The Juice Box

This weekend marked the 3rd Anniversary for Bearracuda and the Return of Industry from a summer break. Additionally, Flagging in the Park and Fresh rounded out a weekend of warm weather, sunshine and mild nights, and crowds everywhere. Below or the tasty tidbits from the things I was able to attend with some highlights added in from a guest reviewer.

Bearracuda – 3rd Anniversary Party

Rating: 3 out of 5 Pop Tarts (Bottles of Water)

by Jim Hauck

For this party alone, I had to change the rating from bottles of water to Pop Tarts. One only needs to go to Bearracuda to get the gist of this. Located in a small bar in the Polk, Tenderloin area, Deco lounge has a variety of elevations of levels and spaces to explore in a small bar scenario. Walking in you have a dance floor to your left and through a door, a bar along the wall and stairs to the back that lead to a pool table, which for Bearracuda becomes the “buffet” table, this the POP TARTS rating versus the water bottles, because low and behold, pop tarts where offered on the buffet table last night. It was quiet when we arrived, heading out early to start the night before heading over the return of Industry for an evening showcasing local talents. The DJs were playing a great mix of fun and recognizable tunes and the crowd was mingling up in the upper level where massages are offered through the night. The bar was speckled with balloons to signify a birthday party, and the festivities started off. Entertainment took over the dance floor space with several artists, some singing their own lyrics, some lip syncing, all in a fierce array from tragic, to tranny, to gender bending drag, and what a spectacle. The music overall never really called me to the dance floor, but socially this was a great party for catching up with friends old and new, meeting a few cute cubs and a great mix of folks who call Bearracuda their twice a month home.

Industry

Rating: 4 out of 5 Bottles of Water

by Jim Hauck and Frank Rodriguez

Industry returned to Mighty this weekend after a small summer break and it seemed that the crowd was really missing this party because they were out in force. Showcasing a local pool of San Francisco’s DJ talent, the music was really kicking by the time I arrived and DJ Russ Rich was already on the tables. Sadly I missed DJ James Torres set because of stopping over at Bearracuda first. Russ was playing the kind of music that makes a Saturday night party in the Mighty Box fun. With a killer sound system of speakers that tower over the moderate sized floor, one can easily find themselves lost amongst the sea of sweaty bodies, and this night was no exception. The boys (and some girls) packed the floor and were working out that dance floor beat and pouring out the sweat, in fact at times it was almost just too hot to stay on the dance floor and yours truly had to dig out a few times to get outside and cool down. Being slightly worn out and trying to sustain some energy levels, I only made it through the beginning of Jamie’s set and it was certainly keeping the beat going and the music pounding, and was delivering smiles across the dance floor. Additionally, there was memorable show piece was also given by our own Original Fag Hag, and now Diva of the stage, Ms. Suzan Revah, as she hopped onto the stage in a stylish Afro wig, leather outfit and some bling, to do a choreographed, sexy, sultry, and fun number, while throwing out fake money to the crowd – ah Suzan where do you find the energy to do this week after week. A great night of music, and a sexy beefy, hunky, hot in looks and temperature, crowd made for a celebratory return of Industry to the calendar. Great job Luke and Jamie on keeping this party going all of these years and giving us a reason to return to Industry and dance a mighty night away.

Now, seeing as I was unable to attend Industry from beginning to end, I have added the following additional guest review from my friend Frank Rodiguez to give you more details on how the opening set with DJ James Torres went as well as the late night set with my buddy DJ Frank Wild. So, here is Frank’s additions to how Industry went.

I haven’t been to Industry for a long time but I made an exception for the local DJ showcase on Saturday night.I got to the club around 10:30pm.James Torres was the opening DJ.As a former DJ myself I tend to critique how a DJ spins.James did a phenomenal job blending his beats and even did three songs back to back without any drop offs in interrupting the flow on the dance floor.James even added some tribal which got the people there early pumped up for the rest of the night.The dance floor wasn’t crowded yet until James was ready to relinquish his DJ duties to Russ Rich who took over around midnight.There were minor problems with the mixer but that didn’t stop the crowd from getting sweaty and singing along to the club anthems that Russ played.I needed to catch my breath a few times when the club got very crowded.Russ did great and took us on a sweat covered journey.Jamie J Sanchez took over and he never disappoints.Around this time our original fag hag Suzan Revah donned an Afro wig and did a stage show to the Beyonce song “Diva” which was in fact Jamie’s own private mix.Jamie kept the crowd moving until Frank Wild brought his peak hours set with much darker and harder beats.I felt like I was getting one hell of workout.Overall I had a great time and it was all about supporting our local DJs.

Flagging in the Park

Rating: N/A

by Jim Hauck

Flagging in the Park, the ritual gathering of flaggers and flow artists in the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park was the perfect setting for what worked out to be an amazing day in San Francisco. The morning fog cleared the air this time in San Francisco and one could certainly feel their heart beats rise as DJ Luke Johnstone played a perfect set of classic and new music to inspire these artists to take to the grassy meadow and let the silk fly. This event has deep routed history in the city and I applaud Xavier Caylor for continuing to pull these together 3-4 times during the non-rainy season. With the perfect weather for the day, the flaggers swelled to numbers well over 100 and with many there just to enjoy the music and fellowship, some to dance, and the passing tourist stopping in to take a look I would bet the crowds could have been as high as 150 or more at the peaks. If you have never attended a Flagging in the Park, watch for the next time and make sure you go. You do not have to be a flagger or flow artists to participate, but don’t be surprised if someone shows you how. Worst case you get an afternoon of great music, great people, and as in the case of this fundraising event, you help donate well over $600 to a worthy cause, which I believe was Larkin Street Youth Services this time. Luke and Xavier – thank you for making my Sunday exhausting and fun. If this was a club event, I would give it 5 bottles of water for sure.