Mission Mission

Even though “then” was just a little over a year ago, it feels sooo much longer:

But, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, times are changing, so now I suppose you’d better get used to this sort of sterile digital future:

And yes, I realize this is just Silent Disco and they’ve been doing it for years, so I guess I’m ok with it as long as the homeless folks get headphones too. To be clear, I’m not saying it’s bad, just different. Of course, this better not evolve into some sort of Demolition Man future sex.

[Photo by Sean Knox, via Dispatches from Entitlementistan]

I think they were probably dancing to something like…

[via American Tripps]

Fall is a great time for seeing live theater, as the Indian Summer winds down and temperatures drop into that horrible 50-60° range, warm theaters are a welcome sanctuary. Katie & Brittany are on a roll, seeing all kinds, even though they’ve been overall less impressed than they hoped to be, but more on that later. Here they are with a report from Hush at Z Space:

Andrew Ward (top) and Felipe Barrueto-Cabello (bottom) perform in Hush; photo by Margo Moritz

Z Space is one of our favorite live performance venues in San Francisco, not just because it’s a beautiful warehouse theater, with not a bad seat in the house, and an art gallery in the lobby but also because there is always something new and different. Last week they premiered Hush a dance-theater piece created by the Joe Goode Performance Group. It had been featured on the cover of Theatre Bay Area and has been generally buzzed about, so we were very excited at opening night . . . maybe too excited.

Brittany: There were a lot of good things about this show. They were all really talented dancers. The foley and music was awesome. I loved watching the sound effects happen live. The set was pretty cool. The problem was the story was disappointingly trite, so the piece didn’t live up to the hype.

Like any play, once the plot was established I felt like the relationships between the characters should be driving the piece, but that didn’t happen. They established that there were specific relationships between specific actors, and that those people were playing the same roles throughout the play, but they were so focused on dancing they didn’t let the relationships develop. Great dancers don’t necessarily make great actors I guess. It felt like the piece lacked an emotional through line.

If this same story was told in 30-40 mins, instead of an hour fifteen, I would have probably walked away feeling like this was a perfect dance-theater piece, but for me it dragged.

Katie: Right! Wow, I couldn’t have said it better . . . so I won’t even try.

The Verdict: Do you love, love, love dance pieces? You need to see this show! Are you more into a well told story that happens to have beautiful movement and awesome music, then we don’t think you will be blown away by this piece as a whole.

The Drama Talk: All the elements to make an amazing dance-theater piece were there: talented people, a very awesome space, insane cool music and sound effects, however this was one time the whole was not greater than the sum of its parts. Falling short on the storyline, and indulging in few too many artsy repetitions of dance movements, made the show a little long and as a whole get a little . . . [we so don’t want to say it, because we HATE this word] boring.

The Drinks: Since the characters worked a dive bar we thought it would be best to go to the Homestead a few blocks away. We got our usuals and poured one out for unrealistic expectations.

Hush runs through 10/5 at Z Space, and tickets can be purchased through their website. Ticket prices vary. You can get seats way in the back for $15-20, but the best seats in the house will run you closer to $65-70.

I always used to think of Thursdays as the “local’s Friday” in the Mission, since on actual Friday the neighborhood is inundated with revelers from other parts of the city and Bay area vomiting on sidewalks.  Of course, that was also back when Jack’s would host karaoke regularly on Thursdays, and just by walking around the Mission you would run into a friend who was on their way to a dance party or something and invited you along for the fun.

Thankfully, there’s a few places that have managed to retain their Friday magic, and the Knockout is definitely one of them.  Speaking of which, if you need me tonight, I’ll be swigging whiskey and sweating to the oldies on the dance floor.

Not the Puck one, but the new one who lives over off Polk by the Hemlock. Jaime Jams ran into one of them the other day and had this exchange:

I just walked down to the Real World House, and I met one of the girls, Jamie, who’s on the show. And she says “Yeah, totally we’ll bring the whole gang down” to Debaser. “TV cameras and all.” Haha.

Whether or not they actually show up, tonight’s Debaser should be a blast either way.

[Photo]

If you’ve always wondered what a soul version of “Holiday in Cambodia” might sound like, now’s your chance to find out!

Danny White has been doing his thing for years now, and even though he can’t do it at the Attic anymore because of some NIMBY nonsense, he’s nonetheless been keeping the party going at Amnesia instead.  Tonight marks 8 fucking years of spinning everything from Holy Ghost and Hot Chip to the Pet Shop Boys and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which is a pretty damn long time to stay in the game!  There’s also going to be a documentary filming earlier in the evening, so stop on by if you’ve got some stories to share!

Check out all the deets here.

And we won’t get to see these amazing flyers or dance to the best soul grooves in town anymore!  Or so he threatens.

Best not to risk it.  See ya there!

All I needed to hear was that you get in for free by wearing a tracksuit.  Ch-check it out here.

Here‘s a blast from before the bust of ’01. When Slanted Door used to be on Valencia and places like Mangiafuoco on Guerrero used to offer basic Italian grub and grog (“It has chianti and what else do you need in an Italian restaurant”).

Benders was Sacrifice, serving up rum ribs and voodoo pasta in a tiki setting (“Don’t ask about how this purgatorial “tiki lounge” fits in, it just does”).

Booze was referred to as liquids and Amnesia charged a whopping $2 for live shows. Over at The Uptown a good jukebox was defined as one stocked with Dylan and Morphine, but beers were $3 and the dude next to you could probably tip you off on a well priced nitrous tank.

The current de-gentrified Club Veintiséis on Mission near 26th was the gentrified 26 Mix, a “sound bar” offering up a high quality listening experience while you sipped on your suds à la Tokyo style bars which feature a premium soundsystem and choice djs.

Bonus interview with dj Spesh aka “dj Special K” of club QOÖL fame right here, who will surely get a kick out of this decade old frosty picture we’ve unearthed.