Hard French, El Rio's award-winning afternoon queer dance party in the Mission District, turned soft over the weekend after several of its Facebook followers (i.e., commenters) took offense to their naming their Cinco de Mayo's party "Pico de Gallo." Some daytime disco fans thought the salsa-themed title was a touch racist. For whatever reasons. Furthermore, club promoters (quite cleverly) encouraged revelers to come dressed as their favorite Pico de Gallo ingredient — e.g., tomatoes, red onion, jalapenos, garlic, etc. Intended to mock the drunk, white frat boys and brogrammers who party in the Mission wearing sombreros on May 5th, some Hard French fans took umbrage and found the entire bit culturally insensitive. Some were angered yet begged for more "dialogue". Some simply didn't care. Either way it made for interesting commentary and fist-shaking that only voices on the interwebs can muster. A few choice Facebook moments: more ›

Let's welcome Veronica de la Mora to SFist, as she shares her concert-going wisdom with us on a regular basis. Veronica attends several shows per week, so keep up to date with the week's best shows happening throughout the Bay Area! more ›

By now many of you know about Allan Hough's now famous Berlin-style ping pong party called American Tripps. It is, in a word, spectacular. Loads of festive folks walk around a ping pong table and hit the ball, with those who fuck up the volley pulled from the round, until a winner is crowned. In addition to the ping pong playing, there will be foosball and skeeball tables. And, of course, a full bar. more ›

Fresh off of yesterday's announcement that plans are finally in the works to fix up the New Mission Theater, Mission Street tycoon Gus Murad's other holding over at Medjool announced they will be closing their massive dining room for renovations starting next Monday. The ground floor dining area (and the nightclub's dance floor, we imagine) will remain closed indefinitely, but the controversial roof deck will stay open for food and beverage service while the renovations are underway. more ›

Like a scene out of Sweet Charity, a 30-year-old woman was punched and robbed last night in the Mission after meeting what she thought was a nice man at a nightclub. SF Examiner breathlessly reports: "As they were walking, the faux Don Juan dipped his grubby mitts into the victim’s purse, police said. When she asked him what he was doing, he punched her in the face and ran off with the purse." The incident happened at Hidalgo Terrace and Dolores a little before 2:30 a.m. more ›

Two parties. One night. Both perfect for you and your dilated pupils. First up, we have Go Bang! at Deco Lounge in the Tenderloin. The regular club night snorts things into high gear with a most festive end-of-2011 bash. But don't take our word for it. Hell no. Here's what SF Bay Guardian's delicious Marke B had to say about Go Bang!: "This awesome, mixed-crowd monthly disco party has zero attitude but all the glamour. It's like a Studio 54 you can actually get into. Atlanta's DJ Osmose will bring his scratching turntable technique to bear on some rare disco tracks this NYE, along with Doc Sleep, Eddie House, and hosts Sergio and Steve Fabus. Good times!" more ›

The crazy sex cool kids of Mission Mission will blow your minds this Friday. And next Friday too. That's just what they do! What are we talking about? This: Mission Mission editor Allan Hough's world was rocked after playing ping pong in Berlin a couple of years ago, so he decided to bring it to the Mission for the first two Fridays in August. It’s a party christened American Tripps, which debuts the first two Fridays in August. Here's how it works: more ›

Over the past year, the San Francisco Health Department has tirelessly worked to shutdown the scourge known as hookah lounges. For those not in the know, hookah lounges are a rite of passage for anyone new to the Bay Area. At these cesspools of moral bankruptcy, one can partake in smoking innocuous, flavored tobacco (which violates the indoor smoking ban) while ordering a side of dolmas or hummus and pita triangles. They're as bad as Hitler. more ›

Three-day music festival Outside Lands, running August 12 - 14, just announced several "special late shows" that will only be accessible to ticket holders... for a price. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Eskmo, Best Coast, the Original Meters, Arctic Monkeys, Vetiver, STS9, The Vaccines, and the Warren Haynes Band will all perform at the following clubs and times: more ›

Carlos Bar, one of the few watering holes in the Mission geared towards Latinos, closed its doors on June 30. Its alcohol license was suspended by the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control. Why? Mission Local reports: "According to Danielle Shafer, supervisor investigator with the Department of Alcohol Beverage ControlA six-month department investigation, which began 2009 and completed early 2010, found bar owner Carlos Gutierrez and his employees guilty of profit sharing - that is, hiring cocktail waitresses to pressure patrons into buying drinks at a higher rate than normal." more ›

Hi, everybody. Welcome to Gay Pride weekend in San Francisco. What's Gay Pride weekend, exactly? Well, it's the time of year when lesbians hold hands walking down Market Street and gay men's pupils dilate to the size of dinner plates. More or less. And what with so many parties happening from today until the wee hours of Monday morning, we here at SFist would like to tell you what to notice and what to avoid. You're welcome. more ›

We're hearing word that somebody drove a car into two pedestrians outside DNA Lounge after Trannyshack on Sunday night. One bystander at the scene told SFist that "[t]he driver just took off. Lots of sirens and ambulances. No idea what the victims' condition is or whether they caught the driver." We spoke to a DNA Lounge manager who told us that, as of Tuesday afternoon, they knew as much as we did. more ›

Two people were killed and four wounded early Monday morning outside Sweet Jimmie's near Jack London Square. The deadly shootings, it seems, were sparked by the bouncer refusing to admit several patrons. "Several men in a car pulled up to the club and tried to get into the club but were denied entry, authorities said. One of the men became angry, pulled out an assault rifle and opened fire," reports the Chronicle. more ›

Starting on May 14, and the second Saturday of each month following, fetish venue Club Eight will host a club night dedicated to gingers and those who admire their fiery locks. It's called Red Meat, it's in SoMa, and your very own SFist editor (a thirtysomething survivor of crimson-infused follicles) will be there for the kickoff to give you a blow-by-blow account, if you will. (But probably only once as we get a bit squeamish around redhead fetishists. Sorry.) more ›

Last night's meeting to discuss new security proposals for San Francisco nightclubs -- which would include ID scanning and face recording of patrons, among other things -- was postponed. Mayor Lee wanted "further analysis and study" before moving forward, reports The Examiner. While the odds of the city seeing each rule put into action are slim, that didn't stop privacy rights groups and members from voicing their concern. more ›

The Lower Haight's only true nightclub, Underground SF, is up for sale. In fact, the entire building can be yours for around $1.5 million. According to Haighteration, the owner is "looking to part with either the property, the business, or both." So, if you want to buy a nightclub and, say, change its name to something that isn't mentally-challenged (there's no logical reason to use "SF" in the name of an establishment that's already in San Francisco), check out this listing. more ›

Popular ice cream scoopers Humphrey Slocombe celebrates two years of tickling your sweet tooth with a party at Truck (1900 Folsom) tonight. Local drag icon Suppositori Spelling hosts an evening of drag, booze, ice cream and other treats starting at 9 a.m. [SFoodie, via Eater] more ›

As expected, Cow Palace in Daly City will no longer host "music and dance parties" after a slew of booze and drug overdoses at parties there. While the Cow Palace board "voted unanimously on Tuesday in favor of a moratorium on the events according to AP (via KTVU) it didn't specify any length of time. Which is to say, they could very well host more glow-stick dance parties in the near future. more ›

By Kevin Meenan A huge week of shows with dancey Barcelona quartet Delorean at Great American Music Hall Wednesday, Colorado gem Woodsman at Milk Thursday and drum-centric electronic act Publicist at Mezzanine Friday. more ›

Pier 50 dance club Jelly's, who played host to a fatal shooting last week, could become a thing of the past. After the city's Entertainment Commission had yanked the club's permit last week, the Port of San Francisco "sent the club's operators a 30-day notice terminating their lease and ordering them out by Aug. 18," notes SFGate. Jelly's, a nightclub specializing in Latin and DJ grooves, has been a port tenant since 1993. more ›

The first thing one notices about Hard French, El Rio's still virginal afternoon soul dance party, is the line. Despite arriving to the Outer Mission at an early hour, we were confronted with a queue that was already thirty people deep and growing... more ›

Ever since 26-year-old Blair Henderson was shot and killed near the intersection of Second and Minna Streets on Sunday, the media's assault on nightlife spiked to hysterical proportions. Again. more ›

After this weekend's shooting death outside Suede Nightclub and Lounge, which took the life of 20-year-old Lawson Hall, authorities have temporarily suspended the Fisherman's Wharf venue's license. more ›

FILM: Indiefest documentary Oh My God! It's Harrod Blank! about local artist Harrod Blank, creator of interactive art pieces such as the Camera Van and the Flash Suit, showcases twenty years of footage of the "loveable boy-man in all his oddball glory." more ›

We, the chosen ones, remember bar & bat mitzvah season clearly. There would be this six-month period where fat, shiny envelopes arrived in your mailbox by the pound, inviting you to share in the newfound adulthood of someone who probably ignored you in Hebrew School. So, you'd sack up, buy them a neon bubble chair, don your most impressive mini-skirt and dance all afternoon with the hired backup dancers while "Cotton Eyed Joe" blared in the background... more ›

by Amy Crocker BOOKS: San Francisco author Jason Myers discusses his second book, The Mission. It's the story of a young man who moves to San Francisco after his brother is killed in Iraq. He picks up the pieces of his life and then some. 7:30 p.m. // The Booksmith (1644 Haight Street ) // Free more ›

As we all know, San Francisco nightlife has been under fire quite a bit lately. In addition to the ongoing saga of the Alcoholic Beverage Control's enforcement of arbitrary rules they've set for all-ages music clubs, a group of conservatives have been showing up at hearings at City Hall claiming that night-time entertainment is the cause of "violent crime, murder, prostitution, public urination and defecation and any host of problems that the city has been facing for decades." more ›

The week kicks off with Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White playing several just-announced all acoustic sets at Yoshi's Oakland. Then on Thursday, jangly French pop band Phoenix is at The Warfield, and their set will surely include the single "Lisztomania" (video above) from their latest album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. The lyrics are charmingly foreign, including the refrain, "Lisztomania / Think less but see it grow / Like a riot, like a riot, oh ! / I'm not easily offended / It's not hard to let it go / From a mess to the masses." We think it's about socialized medicine, or something. Anyway, it's fun. more ›

by Moses Namkung
What do you get when you mix members of the Smashing Pumpkins, Hanson, Fountains of Wayne and Cheap Trick? Apparently... Tinted Windows. Aidan Vaziri at SFGate has an amusing interview with Taylor Hanson, the 26-year old father of four, in which he says, and we quote, "Heroin has a real down side, so I try to stay away from the hard stuff" and "I've figured out what to do with my hands ... onstage... I subtly molest the mike stand." The kid apparently has grown up a lot in the 12 years since 1997. You can catch the demi-supergroup at GAMH on Friday. Select list of shows around the city, after the jump... more ›