My Email to Bevan Dufty Opposing the Nightclub Legislation

Just sent this to Bevan Dufty, my supervisor for District 8. This legislation will be proposed on Tuesday, so if you want to oppose it, go to the Board of Supervisor's meeting or send your supervisor an email NOW!

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Supervisor Dufty,

I am writing to you as a constituent, an independent club promoter, nightlife journalist, and active member of San Francisco’s nightlife culture to urge you to oppose the nightclub legislation that Sophie Maxwell will introduce during Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting. This legislation will do nothing to address the real issues of violent crime, and will instead make club owners and promoters bear the burden of enforcing absurd and onerous rules.

First, the proposal to make it illegal to loiter within ten feet of a club for more than 180 seconds is absurd on the face of the proposal itself. While the exceptions for cigarette smoking and hailing a cab recognize at least two situations where it would be ridiculous to enforce this law, one has to wonder about all the other situations in which law-abiding club-goers would be subject to harassment. Would it be illegal for me to have a conversation with someone outside a club if they were smoking a cigarette and I wasn’t? I know you have been to Drunk and Horny on Saturday night at UndergroudSF; what about the situation where, at 2AM, the club closes and guys are standing on the sidewalk before they leave? Finally, who would enforce this law? Would we expect the police to stand outside clubs with stopwatches, timing everyone? Would it be up the club security, who would then have to call the police? This legislation cannot be enforced, and in situations where it was, it would amount to little more than subjective harassment. If the issue is about non-clubgoers laying in wait outside clubs, selling drugs, or breaking into cars, then the solution is have increased police foot patrols outside clubs to watch for dangerous behavior, rather than making everyone standing outside into a potential criminal.

Second, the proposal to require anyone who does more than two events per year in city to obtain a permit would also place undue burden on independent promoters and lead once again to problems of enforcement. This city’s nightlife is built on small promoters like myself, who rarely make any profit form our events, putting forth proposals to bar and club owners who have already gone through a permitting process to have events. Do you really think it would help with issues of violent crime to force promoters like myself, Juanita More, Bus Station John, Comfort and Joy, Jeff and Gary, and Honey Sound System, to name just a few who are active in the gay community, to have permits to throw events? The real effect of enacting this legislation would be chilling on the entrepreneurial spirit, and the love of nightlife culture, that these promoters bring to our city. Again, this would do nothing to curb the problems that the Mayor seems to want to address, since he already acknowledges that it is the “fly-by-night” promoters who do random events that are the source of issues, rather than those who have established themselves in the community. Further, the end goal seems to be to make promoters responsible to the police for any action undertaken by someone at their club. I cannot control what the patrons of my club nights do; I cannot stop them from drinking too much or starting fights, aside from having them thrown out when I see them becoming a problem. How is it, then, that I can be held responsible for a “security breach or health violation,” which is plainly the responsibility of the club owner? Finally, how would this permitting process be enforced? Would we expect promoters to present their permits to club owners before they were allowed to do events? Or would the police come to events on the second night and demand to see the permits? In either case, it seems that that this legislation would require club and bar owners to enforce it, or require the dedication of police resources that could be otherwise put to better use.

I feel that this legislation is being proposed to address a non-existent problem; in all my years of activity in the San Francisco club scene, I have seen exactly one violent incident. The statistics listed in the Chronicle article are, in the face of other violent crime in the city, insignificant, and there is no evidence that this legislation would address the causes of the violent acts described. If the problem is that 15% of violent assaults occur within or around clubs, and if the majority of those crimes are committed around closing time, as a police spokesman stated in a previous Chronicle article on this topic, then the solution is simple: increase police foot patrols around clubs, especially between 1.30 and 2.30 AM. The solution should require the police to do their job, rather than setting up situations for subjective harassment of club patrons and promoters, and requiring clubs and promoters to do the job that the police should be doing in the first place.

Sincerely,

Phil Gochenour
Promoter, FSLD, Deco Lounge
Founder, SFScene blog (http://sfscene.blogspot.com)
San Francisco Correspondent, Beatportal.com

Newsome Proposes Absurd and Oppressive Nightlife Legislation

So, according to this article in the Examiner, the best method that Gavin Newsom has come up with to combat the "problem" of nightclub violence is to have cops stand outside clubs with stop watches, and to force independent promoters to obtain permits from the city to have events in clubs that have already had to go through their own permitting process to have dance nights.

First, Newsom wants to make it illegal to "loiter" outside clubs for more than three minutes. People having cigarettes and waiting for cabs will be exempt (thank god, there's no way to get a taxi in under three minutes anywhere in the city), but I want to know how they are going to enforce this. Will doormen be required to time everyone who steps outside the club? Will cops be standing by with stopwatches? "I'm sorry sir, you've been here for 181 seconds, we're going to have to take you in."

Second, now they not only want clubs to have permits to have DJs and dance music, now they want to make promoters obtain permits too? And how much will that cost? And who is going to enforce whether every person who throws a bar night has a permit, the club owners? "I'm sorry Sir, but your papers are not in order."

This is an absurd solution to a problem that has been cooked up to make the Newsom administration look like it's doing something to deal with violent crime when, in fact, violent crime associated with club nights is more the exception than the rule. These rules will do *nothing* to stop an asshole looking for a fight from starting one, or to keep some idiot carrying a weapon from using it if he thinks his girlfriend had been ogled by another guy. Those are issues that have to be addressed on a much higher level than making up ridiculous rules and penalizing people who want to create more culture for the city of San Francisco. Unfortunately, this administration is much more about the photo op and the sound bite than substantial change. If you think this is as stupid as I do, send an email to your supervisor right now.

Your Friday Guide for February 29, 2008

Weeklies and Bar Nights

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. 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 latest review of Charlie Horse at The Cinch.
9PM - close
FREE!

The Jaded Gay DJ Recommends: Sick! at The Matador
A nice dive bar with techno tunes, a perfect place to start your night or to spend it. Residents D Spurlock, Jeffrey Allen, Jonathon Neil, Kuze, and Meekrob. Check out my review of Sick!
9PM - 2AM
FREE
Matador, 10 6th Street x Market

The Jaded Gay DJ Recommends: Fag Fridays at Pink - The Last One Ever!
An era ends this Friday night when the longest-running gay dance night in San Francisco closes its doors. Come out to hear David Harness, Leon Neon, Rolo, and Manny Ward spin that special house vibe one last time.
10PM - "late"
$10
Pink, 2526 16th Street x South Van Ness

GhettoDisco at The EndUp
With DJs Cary Stringfellow, Sean Greene, and Taj.
11PM - 11AM
FREE before midnight, $20 until 2AM, $30 after 2AM
The EndUp, 6th x Harrison

Blow-Up at The Rickshaw Stop
With residents Jefrodesiac and Richie Panic (Frisco Disco) and special guest DJs from The Rapture.
10PM - 2AM
$10 for 21+, $12 for 18-21
The Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell at Van Ness

Faktion at Club Anu
Another little mushroom popping up in the techno scene - excellent! Tonight features DJ Developer and Endosine.
10PM - 2AM
$5
Club Anu, 43 Sixth x Market

Monthlies and One-Offs

Pirates v. Clowns at 1015 Folsom
With The Mutaytor, Bassbin Twins v. Uberzone, a mash-up room hosted by Bootie, a dubstep room featuring Kromestar, and the downstairs lounge hosted by The Fringe. Performance and visuals by Cirque Bezirk.
10PM - "Late"
$20, special early door discount if you dress as a pirate or clown
1015 Folsom, Folsom x 6th

The End of Fag Fridays, the Beginning of Something New

This morning I received an email from a regular reader asking me "Is Fag Friday's ending, for good?" I had heard a few rumours around this, so I checked the event schedule for Pink and discovered that Fag Fridays wasn't on the calendar after tomorrow night! I sent an email to David Peterson, who, along with his partner Jose Mineros, have been the guiding force behind San Francisco's longest-running gay dance night, and received confirmation that, indeed, tomorrow night will be the last Fag Friday ever.

This is definitely the end of an era in gay nightlife, and prompts musings on how things have changed in the gay dance scene since the first party the boys threw back in 1996. But the good news is that David tells me they will continue to do one-off parties for big gay events like Pride and Folsom Street, and that they are even working on opening a venue of their own. They are also starting a record label, Thread Recordings, with their first single, David Harness' "The Rhythm," set to drop next week on traxsource.com.

If you've ever had a dancefloor moment at Fag Fridays, you should head out tomorrow night for your last chance to feel that special house vibe, and to wish David and Jose good luck with their new endeavors.

Mix Download: Minima Machina from Lord Kook

Lord Kook of Fuck Shit, Let's Dance has a new mix out. Entitled "Minima Machina," it's a journey through minimal techno, suitable for headphone listening or afterhours grooving. Check it out over on his website.

Track List:

01. Nathan Fake - Peary Land (intro)\
02. Lusine - Make It Easy (John Tejada Remix)\
03. Jan Driver - Kardamoon\
04. Pier Bucci - Hay Consuelo (Samim Remix)\
05. Kritical Audio - Krupp (Minilogue Remix)\
06. Petter - Some Polyphony\
07. Gurtz - Nagoya\
08. Solomun & Stimming - Feuervogel (Original Mix)\
09. Stephan Hinz - Ending Up Flipping Burgers / Diescinerum\
10. Troy Pierce - 25 Bitches (Gaiser's Too Many Bitches Makeover)\
11. Claude Von Stroke - Who's Afraid Of Detroit (Tanner Ross Remix)\
12. John Gaiser - Egress\
13. Square One - Vesuvius (Justin Martin's 'I Hope It Doesn't Blow' Mix)\
14. Chelonis R. Jones - Deer In The Headlights (DJ Hell Remix)\
15. Nathan Fake - Peary Land (outro)\

Mix Download: 022608 from DJ Pup

So here's my first new mix in a very long while; and, even more special, this is my first entirely on CDs using my new Pioneer CDJ-800s. Almost all this music was acquired in the past two weeks, and though I really need to listen to it and live with it more, I am pretty pleased with how it all came together. The only thing I would change is mixing in Lawler's "Courses for Horses" against Deadmau5's "Secondary Complications;" this was the first time I tried it, and now listening back to it I think it's too busy, but that's why we do these things, right? Koehncke's "Weiche Zaune" is also a somewhat different genre than the rest of these tracks, but it's such a beautiful expression of disco utopia I really wanted to use it to make a statement. Similarly, the remix of "Lazy Eye" by Silversun Pickups is a bit different, but I think it leaves the listener with a lasting impression and some lyrics that echo through your head long after the track has ended.

As usual, feedback and comments are welcome.

Mix 022608 from DJ Pup

Track List

Weiche Zaune (The Modernist Remix) - Justus Koehncke
Supernova - Gabriel Ananda and Dominik Eulberg
Time to Jak - A Guy Called Gerald
Secondary Complications - Deadmau5
Courses for Horses - Steve Lawler
Mantrakoma (non-vocal version) - Dusty Kid
Hunted - Martin Buttrich
Tomographie (Spektre Remix) - Andre Crom
Hold My Hand (Dubfire Remix) - UNKLE
Lazy Eye (Jason Bentley Remix) - Silversun Pickups

The Communal Function of Dancing

For Christmas my friend Scooter (who has stamped red stars on the wrists of FSLD attendees) gave me Barbara Ehrenreich's "Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy." I just started reading it this week, and, aside from some slightly dubious speculation on the evoluntionary function of dancing in early societies, it has provided some interesting food for thought. Last night I came across the following passage, which nicely sums up why I have always been interested in throwing parties and, eventually, hopefully, getting people to dance together:

[British anthropologist Robin] Dunbar is not the only one to see group dancing - especially in lines and circles - as the great leveler and binder of human communities, uniting all who participate in the kind of communitas that [Victor] Turner found in twentieth-century native rituals. Interestingly, the Greek word nomos, meaning "law," also had the musical meaning of "melody." To submit, bodily, to the music through dance is to be incorporated into the community in a way far deeper that shared myth or custom can achieve. In synchronous movement to music or chanting voices, the petty rivalries and factional differences that might divide a group could be transmuted into harmless competition over one's prowess as a dancer, or forgotten. "Dance," as a neuroscientist put it, is "the biotechnology of group formation." (24)

Event Review: Fuck Shit Let's Dance at Deco

Our second installment of FSLD matched the first in terms of numbers, though the energy was a bit different and the presence of gay boys somewhat diminished. The compensating factor was a crossover of "straights," which, along with a conversation with Baron von Luxxury on the history of disco, helped me refine my idea of what I'm trying to accomplish with this night. We also learned that we can function with great agility in the face of the, um, challenges that club promoting presents. We still have a few things to figure out about this particular space and event, but I think that's what makes throwing a monthly party an interesting experiment in party logistics and mass psychology.

First, the numbers: the clicker showed 126 when we closed out, which is nine short of the last time. There were some people I was expecting to see who didn't make it out, which would have filled in a good chunk of that. In the further game of "who are these people," we had one group of five young Asian couples show up, and during Lord Kook's set he had the rapt attention of four young women who let out with a periodic "wa-hoo!" while grooving to his set - though a rather unusual situation for him, he did seem to enjoy their enthusiasm. There were several male/female couples, including the very hip DJ Candy (Bender, Heat) and her husband Twig (artist-in-residence at Heat), and another couple that I swear were tripping tits, since I couldn't understand a damn thing they were saying to me all night (I later had reason to believe that she was the ex-propriertress of Jezebel's Joint, the club that had previously been in the Deco building, though I couldn't find anyone to confirm that). The gay guys who did show up were of a pleasingly diverse variety, though I was especially happy that the neo-tribal and punkish alternaboys were well represented. Among our scenester stars were Johnny Cocksville, who wandered the club with a crop, looking for a suitable object upon which to apply it, Dan Karasic and DJ Donimo of Lucky Pierre, and DJ6 of Lucky Pierre and Bender. I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the giant pink and green rabbit, and Superboy.

As for the challenges, they ranged from personnel problems to blown speakers. Kitty, our coat check girl, called me at 5.30 and told me he'd had to go in for a root canal during the morning and was in no shape for a long late night. I was able to find a substitute, but then when we arrived at the club it was pointed out to us that one of the main suspended floor speakers, a JBL 15, had a completely shredded cone. We all scratched our heads over how this had happened (Kiko, the security guy, said it was like that when he showed up for work on Wednesday, and the club was closed on Monday and Tuesday), since those things are pretty indestructible, but there was only one thing to do: I got in the rental car, came home, loaded up one of my own JBLs, and got back to set it up fifteen minutes before we we were supposed to open. This still left us with the tasks of setting up the downstairs and cleaning up the coat check area, but all was ready on the dot of 9.

Though we were ready to go at the appointed time, it still took a while for things to take off. At 10.30 I was wondering where the hell everybody was, but by 11.30 we had a solid dancefloor. Neonbunny played a great set of harder electro to an unfortunately mostly empty room, and when Baron von Luxxury and Johnatron came on after Lord Kook they too had moments when the dancefloor seemed to thin out. This seemed to be another big difference from the first FSLD, when the dance floor was packed the entire time, though we also had a lot more in and out traffic this time as well. I was scheduled to go on at 2.00 when the Baron and Johnatron came off, but the dance floor energy was fragile enough that I decided it needed a more confident and able guide, and turned things over to Lord Kook again.

During a smoke break outside the Baron and I had a long conversation about disco music (broadly defined), and though our tastes run in somewhat different directions, we do share an interest in the social/cultural implications of the disco experience. This, along with a conversation I had with a gentleman at the end of night at the coat check, really made me put some thought into what I would like to accomplish with this night. He seemed to be a Deco regular who decided to come check out the party; in kidding tones he said he was suprised at the way the upstairs was set up "without glory holes." He then asked me when the next Starfucker was going to be, and I told him that it was done as a regular night, but would be back for Pride (taking over our fourth Friday, in fact).

What these conversations did was make me realize that, though we don't have a lot of the features you would associate with a gay night, like go-go boys, baby oil wrestling, wet jockstrap contests, or glory holes, I am more interested in the possibility of creating a night that, by virtue of the music that was played and the energy that was put forth, had a crossover appeal that could bring all kinds of people together. Sure it's important to me that our emphasis is on "a dance party for queers and their friends," but I want the friends as much as the queers. Something I realized later was that, despite having a sign on the door that advertised the night as exactly that, there were many non-queers who came through the door and hung out anyway. To me, that epitomizes the disco spirit; something that's associated with queers, but is also about openness and respect for everybody. I know we could get more gay guys to show up if we had go-gos or some kind of performance to appeal to prurient interests, but the moment we begin to do those sorts of things, I think we'll also begin to lose that crossover crowd. It's important to me that we don't do that because I do have this idea that, if club nights are about creating culture, I want to create something that enables people to transcend the barriers that exist between us, rather than something that closes us off in an insular world.

FSLD is pretty clearly going to be a work in progress for a while; aside from the abstract philosophical issues that need to be considered, there are very practical matters as well, like how to get more people through the door before 10PM (I'm open to any suggestions you all might have in that regard), working out the timing of the DJs for the different phases of the night, and what we can do to bump everything up a notch. I think there's a lot of room for us to grow, but as long as we can keep a steady crowd coming for the next few months, I also think there's the potential to do something we can really be proud of.