PARTY RADAR: Up Your Alley parties, Dinosaur Nightlife, King Britt, Fort Rameau, more

Choice nightlife and dance floor affairs, July 23-26.

By Marke B. 

PARTY RADAR First of all, go see that new movie Tangerine. Not so much because it’s about nightlife (although there is a seminal nightclub scene), or just because it’s a fantastic indie made on iPhone, and looks incredible nonetheless.

But mostly because the movie, which chronicles a wild day — Christmas Eve — in the life of two firecracker trans sex workers in Los Angeles finally records for the world a realistic take on the kinds of fierce and unruly personalities you used to encounter in SF clubs before it got so damn expensive to live here. (Bonus: It’s playing at Embarcadero Cinema, which has a full bar!)

I mean, for every character big and small who explodes on the screen in Tangerine, I could pretty much find a direct corollary in the catalogue of ’90s and early 2000s club kids. I don’t miss the mess and I don’t miss the meth, but I miss the sense of unedited expression, rampant drug use in bathrooms and back rooms, crazy all-nighters in donut shops and diners, and random encounters with people on the street and by the booth who may have infuriated and embarrassed you, but at the end of the day, by the dawn’s early light, were your sisters for life.

It was a hoot feeling some of those unfettered feelings again watching the excellent cast onscreen, can’t wait to unleash some of that energy at the clubs this week:

>>>>> THURSDAY JULY 23 <<<<<

>>> DINOSAUR NIGHTLIFE The weekly evening party at the Cal Academy of Sciences takes on the best subject ever — RRRRAWR! Music and drinks throughout the museum with our very own bass-heavy Slayers Club, Jurassic Park movie screening (duh), and a super cool presentation “on the historic ‘Bone Wars’ between legendary Victorian fossil-hunter rivals Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh, the first to discover dinosaur superstars like Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Dimetrodon.” Heh heh, ‘Bone Wars.’ Thu/23, 6pm-10pm, $12. Cal Academy, SF. Tickets and more info here.

>>> AFROLICIOUS WITH MIDTOWN SOCIAL The awesome, musical McGuire Brothers and their funky siblings in the live Afrolicious party crew are back, taking up a monthly residency at Mission concert venue the Chapel. This time around, they’re bringing super-groovy local gaggle Midtown Social along for the ride. Lots of beats and brass and wild dancing to be had. Thu/23, 9pm, $20. The Chapel, SF. Tickets and more info here. 

>>>>> FRIDAY JULY 24 <<<<<

>>> KING BRITT From Digable Planets hip-hop through slick ’80s revivalism and funky trip-hop to sexy, sexy deep tech, the globe-trotting pioneer has been smoothly rocking parties so long he really deserves his own genre. He killed it playing the Wednesday Housepitality party last year, but now we get to hear him late and on a weekend, with the Housepitality crew in tow. Fri/24, 9pm-3am, $15-$20. Monarch, SF. Tickets and more info here. 

>>> BOYSNOIZE 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY The absolutely bonkers, eponymous electro label, started by Alex Ridha (aka Boys Noize), celebrates a decade of wonderful pounding — and some pretty clever use of house classics — is coming with Salva and Spank Rock to tear up Mezzanine. Fri/24, 9pm- late, $25-$40. Mezzanine, SF. Tickets and more info here. 

>>> STEAM GOES UP YOUR ALLEY Let the Up Your Alley Fair parties roll in, right through Sunday’s huge gay kink fair (not to be confused with Folsom Street Fair, its bigger, polysexual brother in September). This monthly sweat-fest is all about that bathhouse feel, with a wet towel contest, shower-stall go-gos, and muy caliente tunes from Stefanie Phillips and Guy Ruben. Fri/24, 9pm, $5 benefitting Shanti project. powerhouse, SF. More info here. 

>>> THROWBACK Fantastically classic SF house DJs David Harness, Homero Espinosa, and Dan Suda take us back to the wild deep and underground sounds of the ’90s on Mighty’s mighty sound system. This monthly shindig is so heartwarming/footstomping. Fri/24, 9pm-3am, free before 11:30 with RSVP here. $10-$20. Mighty, SF. Tickets and more info here. 

>>>HOG WILD Honey Soundsystem’s darker minds, Josh Cheon and Robot Hustle, play hot tracks all night at the Eagle for Up Your Alley Fair fetish boys and girls. It’ll get a little piggy. Fri/24, 9pm, $10 if you’re in leather/fetish gear; $15 if you’re in street clothes. SF Eagle. More info here. 

>>> DUB MISSION EAST One of our longer-running weeklies, the deep and delicious Dub Mission, is finally launching an edition for the East Bay heads. Residents DJ Sep, Maneesh the Twister, and Vinnie Esparza welcome special guests every fourth Friday t Bissap Baobab. Oakland. Good times! Fri/24, 10pm, $5. Bissap Baobab Oakland. More info here.

>>> SOME THING KITTENS AND UNICORNS One of our most outspoken, politically involved, and freaking hilarious drag queens, Lil Miss Hot Mess, just announced she’s leaving the city next month for grad school in NYC. Dammit! But first she’s gonna turn this town upside down, starting with this crazy night of art drag with fellow her-lariousness LOL McFiercen.  A zillion drag performers support. Fri/24, 10pm, $9. The Stud, SF. More info here.

>>>>> SATURDAY, JULY 25 <<<<<

>>>FORT ROMEAU Stylish, well-curated house from this Chicago player that will loosen your collar and have you tipping back your cocktail to hit the dance floor. He’ll be taking the Lights Down Low party in a silky, neon-lit direction, with special guest DJ Moderna. Sat/25, 10pm-3am, $10-$15. Monarch, SF. Tickets and more info here. 

>>> CLUB 1994 This fabulously successful retro-celebratory party has been going on so long, it should have its own retry-celebratory party! DJs Jeffrey Paradise and Vin Sol, along with lovely host Andy Vague, leave you all Clueless and boy banded on the dance floor. PLUS: special appearance by ’90s cover band Crossfire. Sat/25, 10pm, $10-$20. Rickshaw Stop, SF. Tickets and more info here.

>>>THE SCUMFROG Unless there’s a “z” or a dollar sign in it, or you have fallen victim to that awful trend of playing off a celebrity moniker a la Pill Cosby, you probably don’t have a worse DJ name than The Scumfrog. One day I will drill down deep to find its origins (probably not), but for now I just really dig the 25-year-veteran’s impeccably curated sound, which combines heady techno effects with deep, involving grooves. He plays Public Works with Doubting Thomas. Sat/25, 9:30pm-3:30am, $17. Public Works, SF. Tickets and more info here. 

>>> SNEAKS My sneaker fetish is more about buying them than fawning over them sexually, but both types can be a great form of foreplay. DJ Jackie House of Honey Soundsystem headlines this hot sneaker-themed affair from the Polyglamorous crew, just in time for Up Your Alley Fair on Sunday. It’s in the afternoon at Oasis, the better to scope out one’s gleaming Adidas. Strict dress code! Sneakers, sportswear only. No Bonobos. Sat/25, 3pm-9pm, $10-$15. Oasis SF. Tickets and more info here.  

 >>> POUND PUPPY Arf! Also in time for Up Your Alley Fair is this gay pup-themed affair, whirring scruffy he-men and he-boys burst from the cage society imposes and revert to their more canine selves. They drink and dance, too, to tunes from Chicago’s sexy duo of doggy destruction, Harry + JPEG, plus Jacktone Records’ Doc Sleep and Jordee and residents Taco Tuesday and kevin O’Connor. Get out there shake some fur, Sir Wagsalot. Sat/25, 10pm, $15. F8, SF. More info here.

>>>>> SUNDAY, JULY 26 <<<<<

>>> DUB MISSION Musical madness and dub delirium when our own King I-Vie of Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi headlines at the weekly Dub Mission joint. True massive sound system style, combining classic and contemporary sounds in the Mission. Sun/26, 9pm, $7-$10. Elbo Room, SF. Tickets and more info here. 

>>> HARD FRENCH DOES UP YOUR ALLEY Beloved monthly classic soul patio party meets old school gay fetish fair: fantastic hijinx ensue. This is gonna be one of those “only in SF” affairs, surely, as Honey Soundsystem’s Jason Kendig and the wonderful CarrieOnDisco hit the decks for the children. Sun/26, 6pm-midnight, $10. Oasis SF. Tickets and more info here.