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.

Another One Bites the Dust: End of The Workout?

Back during the summer I was very enthusiastic in my review of The Workout, a monthly excursion into noveau disco from Baron von Luxxury, Johnatron, Pozibelle, and special guests. They moved from Le Duplex, arguably the worst club space in downtown (about which I have heard nothing in months), to House of Shields, and as recently as last month were still doing their monthly. Now, however, I find no listing of them for this Thursday, and no mention of any upcoming events on their blog, discoworkout.com (but lots and lots of cool MP3s for those of you into that sound). These guys were putting together a fun vibe, and I hope to hear about another of their events soon (I have seen Johnatron on the bill for some other events, so keep an eye peeled for their going's on around town).

Upcoming Event: The Workout at The House of Shields, Thursday September 27

The Workout
DJs Pozibelle, Johnatron, and the infamous Baron von Luxxury drop dope electro and nouveau disco beats for you at this swell old-school saloon. This week's special guest is Sorcerer from Oakland.
10PM - 2AM
$5, FREE before 11PM with RSVP to http://sanfrancisco.going.com/discoworkout
The House of Shields, 33 New Montgomery at Market

Event Review: The Workout at House of Shields

The Workout has definitely stepped up in the world in its new location at House of Shields, and though this reporter had to make it short night, I'll definitely be adding to it my regular calendar of events.

The boyfriend and I met at House of Shields around 10PM, he having gone off to see the latest Stephen King flick, 1408, while I stayed at home and twiddled some knobs. When I got there around ten there was a smallish crowd that seemed more like overflow from The Palace Hotel across the street, but there were definitely a few kids there for the evening's festitivities, and as the hour approached midnight their numbers increased substantially. The House of Shields is an old-school, dark wood panelled bar that looks like it's been there for at least a hundred years. There is an upstairs mezzanine area where the DJ gear was set up, and I expect this probably serves as a small dance floor when it gets really rockin' (I think it may have been a sort of orchestra loft back in the day). In keeping with the old-school motif drinks were generous and reasonably priced, $5 each for a well cocktail and a draft import beer. It was a really fun space to hear electronic music, if only for the contrast between the old world and the new, both joined together by the spirit of people wanting to go out and have a good time.

Johnatron was on the decks when I first arrived but passed off to Pozibelle shortly thereafter. The sound was a tremendous improvement over Le Suckplex, though I pitied Pozibelle and her lack of a monitor. Nonetheless she soldiered on and laid out some fun tracks of an electro techno dance variety to warm up the evening, including one of Lord Kook's favorites from his Drunk and Horny days, "Greetings from Flashbackville" by Gods of Blitz. Around 11.30 she started into more hip-hop territory, I expect to set the stage a bit for Ghosts on Tape, but both the boyfriend and I needed to call it an early night, so we didn't get to see just how crazy things got.

This has the makings of a really cute little scene (with some cute boys, too) for a Thursday evening, and I'd strongly encourage you all to go check it out. The Workout kids definitely have an ear for what's new, cool, and interesting, and I look forward to seeing what they bring to our little scene.

Upcoming Event: The Workout at House of Shields, Thursday June 28

The kids from The Workout move into a new location this week, The House of Shields, half a block from the New Montgomery MUNI stop. Live sets from local hero Ghosts on Tape and resident Johnatron, plus DJ sets from Pozibelle and Johnatron. Check out my review of The Workout from when they were at Le Duplex.

10PM - 2AM
$5 cover
39 New Montgomery Street
More info at discoworkout.com

Event Review: Workout at Le Duplex

It's always a good sign when you start off your evening thinking "Oh, hey, I'll go have a drink and check this out, and then get myself home for a decent bedtime since I have to work tomorrow" and then find yourself walking home very toasty after having closed out the party. Such was my experience of Workout at Le Duplex, hosted by the kids behind Luxxury, Johnatron and Baron von Luxxury, where the boyfriend and I kept thinking, hey, this is cool, let's have another drink and see what happens.

What happened was a fun set of dirty electro disco from the Baron hisself, some strange 80s mixes from Pozibelle (including one of ABCs "How to be a Millionaire" that inspired my first ever DJ anxiety dream, flipping through my records looking for this track as the previous DJ's record spun down to its final groove, the crowd all waiting for me to lay down the next one), and an awesome awesome set of knarzy electrotechno grooves from Brooklyn's Devin Dirt (including his great remix of Luxxury's "Rock and Roll is Evil"). Devin is at it again tonight at Lights Down Low, and the Luxxury boys will be playing a live set, so go go go check it out, I cannot possibly think of a better way to spend your Friday night. Workout is a monthly on the fourth Thursday, and though turnout was low last night (maybe twenty people on the dancefloor at the height of the night) owing, I think, to the holiday AND Michael Mayer at Mezzanine, this feels to me like the kind of scene where you're going to get to see people that you'll be hearing a lot about later. And did I mention that there are cupcakes?

As for Le Duplex, it was Le Suck. I remember when this space used to be a gay leather bar called The Loading Dock (I even spent some time suspended from the ceiling during one memorable evening), and aside from tarting the place up with a red and white color scheme, some cheap-ass lights for the dance area, and a stripper pole, not much has been done to improve the space. The sound system was truly terrible for this kind of music, two EAW speakers that handle only highs and mids up on the ceiling and a subwoofer that was CUT OFF. Really, no bass at all. Plus, $6 for well drinks and $7 for Stoli and tonic is outrageous. We had a drink earlier in the evening at Wish, the home of handbag house (and a crowd that creeps me out), and it was a buck cheaper than Le Duplex, which is much, much lower on the club evolutionary scale. And then, they flipped the lights up at 1.15, after Barbeau had been DJing for what seemed like twenty minutes. Indifferent and surly staff, expensive drinks, lousy sound, and they don't even have the decency to let the party run its course. Here's hoping Le Duplex gets rid of its lousy attitude and upscale pretensions ($170 dollar bottle service on other nights to sit in cheezy upholstered booths) and realizes that it's really just a hole-in-the-wall club in a desolate part of the Mission.