A very warm day in the middle of a heat wave. I spend much of the day working on my book in a borrowed room, and at the end of the afternoon I go to the Atlas Cafe in the Mission District to have a cappucino and make a few notes.

As I circle to find a parking place, which is difficult in the Mission even on a Saturday afternoon, I notice an unmarked police car with a plainclothes driver keeping an eagle eye out for something. And a couple minutes later I see three cop cars come roaring up the street. They turn the corner by the cafe.

When I reach its front door I see the cops have detained two Latino teenagers dressed in the baggy, neutral uniform of the neighborhood: white t-shirts and black shorts. There are now five cop cars for these two kids, whom I had idly noticed walking quietly along a block away when I was looking for parking.

Inside the cafe, most of the tables are occupied with people studying or working on laptops. A young woman and young man are playing guitars — mostly ragtime and songs from the 1920s. They play a few choruses and then the woman sings one of those old songs in a clear tenor voice. (Their names, I found out when I looked at the CD they had for sale, are Craig Ventresco and Meredith Axelrod, and here’s a YoutTube video of them performing at the Atlas earlier this year.)

The cops let the two kids go and the police cars drive away. Almost no one in the cafe noticed the roust taking place across the street.

After several songs, the woman’s place is taken by a young man, who plays instrumentals while the woman passes a hat. Then a couple in their thirties — the man in a straw fedora, a woman in a sundress — stand up and begin to dance the tango. The guitarists are still playing ragtime but the dancers are good enough to do the tango to ragtime anyway.

Just a couple hours ago, while Willie Brown cavorted in the lobby with some ladies, and Sister Flora Fauna of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence proclaimed and invoked a chant to create a special state of sainthood for the deceased proprietor of the O’Farrell Theater, guests drank, ate and cemented the memory of notorious strip club operator Jim Mitchell into their personal histories.

Drinks were spilled, as were many stories, most likely tall tales…but none colorful or tall enough to meet the higher than high & wild standards he’d been setting in that same building since 1969. While he certainly had his political and professional enemies, all who’d have no problem deriding his morals & methods over the years…

As if anyone there ever gave a flying f*ck about any of that crap…

(especially the world’s youngest pole dancer…)

Like any party held there over the years, the mood remained as festive as possible under the conditions. The women were gorgeous, the oysters from British Columbia were delicious, as was the gumbo, and the drinks at the usually dry theater were quite possibly stiffer than the d*cks for once, while the girls pranced & danced through the crowd.

It wasn’t quite the good ol’ days, but what ever is?

More observations & a few extremely rare pics from the deep innards and archives of the infamous O’Farrell theater after the jump…
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No, the Republican presidential debates haven’t landed in South of Market. Better. The Eagle hosted its annual mud wrestling event this past Saturday. Individuals very secure in their body image grappled and slid their way through smackdowns, headlocks and more than a little hosing down afterwards. At left is retro homo extraordinaire, DJ Bus Station John and a brave extroverted contestant. We both agreed that oddly absent from such an elaborate presentation was, say: an announcer, rounds, winners… Hmm… wait… Could this just be an excuse for ‘the gays’ to get silly, half-naked (or more) and ‘dirty’ in public? I’ll vote for that ticket. And thank God, unlike last year, I managed not to get entirely bystander-splattered in my quest for the best boozy photos.

The owners of the Hole In The Wall Saloon face the city planning commission today for a hearing circa 5pm in room 400 at City Hall that could determine whether they are allowed to reopen their existing bar in a new location they purchased on Folsom St .

As noted in an April post, the bar intended to vacate their previous location, and move to 1369 Folsom, between Dore and 10th. Despite a long history of leather & liquor co-mingling on Folsom, a newly empowered residential regime in the rapidly NIMBY-fied SOMA district may not allow a simple license transfer even though their liquor license is in perfect standing with the State’s ABC…

Read on about the “hard mitigations” and the Hole In The Wall bar vs the self appointed Western SOMA Citizens Planning Task Force after the jump…
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It may be hard to imagine that 6th & Mission once had it’s own miniature golf course, but here it is in a 1930’s photo from the SF Public Library collection. Nowadays the recreational pursuits in the neighborhood are quite different, and hardly as wholesome looking.

The current strip of nightclubs along SF’s seedy 6th Street strip and it’s offshoot alleys provide a classic study in contrasts. Fresh faced suburban bred 20-somethings careen intoxicatedly in and out of clubs looking to partake in some sort of overpriced quasi-glam nightlife activities, whilst dozens of ever present ne’er do’ells, derelicts and addicts of various sorts bob about, some actually laying sprawled on the concrete.

Word filters out that after a good few years of pioneering the attempted hipster takeover of the block, The Arrow Bar operators are tired of struggling and are calling it quits. This weekend is the last hurrah, with Monday night being the last chance to grab a PBR at their farewell blast. The place had been for sale since early this year, and the business opportunity to own your own urban squalor centric club was listed for about $160,000. I’m not sure who the new caretakers of the license might be, but we’ll wish ‘em luck.

You might notice how empty the Arrow Bar bar is in this real estate website photo, and that’s either because the cover charge to get into the 900 sq ft dump was normally so high on a typical Monday that no one bothered to come in, or that everyone is quite possibly in the bathroom getting high…

Me thinks that white powder ain’t leftover Comet bathroom cleanser on the handy counter by the sink y’all…

Meanwhile, over at the sleek 1000 capacity Mezzanine club on Jessie, the cavernous concrete club was packed with dancing fools last night gulping down $8 & $10 cocktails while grooving to the U.K electronica mash maestros Soulwax. The “no ins & outs” Mezzanine is seemingly raking in dough from it’s captive audience, where even a 60 cent roll of lifesavers can set you back $2…

The joint is staffed to the gills with 4 bars pumping out top shelf drinks, there’s state of the art sound, video and ventilation systems, a comfortable VIP area and backstage replete with shower & eye pleasing art, furniture, fridge and dimmed recessed lighting.

Meanwhile the largest demographic segment of tenants in the square mile around 6th street are people making under $10,000 a year and most literally don’t have apot to piss in, unless you count a communal toilet down the hall…

If you’d like to read more on the 6th Street Strip and trivia and travails of Club Six and it’s neighbors, follow after the jump. We’ve even got a link that’ll get you onto the guestlist for a private JetBlue sponsored showcase at Mezzanine this Tuesday night, May 1st with Sweden’s current hottest musical exports The Teddybears STHLM…
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Passing this letter on from the owners of the popular gay gathering places Eagle Tavern and Hole in the Wall. These two places have been a community institution for over two decades, and I hate to see something like this happen to them because of someone who cannot accept the culture of their own neighborhood.

Dear Friends of SOMA Gay Culture,

Hole In The Wall Saloon has become famous since it opened some thirteen years ago. At the depth of the AIDS epidemic, when gay South of Market seemed to be dying, “The Hole” became a joyous retreat for our community with an accent on art, fun, and music. A thinking man’s bar.

Anyway, the building where it lives now is rapidly falling apart. For years we’ve been looking for a more secure location, and in October of 2006 we bought a suitable property on Folsom Street.

Shortly thereafter, a man named Jim Meko handed us a letter. Allegedly, he had already delivered a copy to the seller’s realtor before we bought the property. We’d never seen this letter. It stated that he and the neighborhood did not want another bar in the South of Market area (despite the fact that we had already been here for twelve and a half years). So we held a neighborhood meeting and presented our plans. We assured everyone that we would address all concerns with haste and sincerity. Still, Mr. Jim Meko countered that if he stood at the intersection of 8th and Folsom streets, he could hear loud music from inside Hole In The Wall on any given night. He stated that The Eagle Tavern, our second establishment (which has been a gay bar for more than twenty-five years now) was a terrible nuisance and that he was constantly annoyed by the commotion from its Sunday community benefits. He finally stood up and exclaimed the following to our new neighbors: “Don’t trust these guys! They’re bad bar owners!”

This last accusation cut the deepest. We’ve tried hard over the years to be a positive force in our small corner of the world. We clean and police the streets in front of our establishments. We donate time, money, and energy to charities and clubs that we see making a difference. Most importantly, we respect our employees as human beings with rights. Since the beginning, we’ve provided them with health insurance, paid vacations, and a yearly retreat at The Russian River. Despite Mr. Jim Meko’s characterization of it as a nuisance, The Eagle Tavern raises tens of thousands of dollars for charities and civic organizations each year. Finally, we can’t count how many gay men have sworn they met their life partner at the Hole In The Wall Saloon and consider it a sacred place. We’re proud of these things and believe ourselves to be far from “bad bar owners”.

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A visceral local rock experience, and possible extravaganza is in store for those that wander down to the Eagle Tavern tonight…

It’s long been a bastion of gay biker culture, run by members of the Rainbow Motorcycle Club, who’ve made it into a veritable museum & proudly fly the colors of all their fallen comrades from many other clubs as well on the walls. The friendly & loyal staff, plus large patio with it’s heat lamps & roaring fire pit is a great place to hang out & chat no matter what the weather. For at least the last 7 years or more , it’s also one of SF’s most beloved and low profile musical venues whenever a hard rocking edition of their long running Thursday Night Live series goes off.

The Sorrow Town Choir will be celebrating the release of their new EP “Espinas de la Vida” ( aka Thorns of Life), with some special musical guests including Eagle bartender/booker Doug Hilsinger (Waycross, Eno-orchestra etc) sitting in.

Opening sets will be provided by local up & comers Empty Rooms, as well as perennial punk rocktivist Jimmy Shotwell. Also on the bill is an increasingly rare live appearance by local musician/bartender Bone Cootes, tonight jamming with The Poontones who feature ol’ pals like Stinky ( Buck Naked) , Kevin Ink ( Kelley Stoltz) and Mike Hunter ( Naysayers, Tales of Terror).

I’ve linked up some mp3’s of the previously mentioned groups for anyone interested in previewing the noisy hubbub after the jump…
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Every year, I always feel some sort of nagging “I shoulda, coulda, woulda ” when it comes to New Years Eve. Unlike those quieter manufactured religious holidays, NYE is sorta a huge amateur night and mess, one that is celebrated all over.

There are giant pricetags put on often ordinary looking shows and then there are some magical bills that actually do seem worthwhile…

I never seem to know for sure where to head to, so I end up seeing the Supersuckers at Slims or something…( well not this year, cuz they are in Utah…)

I know that because I spent way too much time this past month compiling a list of all the huge mega concerts & even many lil pub & vfw hall shows I could find…

Not just in the Bay Area mind you, but from Amsterdam to Auckland, Tokyo to Tucson…

and I figgered I should post it here before it becomes horribly out of date within the next few dozen hours…

So if yer looking on info on where the party is at when they drop the big ball…

read on after the jump…
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Known to friends and fans throughout the world, the Simmersbach brothers & friends ( formerly known as A Subtle Plague) are heading into town, and tomorrow starts their 2 week run of shows in SF…

Born of German extraction but raised in Africa as well as other locales, the Simmersbach family was actually unique enough to be featured in an award winning ZDF/ARTE documentary “The Big Pink”. From being punk rock wunderkinds in the 80’s , they now now have lil’ wunderkinds of their own, but still keep on rolling as musical ambassadors from their own diversified dimension.

The group’s influences run the gamut of global folk and rock idioms, with an always apparent appreciation for momentous and energetic live performances known from Kosovo to Kansas City, Budapest to Bangkok, Iowa to Italy.

Musically they are like comets splitting time between their current homebase in Hungary and their old stomping grounds of SF, their passports are likely so heavily stamped you can’t read em anymore. At various points in time I’ve come across them here in town, whether volunteering to play a wherehouse party benefit show, a free stage at The SF Fair, or a decade later volunteering to get the Baobab restaurant off the ground with childhood friend Marco Senghor.

Catch em while you can, cuz they are apparently still moving & on their way south to Tijuana and parts beyond and are a limited time offer…

They’ll be at the Make Out Room on 22nd street Sunday night with Eagle Seagull and Eric Maskol .

They have a few other SF events scheduled including an appearance this coming weekend at Michael Franti’s “Power To The Peaceful” concert in Golden Gate Park , all dates listed below…
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My friend Miss Jessi got me out of my sunday pajamas (and blues) yesterday to go “terrorize gay bars” with her, and it sort of turned into an informal “girls crash Castro bars” afternoon. Which is something we’ve talked about doing for at least a year, getting dressed up and just venturing into the all-male enclaves and sort of either forcing them to tolerate us being there, or possibly having a really good time. We wanted the good time. What we got is after the jump.
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