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.
Showing posts with label Kenvulsion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kenvulsion. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
San Francisco Pride Recap
Whooo, Tuesday morning and I'm still a bit bleary from all the weekend's activities: passing out on Friday night from too much champagne on an empty stomach at Kitty's birthday party; up till 6AM on Sunday morning with Comfort and Joy at the Afterglow party, showing up at Faerie Freedom Village so Lord Kook could spin at 1, then my turn came at 5; and finally, some quality time with the boyfriend in Golden Gate Park on Monday, when we got to chill and go through a good system's re-boot.
Afterglow was the main event of the weekend for the boyfriend and myself since we not only had to set up and manage the gear, but also play a set each. The evening started out slightly difficult as we had two CDJ-800s in road cases, along with a folding keyboard stand, that we had to get over to the party right at that point when none of the cab companies were answering the telephone. After some frantic attempts to find other transportation I finally got a City Carshare car for the night, but the consequence was that I would have to drive us home after the night's festivities. After that bit of hassle, however, the party itself was a rollicking, smashing success, with an almost full dancefloor in the first hour. DJ Neco D got the mood up and carried through until the show started (again, late, and, again, overly long, but we were prepared for that on this occasion); by that time the room was completely packed, so I didn't see any of the performances, but when Lord Kook came on afterwards it all busted loose - at one point there was a shirtless, sweaty, writhing crowd up on the stage chanting "More! More! More! More!", and a group of happy lesbians were puddled together in the clawfoot bathtub in the restroom - it was like a scene from a Frameline movie, I swear. I went on around 3.30 and had it in mind to crank up the knarzy techno, but two songs in I was told that the cops had come by, so I took it down fairly deep and chill for the duration of my rather short set. Then DJ Pee Play and Ken Vulsion, aka The Honey Sound System, came on and absolutely ripped the roof off the place. We didn't get to stay for much of their set, as I had to have the car back by 6AM, and needed to put myself into a bed for a couple hours as well, but I heard that the cops came back again, and that there were still folks hanging out at noon the next day. Now that's a party, people.
Faerie Village was the calm in the midst of the Pride whirlwind that it always is. Aaron Neonbunny was the producer this year and went for a more low-key set-up, just two tents and sound systems on either side of the plaza, one for acoustic performances, one for DJ music. The idea had been to keep the sound pretty chill, but after about three songs Lord Kook had a small dancefloor rolling and decided to keep the energy up. DJ Mak, who can be heard at the W Hotel on Friday evenings, came on with some great Eurolounge after him, followed by trance stalwart KJ spinning worldbeat downtempo grooves, and then Mr. Neonbunny hisself demonstrated his command of the electro vocabularly. I got my shot to close out the village after Aaron, and though there were some odd technical difficulties (I've never had to adjust the tracking on a tone-arm to keep it following the record groove before), I was thrilled to play some sunny day techno for an appreciative crowd that included Marke B. of the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
Monday the boyfriend and I really needed some down time together, so we got together with an old friend I hadn't hung out with in years and went to Golden Gate Park. We walked from the Stanyan entrance all the way to Ocean Beach, had an amusing bus ride back to Laguna, hung out, went for a walk to enjoy a beautiful evening, watched Yellow Submarine, and reflected on an awesome Pride weekend.
It's easy enough to be cynical about Pride, especially when you live in the bubble of San Francisco, where the lack of repression felt by the LGBT community in the rest of the world tends to make us lazy, complacent, precious, and prone to in-fighting. But when you see guys walking hand-in-hand down Castro street like it's the most fantastic thing they've every done together, when you have the opportunity to meet up with friends you haven't seen in weeks or months, when you get to take part in events that you know have created special moments for others, then in those situations you do begin to appreciate what Pride does for us, both as individuals and members of a community.
Afterglow was the main event of the weekend for the boyfriend and myself since we not only had to set up and manage the gear, but also play a set each. The evening started out slightly difficult as we had two CDJ-800s in road cases, along with a folding keyboard stand, that we had to get over to the party right at that point when none of the cab companies were answering the telephone. After some frantic attempts to find other transportation I finally got a City Carshare car for the night, but the consequence was that I would have to drive us home after the night's festivities. After that bit of hassle, however, the party itself was a rollicking, smashing success, with an almost full dancefloor in the first hour. DJ Neco D got the mood up and carried through until the show started (again, late, and, again, overly long, but we were prepared for that on this occasion); by that time the room was completely packed, so I didn't see any of the performances, but when Lord Kook came on afterwards it all busted loose - at one point there was a shirtless, sweaty, writhing crowd up on the stage chanting "More! More! More! More!", and a group of happy lesbians were puddled together in the clawfoot bathtub in the restroom - it was like a scene from a Frameline movie, I swear. I went on around 3.30 and had it in mind to crank up the knarzy techno, but two songs in I was told that the cops had come by, so I took it down fairly deep and chill for the duration of my rather short set. Then DJ Pee Play and Ken Vulsion, aka The Honey Sound System, came on and absolutely ripped the roof off the place. We didn't get to stay for much of their set, as I had to have the car back by 6AM, and needed to put myself into a bed for a couple hours as well, but I heard that the cops came back again, and that there were still folks hanging out at noon the next day. Now that's a party, people.
Faerie Village was the calm in the midst of the Pride whirlwind that it always is. Aaron Neonbunny was the producer this year and went for a more low-key set-up, just two tents and sound systems on either side of the plaza, one for acoustic performances, one for DJ music. The idea had been to keep the sound pretty chill, but after about three songs Lord Kook had a small dancefloor rolling and decided to keep the energy up. DJ Mak, who can be heard at the W Hotel on Friday evenings, came on with some great Eurolounge after him, followed by trance stalwart KJ spinning worldbeat downtempo grooves, and then Mr. Neonbunny hisself demonstrated his command of the electro vocabularly. I got my shot to close out the village after Aaron, and though there were some odd technical difficulties (I've never had to adjust the tracking on a tone-arm to keep it following the record groove before), I was thrilled to play some sunny day techno for an appreciative crowd that included Marke B. of the San Francisco Bay Guardian.
Monday the boyfriend and I really needed some down time together, so we got together with an old friend I hadn't hung out with in years and went to Golden Gate Park. We walked from the Stanyan entrance all the way to Ocean Beach, had an amusing bus ride back to Laguna, hung out, went for a walk to enjoy a beautiful evening, watched Yellow Submarine, and reflected on an awesome Pride weekend.
It's easy enough to be cynical about Pride, especially when you live in the bubble of San Francisco, where the lack of repression felt by the LGBT community in the rest of the world tends to make us lazy, complacent, precious, and prone to in-fighting. But when you see guys walking hand-in-hand down Castro street like it's the most fantastic thing they've every done together, when you have the opportunity to meet up with friends you haven't seen in weeks or months, when you get to take part in events that you know have created special moments for others, then in those situations you do begin to appreciate what Pride does for us, both as individuals and members of a community.
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