Your Saturday Guide for December 8, 2007

Hmmm, seems a little quiet in the City this weekend, maybe this will finally be the Saturday that I brave Frisco Disco.

Drunk and Horny
Sorta like those high school parties you'd wished you'd had. Get drunk, flirt with boys, and dance to good-time party standards. Reliable, easy-going, and a short stumble home, but beware that it gets claustrophobically crowded. Check out my reviews of Drunk and Horny.
$5
9PMish - 2.00AM (with maybe an afterparty)
Underground SF, 424 Haight Street x Webster

Frisco Disco at The Transfer
Every Saturday night they're lined up on the street for this party; haven't made it past the sweating crowds myself yet, but this looks like one of the hottest things going right now. A couple readers weren't so crazy about a recent party there, but you should check it out yourself and let me know what you think.
No cover listed
9.00PM - 2.00AM
The Transfer, Church at Market

Hot Mess at The Stud
Gus Presents . . . . what appears to be a rip-off of Drunk and Horny, but with Castro bar music.
10PM - 3AM
$5
The Stud, 9th x Harrison.

Your Friday Guide for December 7, 2007

Bar Nights and Weeklies

Cosmic Gypsy Happy Hour with DJ Mak at the W Hotel
Get your lounge groove on with DJ Mak in this swank hotel bar.
6PM - 8PM
No cover
W Hotel, 181 3rd Street x Howard

The Jaded Gay DJ Recommends: Charlie Horse at the Cinch
Best place to go out and have a cheap drink while being entertained by drag queen antics. Recently voted Best Drag Show in San Francisco by the SF Weekly! Music by DJ Dirty Knees and Bearzbub is more rock and new-wave oriented, but at least it won't interfere with your conversation. Check out my reviews of Charlie Horse at The Cinch.
9PM - close
NO COVER
The Cinch, 1723 Polk Street (between Clay and Washington)

Fag Fridays at Pink
With residents Leon Neon, Rolo, and Manny Ward.
10PM - "late"
$10
Pink, 2526 16th Street x South Van Ness

GhettoDisco at The EndUp
Hmmm, looks like they've giving up on the themes. With Sean Greene, Hawthorne, Adrian, Paris Harris, and Jim Hopkins.
11PM - 11AM (honey, don't forget the pills!)
FREE before midnight (the only way I'd go), $20 until 2AM, $30 after 2AM
The EndUp, 6th x Harrison

Monthlies and One-Offs

Garth and Jeno Back2Back at Club222
San Francisco house legends Garth and Jeno in one of the best intimate dance spaces in the city. Two year anniversary, amazing!
10PM - 2AM
$10
Club 222, 222 Hyde Street

Club Loaded at The Rickshaw Stop
This week with a live set from Mellowdrone and guest DJs Chan Chan (West Add Radio) and Commodore 69 (Computer Rock), along with resident DJ Audrock.
10PM - 2AM
$8 before 11, $10 after
The Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell x Van Ness

The Jaded Gay DJ Recommends: Lucky Pierre at The Stud
XXXmas Edition! Check out my review of Lucky Pierre!
10PM - 3AM
$5
The Stud, 9th x Harrison

Record Review: Justus Koehncke's "Parage:" Did Somebody Say Neue Disco?

Wandering around Valencia Street this evening I poked my head into Aquarius Records and picked up a a couple new 12s", including Feuerland by Justus Koehncke. The title track is actually a re-working of a track by Michael Rother of the krautrock band Neu!, and it's a pretty moody bit of, well, krautrock, but thinned out and sharpened up a bit by modern production techniques, with a more distinct beat and a nice bit of high-hat shuffle toward the end. The B-side, though, is Parage (think "Paradise Garage") by Koehncke. If I could point out any one track that I've heard in recent months that epitomizes neue disco, it's this. It's got those latin beats and conga sounds, a classic walking bass line, it's even got strings, but there's a fair amount of synthesizer atmosphere laid in as well, so you could imagine this tucked up nicely against a classic disco b-side but definitely showing that it's of a newer vintage. It's also bright and clean, with a fresh burble to the keyboards and a shine on the highs that you could never capture with 70s recording technology and production. It's so good I'm wondering when I can play it out, so for all you old-school disco heads, this is definitely something you should check out.

Check out Koehncke's video for Feuerland on Youtube:

NYTimes Article on 1 Oak; Inventor of Bottle Service Tries to Make Amends

If you're a regular visitor you've probably read some of my rants about how I think bottle service is responsible for the overall decline of the club scene, because it's essentially made the whole point of the scene to be about who has the most money. Fork over $300 for a bottle of Stoli and you get to sit down and are treated like royalty; for the rest of us, tough luck. I don't think much of clubs that are about the cash shake-down, nor do I have any desire to rub elbows with people who think they're better than me because they make more money.

In today's NYTimes there's an article about a new lounge called 1 Oak that I know I'd never be able to get into, and the team behind it, which includes Jeffrey Jah, one of the guys responsible for instituting bottle service. Here is an interesting excerpt regarding what they think of this service now:

What they all agree on is a policy of velvet egalitarianism at the door. People will have to earn their way past the ropes with an appealing personal style or disposition, Mr. Jah said, not a promise to pay for bottle service, as is the norm in many places.

“A class system is being instituted, and I don’t like it,” he said one autumn afternoon wearing a yellow T-shirt with the slogan “I’ve Got a Black Belt ... in Keepin’ it Real” and sipping ice tea in his meatpacking district restaurant, the Inn LW12.

Mr. Jah helped popularize bottle service in the early 1990s, but he said the practice began as a way to keep people at tables from having to cross a packed dance floor on the way to the bar. It was not intended, he said, to be a golden ticket into a tony lounge.

Mr. Sartiano lamented that in the days of Spy Bar, for instance, if someone approached you, “you knew they were cool because they got in.” No more.

So while 1 Oak will offer bottle service, “first you need to get in,” Mr. Sartiano said. “Then you need to be cool enough to get a table. Then you can get bottles. Somewhere it got switched.”

Now, of course, this is their way of separating the "real" celebs from the new money hedge-fund managers, so it's just as elitist as bottle service in its own way. But it caught my eye because it seems that, in some small way, these guys are acknowledging how this practice has become detrimental to creating a good vibe in the club. I doubt that bottle service will go away, it makes way too much money for the clubs for that, but it would be nice to see some of our local dumps, like Le Duplex, realize that bottle service doesn't make for a better club experience, it just makes for a dumpy club full of louts with too much money.

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!

Event Review: Kontrol with Alex Smoke at The End Up

Correction: I've found out since I wrote this review that it was actually Craig Kuna, not Nikola Baytala, who was spinning earlier in the evening. Mea culpa.

As we were getting ready to head out to hear Alex Smoke at Kontrol this past Saturday I realized that it has been over six months since the last time we checked out what was once my absolute first choice for San Francisco clubbing. What I discovered on this past Saturday was that, while I am still quite happy that Kontrol has been successful in bringing minimal techno artists to San Francisco, their migration from a quasi-underground art gallery space in the Tenderloin to one of San Francisco's biggest clubs has brought with it some changes in vibe that, for me at least, outweigh some of the positive aspects of the move.

We arrived at 10.30 with our friend J to find a line at the door; apparently doors at 10 really means doors at 10.30. We got drinks and found seats on the patio by the pool table; inside the music was just too loud for us to enjoy hanging out or even dancing. Not that we felt particularly moved to dance, as the first DJ, who I think was Nikola Baytala, was largely playing deep house; every few songs he would slip in something more interesting and techno-oriented, like Ritchie Hawtin's "The Tunnel," but it seemed more like these were conciliatory gestures toward the night's fan base than explorations into a genre that was of interest to him. We would dance for a track or two, but then it would shift back over into house and we would go outside. Unfortunately, I remember this as being the case the last time we came to Kontrol as well, and at that time our friend Tari was very disappointed that a party that had made its reputation as a minimal techno night seemed to have morphed, under the influence of End Up tradition, into yet another survey of deep house.

We had been expecting Alex Smoke to come on at 2.00, and, as a result, missed the first part of his set when he took to the controls at 1.15. What we did get to hear, however, made up for the dullness we experienced earlier in the evening. He was playing "live," and though there were some disconnects between individual songs, and I could have done without the 92.7 voice-overs announcing "Alex Smoke Playing Live at Kontrol," it was among the most interesting, and dance-inspiring, music I have heard in a long time. His tracks have an abstract spacious quality, with dark textures, that remind me of minimal trance, and the grooves are deep and solid. We heard one track off Paradolia, but all the rest was new to us.

Following Alex Smoke was Samim, who gets the prize for most intense DJ face. I almost enjoyed his set more than Alex Smoke's, as it had a slinky, sexy aspect that minimal techno often lacks. By the time 3AM was rolling around so was the majority of crowd, and when the trio of Marina girls in black cocktail dresses began to huddle and massage each other on the dance floor in front of us, and the lines for the bathroom were reaching back to the front entrance, we decided it was time to head out.

It was great to go out an hear, and dance to, good techno that was professionally put together on one of the best sound systems in the city. But the whole time we were there, the vibe seemed off to us. First there was the long digression into house music early in the evening, then, after 2AM, there was the arrival of clubbers in cha-cha heels and button-up shirts who seeemed to be there only because it's one of the few places in town open at that time. As the boyfriend put it, it was like being magically transported into the middle of 1015. The first time I went to a Kontrol party was to hear ModeSelektor at Rx Gallery, an event that remains among the highlights of my San Francisco nightlife experiences. After that we were monthly attendees, and I still have the memory of standing on the Eddy Street sidewalk, looking across the street to a gay strip club, and thinking how much it all reminded me of Berlin squat clubs after the wall came down. It was a slightly sketchy space in a way sketchy part of town, and that was what made it seem like something special and outlaw. Of course, the sound system sucked, they were likely to blow a fuse if they turned on the video projector, and it got so hot that you could see water coming down the walls, so I was thrilled when I heard that Kontrol was moving to The End Up. The benefits of that move - a better sound system, more space - now have to be weighed against the changes that the night has undergone as a result of becoming more mainstream. It is, in many ways, a much "safer" night out than it used to be, in terms of the space and location, but also in terms of the music, at least during the first part of the evening. This increased safety has widened Kontrol's appeal beyond the heads who helped it take off from the RX, and I'm happy for their success, but I rather miss that sweaty, underground vibe it had in the old days; for me techno always sounds better when it takes a little more effort, both physically and intellectually, to go out and hear it.

Event Review: Paradise All-Night Disco Party at Mezzanine

After a quick couple drinks at The Cinch to celebrate Juanita Fajita's birthday, the boyfriend and I headed out to the Paradise All-Night Disco Party at Mezzanine to meet up with our friends Jovino and Mermaid, two dedicated disco junkie DJs. The party didn't convert me to actually liking disco, which I still consider to be, at best, nostalgia music, but it was a fun, light-hearted time that did showcase some of our local DJs like Robot Hustle and Bus Station John in their element and putting some forth of their best efforts that I have heard so far.

Judging from the line when we arrived, and the fact that the coat check "sold out," Paradise was obviously the party of choice for most of San Francisco's clubbers. It was definitely crowded at 12.30 when Escort came on to perform, but there was still plenty of room to dance, and the crowd was among the most easy-going I've run into in a while. They were also among the best-dressed; though there were some interpretations of classic disco with fros, shades, and leisure jackets that bordered on the tragic, there were plenty of other party-goers who decided that disco fashion could have its own contemporary interpretation, as long as it was bright and sparkely. I saw and talked to a fair number of gay scenesters, including Leo Herrera, Dee Jay Pee Play (who told me he had just been reading about the original New York disco scene that morning and was feeling completely high from this re-creation of it), and Marke B. of the Bay Guardian, but overall the crowd was pretty mixed; I would have liked to have seen a few more gay boys, but I enjoyed the diversity of the scene, consisting as it did of people who seemed much more focused on having a good time than about how they were going to pick up.

The music was better than I expected, but there were also moments when the campy kitsch aspect of tracks like "Funkytown" (as the boyfriend said later, "there's no excuse for Funkytown") had the effect of bringing me out of whatever un-selfconscious enjoyment I was having and making me think that I had wandered into Polly Esther's Culture Club. The DJs in the main room did a technically OK job of mixing it together; there were some glitches, but some consideration also needs to be made for the fact that these tracks weren't constructed for mixing, and there's often so much treble and just plain noise in their mastering that you practically need an audio engineering degree to figure out how to put them together. I realized that this is one of the things about classic disco that bothers me, and why I sometimes rather like the newer interpretations of it from artists like Lindstrom or Prinz Thomas - the old stuff just sounds sonically bad. I think this is also why I don't really like dancing to it; though you could argue that its "the original dance music," I have a lot harder time finding the beat that I like, since the bass component is often muddied up and buried under the high-end of horns and strings.

Escort, the 18-piece disco orchestra from Brooklyn, put on a great but seemingly short show - they started a half hour late, and I don't think they were on the stage for more than half an hour. All I can say is, any band that has both a string and horn section is worth checking out to see how they bring it all together, and Escort was super tight.

My big surprise for the evening was Bus Station John's set in the upper room. First, BSJ has really tightened up on his mixing since I heard him last; this time he was even wearing headphones. Rather than trying to deal with the multitude of issues around mixing disco, he took the simple approach of just making sure everything started and stopped on a beat at the beginning and end of it a measure, and it all went together very well with a sustained energy. His programming was also much better than in the main room; there's no question that the man really knows his stuff when it comes to the rare groove disco, and his selections on this night, in that space with that crowd, made it all sound very fresh. I realized that, taken out of the context of a gay club, where disco feels like regressive nostalgia for the pre-AIDS era, it was much easier for me to get into it, tired though I was, because I could just take it as fun dance music, rather than being thrown into critical reflections on what it means for that music to be played in that kind of scene. It's still not my first choice for dance music, and it will always rile up the punk in me, and the contarian Futurist who believes that the present should be about the future, not the past (wow, that's deep), but BSJ's set made me realize that there are ways in which I can enjoy this music as long as it's not coming with too much baggage or reactionary statements about contemporary dance culture attached to it. So, good job Bus Station John, you got this cranky critic to change his mind just a little bit on something.

We left around 2.30, having stayed rather longer than I thought we would. Though there were moments in which Paradise felt just a bit too campy for me to take it as anything more than a rather safe excuse for otherwise conservative San Franciscans to dress up and "party," there were also moments where I wished that the vibe engendered over the course of the night, one that was sexy, fun, and smiling, could be brought as easily to other parties that feature contemporary dance music.

Stabbing at 1015 Folsom?

What should my tired eyes behold this morning but news of what seems like yet another "incident" at 1015. According to this article in SF Gate:

The stabbing occurred inside a nightclub in the 1000 block of Folsom Street, police said.

One male reportedly stabbed another male with a knife at around 1 a.m., police said.

I rode by there around 10.30 with J and the boyfriend on our way to Kontrol at The EndUp (about which more later), and there was already a line of B&T/Marina types halfway down the block. Last night was Sense, with two artists from Sense Recordings, and Taj, one of the residents, so I'm guessing it was probably a progessive night.

If you were there or have any info, please share!

Update: More details in this article from the Examiner; looks like a fist-fight got out of control. Fun. According to the Examiner, 1015's liquor license is up for renewal in less than a month; given the issues that the ABC board has had with 1015 in the past, you have to wonder how this incident will be regarded.