SATURDAY JUNE 9TH - OPULENT TEMPLE UNDERGROUND
Funky Dust! The OT returns for its next installment of events to raise the temple like never before in BRC '07. For this one we'll be throwing a proper underground with undisclosed location in SF and all night revelry. Dirty house, electro and breaks provided by Syd Gris, Smoove, Icon, Hoj, Dulce Vita, Nathan Vain, Jeffrey Allen, & Astro.
Space is limited so early arrival recommended. When we reach capacity we'll be closing the doors. $15 playafied, $20 normal. First 250 to arrive will automatically be entered into a raffle to win a free Burning Man ticket with your entry!!!
More info: http://www.opulenttemple.org/
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Upcoming Event: Staple Presents Mike Huckaby, Friday June 8
Another round of deep techno and future house with resident Staple DJs Javaight and Fil Latorre, with special guest Mike Huckaby. Co-sponsored by Blasthaus.
RXGallery (132 Eddy @ Mason)
9PM - 2AM
FREE with a flyer before 10.30, $10 advance from the Blasthaus website
RXGallery (132 Eddy @ Mason)
9PM - 2AM
FREE with a flyer before 10.30, $10 advance from the Blasthaus website
Upcoming Event: People's Voice, Friday June 8
This morning I came into work to find an email from one of the organizers of this party asking me to list it, AND there were flyers all through the copy room, so I guess I should take the hint and pick this out for special treatment (it was already going to be on the Friday Night Guide - I am pretty much an events bloodhound, you know).
People's Voice: A Journey Through Psychedelic Music
Friday, June 8
Main Room
Goldilox (www.djgoldilox.com)
Kepi (kepiandkat.com)
Tandava (CCC)
Atum (Astral Productions)
Sentient (Vaporvent Records)
Chillout Room by the Ambient Mafia
Actual rafiq
Hickory
Olde Nasty
Peek
The Captain
Redstickman
Seventh swami
Sixty4k
Squelchy
The Gingerbread House (Connecticut at Cesar Chavez)
All Night
$14 Pre-sales (www.soundofmind.org), $20 at the door
People's Voice: A Journey Through Psychedelic Music
Friday, June 8
Main Room
Goldilox (www.djgoldilox.com)
Kepi (kepiandkat.com)
Tandava (CCC)
Atum (Astral Productions)
Sentient (Vaporvent Records)
Chillout Room by the Ambient Mafia
Actual rafiq
Hickory
Olde Nasty
Peek
The Captain
Redstickman
Seventh swami
Sixty4k
Squelchy
The Gingerbread House (Connecticut at Cesar Chavez)
All Night
$14 Pre-sales (www.soundofmind.org), $20 at the door
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Upcoming Event: Sex and Icons Show at Magnet, Reception at The Transfer
Local photographer Leo Herrera will be presenting a solo show of images "of rare gay artifacts pulled from the GLBT Historical Society's world-renowned archives (the suit worn by Harvey Milk the night of his assassination), as well as living gay figures (Amanda Lepore, gay rapper Cazwell), and historic monuments (Stonewall Tavern)" at Magnet on 18th Street (x Castro) this Saturday from 8.00 - 10.30 PM. Following the opening join Jason Kendig, DJ Pee Play, Kenvusion, and Robot Hustle at The Transfer for the get-down reception. The opening is free, and I believe the reception is as well. More info on the show at www.HomoSexualArt.com.
Monday, June 4, 2007
New York Pridefest Cancelled!
Over the weekend I heard that the New York City Pridefest, which is the festival that takes place at the end of the Pride parade, was being cancelled. It appears that this is a combination of the Mayor's Office refusing a permit for the location that was previously proposed (in Chelsea) and the organization behind Pridefest deciding that the alternative location (Washington Street in the West Village) was sub-optimal. Full explanation on the Heritage of Pride website. I'm trying to track down a couple sources for a more on-the-spot perspective and will share that info with you all as soon as I have it.
Halloween in the Castro "Cancelled"
According to this article in the San Francisco Chronicle Halloween in the Castro has been officially "cancelled." While this practically means that they won't block off the streets, bring in porta-potties, or increase police presence, it's anybody's guess what it really means. Ted Strawser of the SF Party Party has a good quote:
"People are still going to go to the Castro," said Ted Strawser, founder of the San Francisco Party Party, a group that opposes the move. "Without services, they're just going to pee in the street, and without entertainment, mischief will occur."I'm unsure what will happen; without anything to draw people there, will there be crowds of people aimlessly milling around in the Castro? I imagine that the bars will continue to do well, but will the bridge-and-tunnel kids want to hang out at Daddy's? Will SFPD have to come through and clear the streets of costumed revellers? I guess we won't know until Halloween is here.
Event Review: Ritchie Hawtin at Mighty vs. Koinonea "2012"
Sometimes life presents us with perfect compare-and-contrast moments. In the case of this past weekend those moments were Ritchie Hawtin at Mighty and Koinonea's 2012. At the first: great music, lousy crowd, miserable party experience. At the second: great crowd, so-so music, okay party experience.
J and I arrived at Mighty around 11PM on Friday, just in time to catch most of Magda's set. Magda is a great example of what I think of as a classic Berlin techno DJ who sets a slow, steady burn for the duration of the night. None of her tracks were particularly dynamic or progressive, and at times I found them a bit too abstract to really engage me on the dance floor, but they had that steady thump that eventually weaves a spell over you and brings you into the space. Around midnight we became aware that it was getting mighty crowded in Mighty, and had I not known one of the bartenders from previous party experiences I suspect it would have been a maddening wait to get drinks. As it was it was only maddening to walk through the club, to try and get on the dance floor, or to dance. During the first part of Magda's set it was possible to get into the middle of the dancefloor, but by the time that Ritchie Hawtin came on at 1.15 it was impossible. Well, it was possible to get onto the dancefloor, but dancing itself was right out of the question, since every time I was able to get somewhat into the groove, I had some guy playing linebacker for his girlfriend push his way past me. This became such a problem that, after rolling my eyes as the third person within the span of about a minute knocked me aside with their elbows, a girl actually apologized to me. Finally J and I retreated to stand next to a speaker stack. Ritchie Hawtin is an awesome performer, and I found much in his set that was inspiring; for once I was able to listen to a DJ and not know what it was that he was doing. The tracks were all great, the flow was phenomenally smooth, and I came away thinking that techno is starting to incorporate all the psychedlic elements that I once associated with trance without that genre's bombast and cliche. We hung out for about an hour of Ritchie's set, and over that passage of time the crowd became absolutely ridiculous. I went into the bathroom and encountered much messiness, and when a guy burst in saying "Detroit Techno sucks" at the top of his lungs, I decided I had had enough. It seems pretty clear that Blasthaus oversold this event, or at least went for full capacity, without much consideration of what that would be like for people in the club (when I checked on tickets on Friday, all the pre-sales were gone, but they announced that they had an additional 300 at the door for $30 each). I'm sure they made crazy money off this event, but why they booked Ritchie Hawtin into a venue this small is beyond me. I hope that the next time I get to hear him I will actually be able to enjoy his amazing talent, and dance to his music, without having to deal with an ugly, aggressive crowd made even more so by the constant need to push your way past everyone else to move around in the club. And girls, here's a fashion tip for you: black cocktail dresses belong in the Marina, not at a techno party.
Saturday night Kitty and I went to Koinonea's "2012" party. Back during the height of psy-trance's reign in 1999-2000 we had been regulars at almost every weekend party, and for us this was a chance to re-connect with some folks we hadn't seen in a long time. I even had an auspicious moment on Saturday when I went to Warakabune for a quick sushi meal, something that had been a staple of our going-out days: two candy raver kids, complete with mighty gauntlets of pony beads to ward off the attacks of bad vibes, came in and sat by me at the sushi bar. It was a total blast from the past and set my mind reaching back to all that I had loved about those days. We arrived at the party around 11 and my first reaction was "Oh my god, hippies and dub-step." The Koinonea crew is an off-shoot of the Santa Cruz Koinonea commune, and the Santa Cruz hippie vibe was in full effect. There were many older folk there who I expect were part of the actual commune, and we even had a full-on grounding ceremony to start the event at midnight. So, instead of feeling alienated and aggressive toward one another as at Mighty on the previous evening, everyone here was encouraged to look at one another as new friends. The fact that the party had a very limited number of tickets also kept it from being stupidly overcrowded - for the first time in weeks I was able to really get down on the dance floor because there was plenty of room, and that experience alone was completely worth the price of a ticket. Unfortunately, the music at the beginning, mostly dub-step, caused considerable grumbling among the attendees. Around 12.30, after the ceremony, the DJ finally moved into psytrance, and at 1.30 Psynthetic, a DJ buddy of mine from way back, came on with some good uplifting psy. His set was a bit uneven, and I enjoyed the progressive tracks more than I did the full-on 150 BPM aerobic workout tracks, but it was really very enjoyable. Kitty, who rarely dances and is not that much of a party boy to start with, told me that I could write in this blog that "Kitty was not bored." That's a high achievement right there. We split around 3.00, being pretty pooped from the night before.
So there's your compare-and-contrast essay for this week. One party that had commerce and commercial success as its highest goal, another that was about creating a space where people could be nice to one another. If I could have squeezed them together, sifted out the bad elements from each and combined the good ones, I think I would have had the best party weekend ever.
J and I arrived at Mighty around 11PM on Friday, just in time to catch most of Magda's set. Magda is a great example of what I think of as a classic Berlin techno DJ who sets a slow, steady burn for the duration of the night. None of her tracks were particularly dynamic or progressive, and at times I found them a bit too abstract to really engage me on the dance floor, but they had that steady thump that eventually weaves a spell over you and brings you into the space. Around midnight we became aware that it was getting mighty crowded in Mighty, and had I not known one of the bartenders from previous party experiences I suspect it would have been a maddening wait to get drinks. As it was it was only maddening to walk through the club, to try and get on the dance floor, or to dance. During the first part of Magda's set it was possible to get into the middle of the dancefloor, but by the time that Ritchie Hawtin came on at 1.15 it was impossible. Well, it was possible to get onto the dancefloor, but dancing itself was right out of the question, since every time I was able to get somewhat into the groove, I had some guy playing linebacker for his girlfriend push his way past me. This became such a problem that, after rolling my eyes as the third person within the span of about a minute knocked me aside with their elbows, a girl actually apologized to me. Finally J and I retreated to stand next to a speaker stack. Ritchie Hawtin is an awesome performer, and I found much in his set that was inspiring; for once I was able to listen to a DJ and not know what it was that he was doing. The tracks were all great, the flow was phenomenally smooth, and I came away thinking that techno is starting to incorporate all the psychedlic elements that I once associated with trance without that genre's bombast and cliche. We hung out for about an hour of Ritchie's set, and over that passage of time the crowd became absolutely ridiculous. I went into the bathroom and encountered much messiness, and when a guy burst in saying "Detroit Techno sucks" at the top of his lungs, I decided I had had enough. It seems pretty clear that Blasthaus oversold this event, or at least went for full capacity, without much consideration of what that would be like for people in the club (when I checked on tickets on Friday, all the pre-sales were gone, but they announced that they had an additional 300 at the door for $30 each). I'm sure they made crazy money off this event, but why they booked Ritchie Hawtin into a venue this small is beyond me. I hope that the next time I get to hear him I will actually be able to enjoy his amazing talent, and dance to his music, without having to deal with an ugly, aggressive crowd made even more so by the constant need to push your way past everyone else to move around in the club. And girls, here's a fashion tip for you: black cocktail dresses belong in the Marina, not at a techno party.
Saturday night Kitty and I went to Koinonea's "2012" party. Back during the height of psy-trance's reign in 1999-2000 we had been regulars at almost every weekend party, and for us this was a chance to re-connect with some folks we hadn't seen in a long time. I even had an auspicious moment on Saturday when I went to Warakabune for a quick sushi meal, something that had been a staple of our going-out days: two candy raver kids, complete with mighty gauntlets of pony beads to ward off the attacks of bad vibes, came in and sat by me at the sushi bar. It was a total blast from the past and set my mind reaching back to all that I had loved about those days. We arrived at the party around 11 and my first reaction was "Oh my god, hippies and dub-step." The Koinonea crew is an off-shoot of the Santa Cruz Koinonea commune, and the Santa Cruz hippie vibe was in full effect. There were many older folk there who I expect were part of the actual commune, and we even had a full-on grounding ceremony to start the event at midnight. So, instead of feeling alienated and aggressive toward one another as at Mighty on the previous evening, everyone here was encouraged to look at one another as new friends. The fact that the party had a very limited number of tickets also kept it from being stupidly overcrowded - for the first time in weeks I was able to really get down on the dance floor because there was plenty of room, and that experience alone was completely worth the price of a ticket. Unfortunately, the music at the beginning, mostly dub-step, caused considerable grumbling among the attendees. Around 12.30, after the ceremony, the DJ finally moved into psytrance, and at 1.30 Psynthetic, a DJ buddy of mine from way back, came on with some good uplifting psy. His set was a bit uneven, and I enjoyed the progressive tracks more than I did the full-on 150 BPM aerobic workout tracks, but it was really very enjoyable. Kitty, who rarely dances and is not that much of a party boy to start with, told me that I could write in this blog that "Kitty was not bored." That's a high achievement right there. We split around 3.00, being pretty pooped from the night before.
So there's your compare-and-contrast essay for this week. One party that had commerce and commercial success as its highest goal, another that was about creating a space where people could be nice to one another. If I could have squeezed them together, sifted out the bad elements from each and combined the good ones, I think I would have had the best party weekend ever.
Friday, June 1, 2007
Your Saturday Guide for June 2, 2007
Another Saturday with options for all your favorite dance music genres: trance, techno, and breaks.
Koinonea 2012 10th Anniversary Party, Cosmic Yellow Sun
Sorry kids, it's all SOLD OUT. But if other events don't intervene I'll be there and will give you the report.
The Jaded Gay DJ Recommends: Kontrol at the EndUp, 2nd Anniversary Party with Baby Ford
The Kontrol kids celebrate two years of bringing techno back to San Fracisco with an appearance by one of the biggest names on The Continent. Sure to be worth checking out, just remember that security at the door is VERY tight.
$15, FREE before 11
10PM - 6AM
The Experiment at Fat City
For all you breaks freaks here's a great chance to check out local DJ heroes from The Space Cowboys, as well as appearances by David Starfire, The Phat Conductor (Bassnectar) and others. Two rooms of fun!
$15 before 11, $20 after
10PM - 4AM
Koinonea 2012 10th Anniversary Party, Cosmic Yellow Sun
Sorry kids, it's all SOLD OUT. But if other events don't intervene I'll be there and will give you the report.
The Jaded Gay DJ Recommends: Kontrol at the EndUp, 2nd Anniversary Party with Baby Ford
The Kontrol kids celebrate two years of bringing techno back to San Fracisco with an appearance by one of the biggest names on The Continent. Sure to be worth checking out, just remember that security at the door is VERY tight.
$15, FREE before 11
10PM - 6AM
The Experiment at Fat City
For all you breaks freaks here's a great chance to check out local DJ heroes from The Space Cowboys, as well as appearances by David Starfire, The Phat Conductor (Bassnectar) and others. Two rooms of fun!
$15 before 11, $20 after
10PM - 4AM
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