Pondering the State of the Scene

This past Friday the boyfriend and I went down to The Stud for the Shadowplay reunion party, which also served as the ending party for Lucky Pierre and Heat, which had previously occupied two of the The Stud’s Friday night slots. We had a good time, but I wound up spending most of my mental energy running through the catalog of other nights that have ended this year, and what this might mean for the current shape of our scene.

So far this year I’ve seen the end of The Workout, Frisco Disco, and (though they’re not officially done yet) Lights Down Low for the indie/electro/bloghouse scene; The Grind, Fag Fridays, Big Top, Drunk and Horny, Lucky Pierre, Basket, and Trannyshack for the gay scene; Heat, and (again, looking ahead to the closing of Club 222), Techno Tuesdays, and the end of the regular Dirty Bird parties at Anu among the more music-centered nights.

Of course everything is cyclical, the club industry is founded on whim and trend, and eventually more nights will come forth to replace the ones that have passed (it looks like Richard Oh?! and Sleazemore are just moving their scene to Vessel, for example, but on a Wednesday night). But it does give one pause when you look at the present state of things. The gay scene is looking increasingly like the same thing being iterated over and over again; bear party, circuit party, top 40/hip hop night, neo disco party, drag cabaret, lather rinse repeat. And while it’s gratifying to see techno, or at least tech-house, gaining in popularity among the straight set, it’s also difficult to rouse any sense of excitement for heading to yet another party at Mighty or Mezzanine.

There are certainly people doing interesting things within their own scenes; Kontrol, Auralism, and Staple are helping build the techno/tech-house scenes, Honey Sound System has brought underground energy back to the gay scene, and even the couple times I’ve been to Bearracuda the DJs showed a musically adventurous streak. But it feels like San Francisco nightlife is contracting, rather than growing, with a limited number of event producers taking the same ideas around to the increasingly limited number of venues that are available. When I first started this blog it was with a sense of excitement about what I would find as I prowled the clubs and bars of San Francisco. Now, as I put together the weekend events calendars, I find it very difficult to work up enthusiasm for much of anything; the word that comes to mind most often is “stale.”

I’ve devoted endless conversations to this topic, trying to put my finger on what combination of factors has led to this situation, trying to determine if my own jadedness has finally taken over completely, if we are truly in the midst of shift in San Francisco culture, or some combination of both. I don’t doubt that my own experiences in clubland have had an impact on me over the past year, nor do I doubt that the economy has had an impact as well. I also don’t know if I really have enough breadth of experience to talk about San Francisco nightlife as a whole, since I know that there are some clubs and scenes, like drum’n’bass nights at Underground SF, and dub nights at Club 6, that seem to be doing quite well. I do know that at the meeting of the Entertainment Commission to discuss the promoter permits I heard promoters from across the spectrum express the sentiment that San Francisco nightlife is in trouble, but the very circumstances of that gathering might have prompted the participants to paint a picture of the club scene in gloomy tones.

So gang, tell me what you think: is the scene slowing down, or is it just me? Are there things you get excited about, or do you also find yourself thinking that drinking at home with friends is more appealing than dashing off to the club? When you go out, what are you looking for, and what do you find? I really want to know, cuz I need some inspiration.

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.