memories associated with high school and the Solid Gold TV show, but I will say that, of the various DJs in this city I’ve heard playing disco, Ken certainly is among the best for knowing how to put all those complicated, and often quite cruddily mastered, mixes together. We listened to part of Josh Cheon’s set, but nothing was really making us move, and the crowd was a little odd – I kept having the feeling that the kids there had come thinking that it was Frisco Disco, and several people we had expected to see never showed. We wound up calling the same guys we had hung out with on Wednesday night to see what they were up to – which, as it turned out, was a night of stimulated conversation. We hung out, had some drinks, got a little stimulated ourselves, but still turned it in by a respectable 1AM.

After three successive days of vacation, Saturday arrived and we didn’t really know what to do with ourselves, nor was there anything really compelling on the club schedule. The boyfriend had a cold, and after hanging out with some producer friends, eating a steak dinner, and soaking in the hot tub, he was ready to call it an evening at 10.30. I, on the other hand, had been offered some after-dinner digestive powder, and was feeling restless – I wasn’t exactly in a mood to go out and party, nor did I really have anyone to go out with, but I also didn’t feel like playing Xbox until I was ready for sleep. I compromised by taking a walk to return a video, thinking I would find something along the way. I checked into The Bar, but it was already more crowded than I was interested in dealing with; the same was true of Frisco Disco, and since my haircut didn’t match up with those of the other kids in line, I got the sense it wasn’t exactly my scene (which seems to have been proved true by a reader report of the evening). I stood on the corner of Filmore and Market for a few moments, contemplating my options, before finally turning and heading up to Drunk and Horny at Underground SF, thinking that I could at least hang out with a few people I might know there.

Unfortunately, Drunk and Horny proved to be more depressing than simply staying home. Though I am good friends with many of the folks involved with that party – Sparky had been one of the people eating dinner with us previously in the evening – I really cannot relate to that particular scene. I’ve spent a lot of time wondering why this is; it’s certainly lively, there are lots of guys who are having a good time, and on this occasion there was a go-go boy with a Mohawk, loincloth, and hot tribal tattoos that would normally make me drool – but every time I go there I feel this sense of distance between myself and everyone else. I think this may be because Drunk and Horny has been very good at crafting a high-school/collegiate vibe that, in the end, makes me feel kinda old and lame. This is largely because of the music; either it’s good-time party standards that make me remember my own high school dances, or it’s contemporary “urban flava” that is all the stuff that became popular after I left college. Thus, musically, I get caught in space that either make me feel old, or out of touch. If I had felt moved to dance, and perhaps flirt a bit, I probably could have passed a couple hours there and gone home feeling well-spent, but as it was it only added to the out-of-synch feeling that dogged me throughout the night – I was out of synch with the boyfriend, who was tired and out of sorts and wanted an early bedtime, I was out of synch with the crowd at Drunk and Horny, and I left feeling out of synch with the whole vibe of gay San Francisco on a Saturday night. I went home to the last resort of many gay men who find that their Saturday has not gone quite the way they would like; I checked out some online porn, took care of business, had a drink and a Vicodin, and passed out on the couch watching episodes of Futurama.

When Sunday dawned I was still feeling kinda geeked out from the night before, but this was the day of the kitty. On my way to feed a friend’s cat, I got a call from the boyfriend, who had gone to the gym, telling me that there was a cat rescue service with kittens down at Castro and 18th. Our plan had been to go check out the kittens at Macy’s, but after he called I knew exactly how the day would turn out. Sure enough, by 3PM we had obtained an Abyssinean kitten (now named Disco Biscuit, Disco to his friends, Mr. Biscuit to you), I had had my first experience in a Castro pet store (nothing will make you feel more bourgeois, I assure you), and our friend Kitty had come over to meet our newest family member. Up until that point I had been firmly determined to check out French Kiss at Pink that evening, but now, staying home and bonding with my new friend seemed more important, and more appealing, than another night out on my own.

I had Monday off, and it was a day of reflection. I had started the weekend with definite party agenda, but, in the end, had only really gone out to one event on it. Instead, it was the spontaneous moments of going exploring with the boyfriend, meeting up with friends to hang out in their or our apartment, and those moments of bonding around our new kitten that had seemed the most satisfying to me. When I thought about how unhappy I had been on Saturday night, I realized it wasn’t because I had gone out by myself – I’ve done that often enough, and the boyfriend even thinks that my spirit of adventure in doing so is an admirable quality – but because I had felt so sunk down within myself. I had wanted connection, and fun, and adventure, and instead I only wound up feeling alienated. It put the point to something that I’ve felt for a long time – that the only reason for going out is to have that sense of connection to others through the sharing of experience; when going out is just about “making the scene” it’s an ultimately shallow experience. You’re there, but that’s it, and in your “thereness” you realize just how alone you are (the being of being in being is awfully painful, as you Heideggerians know). If there’s good music and dancing I can feel myself in connection with something else, and with other people, but if all that I’m doing is standing around with a drink in my hand, then I might as well go home. As another long holiday approaches I hope I’ll have more opportunities for experiences that bring me closer to others, whether they’re in a club or just hanging out with the people I want to know.

Upcoming Event: Semi at Truck, Wednesday October 17

The House of Herrera presents Semi at Truck, "a mellow social to get through the week." Featuring visuals by the always-fabulous III, with a "chill and sexy mixtape" from the House of Herrera and Honey Sound System.

10PM - 2AM
NO COVER
Truck Bar, 15th and Folsom

Upcoming Event: Honey Sound System with Todd Terje, Sunday, August 26

Given how many posters for this I've seen around town, along with it being featured *twice* now on Ggreg's List email, I don't know that it needs any more promotion from me, but here it is:

On Sunday August 26th, 2007 Honey Soundsystem presents Todd Terje from Olso, Norway. An evening of disco edits, spacey sounds, and summer flutter compete with drag show, honey dj's Derek B and Robot Hustle, and the dinosaur that is the old Raw Hide in Soma (280 7th sf). Early birds get in for $5 before 10pm and $10 after. Drag Starts at 8pm and Terje Closes out the night til 2am.

Mix Download: Honey Sound System DJs

All the boys in the Honey Sound System - Pee Play, Jason Kendig, Ken Vulsion, Robot Hustle, and Derek B (with one on the way from Safety Scissors) - have put out a new set of mixes for your "Summer of Acid" listening pleasure. Check the Sounds link, and watch the site for news of upcoming HSS events.

PS: You can get copies of the mixes on CD, plus a copy of the new "Honey Porn" zine ($10) at their House of House party at The Transfer this Friday. See the Friday Night Guide for July 27 for more info.