San Francisco's Hottest New Club of 2000 that somehow still felt trapped in the '90s, Ruby Skye, the now 17-year-old dance hall, is set to close later this year according to Hoodline. The occasion forces San Franciscans to confront the good, bad, and mostly ugly evenings spent at the 420 Mason Street nightclub and its downstairs neighbor bar, Slide.

The Ruby Skye building, a fin de siècle Victorian playhouse rebuilt in 1911, has always provided a cool, glamorous contrast to kids doing molly and sweating through their clothes. Technically called the Native Sons of the Golden West Building, as this art and architecture website explains, it's already got anew occupant all lined up: Nate Valentine, of Polk Gulch's Harper & Rye, Tipsy Pig in the Marina, and the restaurants Mamacita and Padrecito. So, if necessary, dry your eyes: You can still do cocaine in the bathroom at 420 Mason, although of course you can't do that now and can't in the future or whatever.

"We heard rumblings that the Ruby Skye/Slide space was available, and at first it sounded daunting," Valentine told Hoodline. "But it's really an incredible opportunity to be in a great part of San Francisco."

Combining Ruby Skye and Slide's spaces, the team plans to call the space August Hall after one of the Native Sons of the Golden West Building's architects, August Headman. Valentine is in talks to work with Tahoe booking partner Snowball Ventures of the SnowGlobe festival there. Correction: Valentine tells SFist that Snowball Ventures are his partners in the effort, not simply in negotiations with him.

Downstairs in the Slide space the plan is for a three-lane bowling alley to be called the Fifth Arrow with food from Todd Shoberg, the former chef/owner of Mill Valley's Molina. Finally, an upstairs cocktail bar, the Green Room, will offer craft cocktails and a break from the action on the dance floor, where Valentine envisions "50 percent EDM/DJ nights, 45 percent rock bands and other live music, and a handful of comedy shows."

Curbed also gives us a bit of history of the building today, which was also once home to the Stage Door movie theater after WWII.

Stay tuned for updates.

Related: Over-The-Top Biotech Conference Party At Ruby Skye Features Live Camel

Some people may bemoan the fact that nightlife in SF isn't what it used to be. Others will probably tell you that there's never been any decent nightlife in this town unless you go back to the heyday of the Trocadero Transfer. Not all dancefloors are created equal, but this is and always will be a town that loves a party. Below, our roundup of the raddest, booty-shaking-est, footloose and fancy freest parties wherein to get your groove on in 2015.

Paris-Dakar
It was a sad day when Senegalese dance and drinks venue Little Baobob was felled by fire in 2013. Fortunately Bissap Baobob next door has continued while owner Marco Senghor plans his reinvention of Little Baobob. There, on Friday and Saturday nights, you'll find the Paris-Dakar dance party, with Central and West African music and plenty of great people pulling out great moves. Start out with a Senegalese meal here and then get shaking as it the venue morphs into its nighttime self. — Caleb Pershan
3372 19th Street at Mission

A photo-booth set from back in October, featuring Juanita More herself. Photo by Uel Renteria

Photo from Daybreaker SF/3d Public Relations & Marketing

The speakers at Monarch

Photo from Sunset Sound System's 11/28/14 event: Sunset Sound System/Facebook

Swagger Like Us
It's one of the Bay's only queer hip-hop nights, and it's a little more than that — there's a healthy mix of other dance tracks as well as stage performances thrown in. The party draws a younger, mixed, very diverse and very fun crowd that you can get a sample of from the video above, and it currently alternates between The Elbo Room in the Mission and the new Oasis in SoMa, so check Facebook for the next date. — Jay Barmann

Sundaze at The EndUp via Facebook

Hard French at El Riovia Facebook

A shot from Honey's Deviants party at Folsom Street Fair. Photo: Facebook

Derek O. via Yelp

Photo: Shot in the City

thePeople via Facebook

Honorable Mentions:

Future Factory @ Temple (Fridays)

Tubesteak Conexxxion @ Aunt Charlie's (every Thursday)

Mighty Real @ Mighty

Chaos @ Beatbox

Annual Events: Breakfast of Champions, Juanita More's Pride Party, Deviants at Folsom Street Fair, Ghost Ship, Decompression.

"Let's face it, there are a lot of man-babies and Peter Pans running around out there," says Bryce Anderson, who has founded a small, unsettling, SF-based society for the preservation of masculine stereotypes. But hey, he does have a top-notch name for it.

MANSA, as Anderson explains laboriously in his video, is like the high IQ society MENSA, but for "Man IQ."

Over 470 deeply unsure males are enrolled in MANSA's Uberman Challenge, with 164 in the San Francisco Chapter who attend man skills events in the city. Lessons for the group of "warriors" include how to give a firm, confident handshake, how to undo a "girl's" bra with one hand (they practice on each other, the dears), and how to "Impress The Ladies By Learning How to Build A Bad-Ass Campsite."

Anderson's video is sort of troubling, though, because MANSA ends up sounding like one of many groups for frightened men in a changing society that's fixated on firearms (guns are a top "Man Skill"). But maybe it's harmless fiction-worship: Anderson says MANSA is all about finding your inner Tyler Durden. Not to worry, they aren't a paramilitary group like Fight Club. Otherwise? Yeah, they're a lot like Fight Club!

222 Hyde, which the SFBG lovingly called a rave cave, closed last year due to a change in ownership of the building plus some trouble with their liquor license. Before the team left, though, they rigged the space with a pretty impressive Turbosound sound system. Oh yeah, and they also had a massive rager to say goodbye.

Now as the Tenderloin fills with clubs, bars, and high end restaurants, the vacated Hyde and Turk space has become The Basement. It's owned by Larry Livingston (of Palladium), whom Eater reports nabbed the space for its history. Between 1949 and1963, it was the green room of the Black Hawk, a jazz club of note that's since been demolished.

The Basement's got a narrow bar on the ground floor, but that's just the lead up to the eponymous, spacious basement with that sound system we mentioned. ( SFist commenter Peter notes that the Turbosound setup likely ended up at Mercer instead.) The club is still waiting on its entertainment license, hosting comedy nights in the meantime. It's beer and wine only (for now) but the selection sounds worthwhile and bar bites are coming soon. In fact, they've even got a soju cocktail called the Rave Cave. Go figure.

Yikes. What started out as an innocent private club/restaurant for the wealthy and unique has all but nosedived into a signifier of the current tech bubble and disastrous PR. We are, of course, talking about The Battery. Only a month after opening its rustic, artisan legs for the public, major changes have already pockmarked the tony club.

According to Inside Scoop, "Much of the opening management team is no longer there," including restaurant manager Jason Arbusto, general manager Tex Doughty, and food and beverage director Jason Reilplinge.

The Scoop goes on to note, "The search for an executive chef has also begun." So at least there's that. Oh, and The Battery sure is pretty. It also managed to renovate a former eyesore. There's that too.

[Inside Scoop]

You've got to be of a certain age, and likely gay, to know what the I-Beam was. For the rest of you, it was a big, legendary dance club of the '70s and '80s in a space in the Upper Haight that's been long since torn down, and it was there that many a San Francisco homosexual was indoctrinated into the wonders of Sylvester, Chic, and Patrick Cowley. This Saturday, the DJs of Go Bang! are doing an I-Beam tribute event at The Stud featuring famed I-Beam DJs Steve Fabus and Lester Temple, who's coming out of retirement after 15 years for this party.

Fabus and Temple will be joined by Sergio Fedasz and Kenneth Kemp, and Fedasz will also be doing a special tribute to disco diva Loleatta Holloway, who passed away in 2011, in honor of her birthday.

Temple just gave a quick interview to SF Weekly in which he talks about the I-Beam's pre-AIDS glory days, and how The Cure, Siouxie and and Banshees, and Duran Duran all made their U.S. debuts on the club's stage. Also, in 1992, the Beastie Boys played there.

Around the 2-minute mark in the archival video above, from a documentary series about homosexuality done around 1981 for an L.A. television station, you'll get a glimpse of the I-Beam, and hear from some of its clientele.

Saturday's party at The Stud is $7 at the door, and free before 10 p.m. And we know some older queens will be coming out of the woodwork for this one...

[SF Weekly]

Why isn't there a dance club strictly devoted to tap dancing? We'd hit that place every night until our toes fell off into a pool of blood. We'd own that scene. But until someone creates such a space, here are the actual top dance clubs in San Francisco.

Audio Discotech
Ha! A lot of people were gloriously butthurt after not being able to gain entry opening night, but this nascent nightclub might be worth the long lines. Started by a gaggle of natives looking to up the chic ante in the neighborhood, this tiny club, described as being "reminiscent of a ’70s Cadillac," features a high-end sound system (designed by Funktion-One) with over 1,200 square feet of acoustic paneling and a pretty rad 45-foot wall dotted with over 1,000 LED lights. Sure, they're not going to play pretentious indie-rock pop song B-side; that's not why you come here. You come to see, be seen, and, hey, check out that cool circular thing above the decks!
316 - 11th Street (at Folsom)

The Cafe
Step back in time and check out the place to go in the Castro for LGBT tourists, bridge-and-tunnel ilk, and locals. The drinks are impossibly strong, the scene is prime for a hookup. (Also popular at the Cafe? Drag performances by RuPaul's Drag Race stars.)
2369 Market (at 17th Street)

Salsa dancing at Cafe Cocomo.

Cafe Cocomo
Don't be intimidated by the twirly pros at this salsa club: with tons of lessons and a non-judgemental crowd, Cafe Cocomo appeals to everyone who wants to get their partner-dance on. There's plenty of space and energetic live music that will get your blood pumping, and whether you're a seasoned dancer or a clueless amateur, you'll have a good time. (And especially if you're a lady, you'll have no trouble finding partners willing to teach you new moves).
650 Indiana (at 18th Street)

(Photo: Scott Beale)

DNA Lounge
On any given night, this Eleventh Street all-ages club's genetic makeup might morph from a sweaty DJ night to underground music venue to burlesque revue to drag stage. It's that sort of diverse lineup, bolstered by 24-hour pizza next door and unannounced shows from big names like Prince and Metallica that has made the club a SoMa staple for going on 30 years.
375 - 11th Street (at Harrison)

El Rio's patio. (photo: Darwin Bell)

El Rio
There are many reasons to lace up your dancing shoes and head to El Rio. But the best reason, if we may, would be DJ Carnita and DJ Brown Amy's Hard French, a daytime soul music party that sets out to "modernize, takeover, revamp, trick out, revive, and do up the outdoor afternoon dance party experience."
3158 Mission St (at Cesar Chavez)

Holy Cow (photo: M.C. / Yelp)

Holy Cow
This is a great place in which to get fucked up. Also, lots of private bathroom stalls. Draw your own conclusions. While the Folsom Street joint is good for a night of top-40, hip-hop, and party music, its real draw is, of course, Honey Soundsystem who specializes in the country's best Hard NRG. Know Honey Soundsystem, know God; no Honey Soundsystem, no God. Got it? Good. (They can also be heard at other venues, like Public Works, Beatbox, and more.)
1535 Folsom (at Norfolk)

Little Baobab (photo: Sunugal)

Little Baobab
Senegalese restaurant by day, dance spot by night, Little Baobab feels less like a dance club than an impromptu party with a friendly, casual crowd. You don't have to dress up to grind to the reggaeton, Latin and world beats, but you do have to try Baobab's signature hibiscus and ginger drinks.
3388 19th Street (at Mission)

Monarch

Monarch
The space at the corner of 6th and Mission has been a lot of things in the last ten years, but we dare say that 2-year-old Monarch has been killing it in a way that none of those other concepts came close to doing. The upstairs bar and lounge are cool and the drinks are decent enough, but the key is the basement dancefloor with its insanely good Void Acoustics sound system and underground vibe. It's everything that an urban club should be, and so long as the crowd isn't too bridge-and-tunnelly or douchey, it's one of the best places to dance in the city.
101 Sixth Street (at Mission)

Mighty (photo: fred zilla)

Mighty
A popular, albeit hidden, nightclub under the freeway where SOMA, the Mission and Potrero Hill meet. Plenty of House music nights as well as noted Burning Man DJs spin here.
119 Utah (at 15th Street)

Q Bar
The tourists and tacky gays can have Badlands and its newer sister across the street, Toad Hall, but we'll take Q Bar when it comes to dancing in the Castro. Wednesdays has been for Booty Call for the last six years, hosted by Juanita More and Joshua J, but lately there have been some other cool things cropping up on the weekends too, like Homo Erectus on the first Saturday of every month, and the electro-themed Hard Fridays. Again, like Monarch, depending on the DJ and how the crowd shakes out, it's the one of the only spaces in the city that can feel like a crowded, sweaty night in a Manhattan club with music that's current without being too radio-friendly.
456 Castro (at 18th Street)

Public Works (photo: Julia D. / Yelp)

Public Works
When this place opened over two years ago, it was a breath of fresh air in bringing a warehouse-y, cool club vibe back to the S.F. scene after about a decade of club closings and failures. We dig the raw wood aesthetic around the bar, and the sound system, and for bigger events the upstairs offers two alternative hangouts to the main floor, including a cool and cozy dancefloor with its own bar at the front of the building. Also, there's ample outdoor space with no nearby neighbors to worry about if you need to hoot and holler while you smoke, and there's an art gallery space too.
161 Erie Street (at Mission)

Honorable mentions

Makeout Room

Roccapulco

1015

Cat Club

Jay Barmann, Andrew Dalton, Rose Garrett, and Brock Keeling all contributed to this report.

Your gay Saturday this weekend is in SoMa, folks. Before the onetime neighborhood of kink meets its inevitable heterosexual demise, we strongly encourage you to check out what's going on at the Eagle this Saturday.

The fine folks at Dickslap (Seattle) will bring a one-off night to the Eagle featuring Willam Belli. Who's Willam, you ask? Well, not only was she featured on RuPaul's Drag Race, in this video, and in this video, but she was also the star of "Willam's Beatdown," the single greatest thing ever to happen on the world wide web until--poof--it went away. (Alas, the YouTube channel hosting the show fucked-up whatever, so it's no longer available; however, you can now check out Willam's delightful new "Sh*t I Do.") She'll be in SoMa tomorrow night. Do check it out.

Also on the bill: DJs P-Play (Honey Soundsystem), Robert Jeffrey (Viennetta), Ross Milam, (Scruff) Ms. Terry T, and Nark (Dickslap, BottomForty.com, Seattle).

What: Dickslap at the Eagle (with Willam Belli)
Where: The Eagle - 398 12th Street (at Harrison), S.F.
21+

Let's give it up for Richie Panic, shall we? Mr. Panic, local DJ of note, has been dishing out his monthly Lights Down Low for masses at Mezzanine. And now it's time to give back... in sweat.

Lights Down Low celebrates seven years tonight, featuring DJs Azari & III, Todd (the God) Terry, Lee Foss, Sleazemore, Jouquin Barta, and of course, Richie Panic.

"We are really trying to make this a big crazy event and we have put our lives on the line for this party," Panic tells SFist. So you know that tonight's bash is serious. Dress up, be nice, drink up, and come single or coupled (gay or non-gay!).

There are still a few general admission tickets available online. Otherwise, you can purchase tickets at the door at Mezzanine, (444 Jessie, S.F.) for $22.

Whither the city's insatiable appetite for all things exclusive? To a private club complete with 20-person hot tub and chandelier of taxidermy seagulls, apparently.

Opening this summer, The Battery is a 50,000 square foot, 4-story private club at 717 Battery Street. The space will include four bars as well as a fine dining restaurant, 3,000 bottle wine cellar, library, game room, 14 luxury hotel suites, and a fitness club complete with aforementioned ultra-tub.

The Battery is the creation of Michael and Xochi Birch, who sold the social networking site Bebo to AOL for $850 million in 2008 in a deal that has since been called one of the worst acquisitions in history (AOL reputedly resold Bebo to Criterion Capital Partners for less than $10 million a mere two years later).

But we digress. In 2009, the Birches bought the historic Musto Building for $13.5 million and spent tens of millions more to transform the Battery Street property into a playland for people who'll be able to afford this sort of thing, although scholarships will be available for persons interesting enough to qualify. "We don't want to filter people based on how wealthy they are," Birch told the S.F Business Times. "We want people based on how interesting they are." Birch has said that membership will be reasonable for people who make $100,000 a year.

The Battery's founders simply cannot stress enough that diversity and an egalitarian exchange of ideas are at the core of The Battery's mission. From the club's teaser site:

Inspired by the city of San Francisco and its diverse culture, The Battery is designed to engage and stimulate forward-thinking minds in the arts, technology and other thriving industries. Our vision is to create a culture where inspiration is embraced, diverse communities come together and egos are checked at the door.

In the interest of irony diversity, the tech millionaire Birches say they'll limit tech folks to a third of the club's membership. "We want there to be all types of people" such as those who work in art and medicine, Birch told AllThingsD. Seemingly in the same breath, Birch made the peculiar proviso that people who work in finance and advertising, or who wear a suit to work, will be less than welcome.

Oh, The Battery. What are we to think of you? Should we gather to chat with your diverse-yet-not-too-many-tech-people-and-zero-suits-or-poors member base? Shall we linger beneath your stuffed bird chandeliers and soak in the dubious exclusivity of a 20-person hot tub? Or should we retire around the corner to our own version of a shmancy center for discourse and shoulder-rubbing, a dive bar? It's a place where diverse communities come together and forward-thinking minds are stimulated, no taxidermy seagulls required.

Previously: What Are We To Think of The Wingtip Club?

[AllThingsD]
[SF Business Times]

Another gay bar is in trouble, folks. Esta Noche, one of the few remaining LGBT clubs in the increasingly homogeneous Mission District is facing closure. And they need your help. "Last year the Board of Supervisors passed laws that can make it harder for some small businesses to afford their permitting and license fees," notes the Save Esta Noche Facebook page. "Unfortunately, Esta Noche will have to pay for all their licenses in one bulk payment which is already one month late."

Basically, the local business needs $9,000 in two weeks to stay open. Esta Noche is one of the city's only Latino queer clubs. And the Mission already has enough artisan craft cocktail bullshittery. Noche needs to remain where it is. If you donate, every dollar will go to the nightclub staying open (additional donations will be given to El/La,. a trans-Latina nonprofit in the Mission).

You can donate here. Do it if you can. Do it as often as you can.

Also, on May 18th local queer DJs, drag luminaries, and wonks will come together for a big ol' party at the 16th Street club to help raise funds. You can find out more details here.

Peter Rauhofer, a name known to many who have attended big club parties, listened to a remix of a pop song, or gone to a gay circuit event in the last decade and a half, died today due to complications from brain cancer. He was 48.

His manager reported the news via Facebook, saying that his mother is transporting him back to Austria, where he was originally from, to be buried, but that "his heart will always be in New York City."

Rauhofer's manager only reported three weeks ago, on April 17, that Rauhofer had been diagnosed with brain cancer after being rushed to the hospital following a seizure.

As his manager writes, poignantly, today:

It makes me sad, not only that I have lost a friend, but that the world has lost an amazing talent and that future generations will never get to understand the magic that Peter created night after night all over the world. He is gone too soon but we will always have the vast body of music that Peter left for us. Through his music, Peter will live forever. The brightest stars always burn out too soon. Peter, you were loved and you will be terribly missed. Goodbye my friend. Please rest in peace knowing that you have brought so much joy to so many of us. I ask that his true fans keep his legacy alive by sharing his music with anyone who may not have had the opportunity to experience it for themselves.

Rauhofer owned Star 69 records, a tribal house label he founded in 1999, and he was a frequent Madonna collaborator. Until 2007, when the club closed, he was a resident DJ at Roxy in New York City, and made frequent appearances at clubs and events all over. He was also one of the early winners of the then new Grammy Award for remixing, in 2000, for his remix of Cher's "Believe," and you can find a bunch of his remixes currently floating around on Hype Machine.

A 28-year-old San Francisco man is custody after allegedly stabbing three revelers leaving Union Square nightclub Infusion Lounge on Wednesday morning. Two men and one woman were attacked as they left the joint at around 1:30 a.m.

According to the Examiner, "One of the victims, a 26-year-old man, said he was attacked from behind after leaving the club and walking to his car about 1:30 a.m." The second victim, a male, claims he was stabbed while en route to his car as well. And the final victim involved in the melee, a 24-year-old Richmond woman, was found with a stab wound to the buttocks after being pulled over for drunk driving.

No word yet on the motive for the bloody, stabby mess. Victims claim there was "no reason" for the attack.

[Examiner]

State Senator Mark Leno's proposal to allow cities and counties in California to extend drinking hours until 4 a.m. was effectively cut off by a bunch of buzzkills in a state Senate committee yesterday.

Opponents of Leno's intoxicating idea effectively convinced lawmakers that the proposal would create what they called "liquor commuters" — boozehounds who are willing to drive across county lines to drink in bars for an extra two hours and would thus be driving home with higher BACs than if they just stayed at their neighborhood Chili's for margaritas. Or as one spokesman for the California Police Chiefs Association put it: "People driving to those other locations and then after having consumed many times a substantial amount of alcohol, driving back."

The wet blankets at Alcohol Justice, an industry watchdog that has launched a "Stop Leno's 4 a.m. Bar Bill," also applauded the Senate Governmental Organization Committee for cutting off Leno's SB 635. "A decisive majority of the committee agreed that law enforcement in California would see more drunk driving deaths and more alcohol-related homicides if Leno's bar bill passed," Alcohol Justice's Advocacy Director Jorge Castillo explained in a press release. "There was also acknowledgement that a 4 a.m. last call would result in inebriated drivers hitting the road during early morning commute hours."

There's no word yet on whether anyone in the Assembly will take up the cause, but there is hope that California could rally for a 4 a.m. last call: Supporters of the proposal are already mulling a ballot measure that would let the rest of the state vote on the matter. Sadly, that won't come around until 2016 at the earliest.

Previously: Sign A Petition In Support Of The 4 AM Last Call, New CA Bill Would Let Bars Serve Alcohol Until 4 AM
[ABC7]
[SacBee]

Techno-disco-house DJs Honey Soundsystem, who host the popular Sunday night party at Holy Cow, are popping up tonight around the block at Beatbox (314 11th Street) with another local DJ collective, No Way Back. It should be a good dancey time for dance-music aficionados, and their friends.

For a preview, check out the Honeypotcast, or this track from No Way Back.

The fun starts at 10 p.m., and until 10:30 you can still purchase $10 tickets online. And this is assuming you aren't trying to go to the Hunky Jesus Contest, which will be happening across the street.

The lineup is as follows:

JASON KENDIG
CONOR
ROBOT HUSTLE
SOLAR
P-PLAY
JOSH CHEON