Club Review: 1015 Folsom

For those in the club scene there’s a saying: friends don’t let friends go to 1015. Expensive drinks, surly security, and a general thuggish atmosphere have all dragged down what is certainly one of the best-appointed clubs in all of San Francisco.

Back before the club crackdown of 2000 1015 was San Francisco’s major dance venue, but a series of events led to a threat by the police to close the place down. In response the club management installed security cameras and instituted one of the most oppressive security regimes ever – I’ve never been patted down like I was patted down there, complete with thumbs around the inside of my waistband. Going to 1015 was like entering a Federal building, and as a result most of the underground club kids began to shun it. Those who did show up were largely the bridge-and-tunnel crowd, and members of Asian gangs who used it as their own personal clubhouse.

Around 2004 the club hired Lorin Ashton (Bassnectar) as General Manager. Before he broke into breaks Lorin had been a psytrance DJ, and under his management the club began to book in acts like Infected Mushroom. This brought some of the underground kids back into the club, and on that particular night the security consisted of the door guy essentially waving his hands over me. Then, in Feburary of 2005, during a performance by Paul Van Dyk, one of those Asian mobsters decided to settle a score and gunned down his victim in the downstairs dance floor. For that night there had been special VIP entrance that allowed you to go straight in without a pat-down, which meant if you wanted to carry a weapon, all you had to do was pay a little more.

Following that incident the security cracked down again, and though 1015 continues to be one of the few places that can book in the big names, there aren’t many dedicated clubbers who are willing to deal with the club’s overall bad vibes to see them. Fridays seem to be the best nights, with various monthly parties, but all Saturday night parties as of this writing are "strict dress code enforced," which is exactly what I'm into. If you want a night of security goons, overpriced drinks, girls in cocktail dresses, guys in button-up shirts wearing too much cologne, and thugs, then 1015 is the place for you. Otherwise, wait until the same big-name DJ comes to Ruby Skye.