It was a warm and jovial Friday eve, about half past six, when a large portion of San Franciscans were preparing to watch a last-ditch playoff push for the aged but still very much loved Warriors basketball team. Meanwhile, a small crowd of cyclists, tourists, electronic music fans, and straight-up randos cruised by, paused before, and happily grooved along to the quick-shifting techno and UKG beats that DJ Steady State was hurling from a former Fotomat kiosk located near the top of Haight Street.
Massive vibing to the beat took place while people sipped, smoked, toked, and got down just as the sun started to dip.
The Fotomat dates back to when Amoeba Records was a bowling alley, one in which many folks would spend Thanksgiving night rolling strikes and spares. Now, that Fotomat kiosk brings something else back to Haight Street—that weird, renegade, freaky type of love. There’s another nostalgic feel, a reminder of the days when people could pick up their actual, hand-held vacation photos without leaving their automobiles, by way of a drive-through mini-gazebo.
Now, adventurous San Francisco label and collective program audio has launched an online radio station there, live Fridays-Sundays, 4pm-8pm—possibly the best possible use for the little outpost. The new Haight Street entity began broadcasting on the internet March 21; those live sets have been archived here. There are also several parties in bigger spaces hosted by the collective, including this weekend’s massive Parameter Festival at the equally massive SVN West.
