Local musician Rudy Colombini has been developing Music City SF, a live music hub and incubator on Bush Street, for the past 20 years. The 29,000-square-foot space is now in default, and Colombini hopes to raise funds via a reality show filmed at the venue.

According to Music City’s website, Colombini, who grew up in North Beach, first purchased the existing hotel in Lower Nob Hill in 1988 and opened a basement rehearsal studio called Plug n Play in 2005. As KTVU reports, in 2008, Colombini began planning the all-in-one live music and entertainment complex with the aim of supporting and amplifying local and touring artists while bolstering the city's music scene. He officially rebranded the hotel and rehearsal space as Music City SF in 2017.

His plans for further renovation and construction were disrupted by the lockdown, and in December 2021, Colombini received a $10 million loan to finish the project.  He also invested his own money from his work as a real estate developer.

As SF Business Times reports, he finished the project last year but defaulted on his debts. Colombini isn’t giving up yet, though. He’s still holding out hope that an investor will help secure Music City’s future in San Francisco due to the city’s deep rock and roll roots.

“We’re bringing the underground back — live, loud and global,” he told Modern Luxury. “Music City is designed to be a permanent home base for the next wave of talent. By offering paid-performance opportunities and access to an international audience through streaming, we create sustainability for artists.”

“And we’re doubling down on the grassroots: supporting open mics, experimental shows and local collectives,” he continued. “We want to be the spark that reignites that gritty, genre-bending, soul-stirring energy that made SF legendary.”

Colimbini told SF Business Times he’s been talking to some prominent Hollywood names about producing a competition reality show at Music City — fortunately the place is well equipped for that. SF Business Times says the venue has the capability of broadcasting from 26 different internal stations, allowing all of the rehearsal studios and small stages to be filmed.

“It could change the flow of San Francisco music to have as many as a dozen reality TV shows coming out of 29,000 square feet here we have all audiovisually recorded," Colombini told SF Business Times. “A reality TV show contract would be ‘monumental,’" he said.

SF Business Times reports that next month Music City will be hosting its fourth annual Songwriters Festival.

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The city's live music venues have been closed for some six months now, leaving the talent that would fill them without one stream of income. But, finally, live entertainment has found its way into SF's reopening plan, per a new temporary permit program for outdoor performances called "JAM" — or "Just Add Music."

But there's a weird, incredibly odd catch to that welcomed good news: according to the JAM program, performers can't be "singing, shouting, or playing wind or brass instruments" during those JAM-approved performances. Those activities — again, as noted by the City — increase the risk of aerosol transmission of COVID-19. It's unclear, however, how those restrictions will be enforced.

Moreover, the JAM program specifically lists that performers and staff must use face coverings at all times and that each performer must fit in the designated performance area, all while keeping a distance of at least six feet from others — so the intended efficacy and merit of those restrictions seem a tad misplaced.

As KPIX shared about the reopened update yesterday, one of the only ways for businesses to legally conduct outdoor entertainment (or an "amplified sound" event) amid the pandemic was to apply for a one-day permit that would cost hundreds of dollars per day. However, as of Friday, approved permits through the JAM program will be free at any one of the locations the City will allow for outdoor performances.

“This program will provide some much-needed relief for businesses that are looking for ways to safely offer outdoor entertainment and music and survive the economic challenges of COVID19,” says Mayor London Breed in a statement. “San Francisco is a world-class entertainment city and we are fortunate to have a diverse entertainment and nightlife culture — we can’t let COVID take that away from us.”

According to Breed, the JAM permit push is an olive branch to help buoy SF’s bars, nightclubs, and entertainment venues that continue to face closures; no concrete reopening dates have yet been set for those businesses in the City's reopening plan. This program, too, comes after many outdoor entertainers across the city have said they've been kicked out of parks for performing without a permit.

Per SFGATE, the following areas are pre-approved to hold outdoor entertainment via the JAM program:

• Shared Spaces permit locations
• Outdoor private business properties (patios, rooftops, parking lots), farmers markets
• Public Works’ Café Tables and Chairs permit locations
• Gyms holding outdoor fitness classes
• Drive-in gatherings

Aaron Paul, co-owner of Macondray — a cocktail den and New England-inspired restaurant on Polk Street — added he and his team are "really excited for the JAM permit launch."

“I opened Macondray as a first time small business owner with my business partner Jake Roberts mere months before COVID happened," Paul waxes in the press release. "Over the past several months, we have had no option to move our music offerings outside. The JAM permit will allow us to add music to our outdoor Shared Space while providing a vibrant and positive experience for our guests.”

For more information on JAM permits, as well as how to apply for them (and the odd stipulations the program has), visit sf.gov/provide-entertainment-or-amplified-sound-outdoor-space.

Related: Stud Stories: Remembering a Bar That Epitomized Everything Great and Weird About San Francisco

SF Nightlife Operators Look Ahead to Outdoor Shows, Local Acts, and Telling Unmasked People to 'Get the F**k Out'

SF Queer Nightlife Fund Raises $160K, Starts Distributing Grants to Eligible Applicants

Image: Unsplash via Devon Divine

After a much-needed (?) $30 million makeover, the Metreon, struggling early aughts mall fortress at Fourth and Mission, will open a new set of "reimagined" restaurants and shops on Saturday. Among the reworked ideas: a simpler, cleaner tone to the place; easier entry; and stores that—get this—one can enter without having first to walk through a human maze. Which is to say, many retail stores will now be accessible from Fourth Street.

According to The Chronicle, new establishments will include, "Buckhorn Grill, SoGreen Yogurt and San Francisco Soup Co., to be followed in days or weeks by Cako Creamery, La Boulange Bakery, Massage Envy Spa, Brandy Ho's Hunan Food and many others."

We took a mini-tour of the new digs. While still in the incomplete stage as of Friday afternoon, the changes are impressive. Judge for yourself.

The Metreon will also house a new Target store, taking up the entire second floor. Target plans to open the mammoth store later this year.

Doing anything on Sunday? No? Yes? Well, even if you are, you should fix your janky calendar and instead head over to Rebel (a gay bar) and have former SF Weekly scribe Hiya Swanhuyser and reigning queen of drag queenery Heklina pour you a drink or five. The two local notables will guest bartend in support of Occupy SF. Help end "corporate personhood, attack corruption, and support community organizing" while quelling the pain of everyday life via custom cocktail the Pepper Spray, a cocktail featuring subtle notes of "hot, sassy, and in-your-face."

There will also be a real bartender on hand to make sure you actually get your fancypants drinks, and DJ Pinky Ring will man the decks to groove you into blackout paradise.

If you haven't checked out Rebel yet, you should. Seriously. Go. It's a great place. But go Sunday. You will get the chance to ask Hiya and Heklina anything. Almost anything. Whatever, just go to it, you guys.

We'll be there. And so will you. We hope.

What: Hiya and Heklina Occupy SF
Where: Rebel, 1760 Market (at Octavia)
When: Sunday, December 11
Time: 6-9 p.m.

Penthouse, noted purveyor of labial entertainment, will bring "four-star dining" to San Francisco in early 2012 via the city's very own Penthouse Club & Steakhouse. While the exact space is not yet know, we're going to assume it's somewhere in North Beach (near the Hustler Club) or SOMA (what's up with Temple these days, anyway?). Huge Penthouse fans over at Grub Street have more: "They say the space is 15,000 square feet, and the new, clearly enormous club will feature gourmet dining, deluxe bottle service, state of the art light and sound systems, as well as — yep — topless dancers and appearances by Penthouse Pets. If you're the kind of gentlemen who thinks this sounds intriguing, you can sign up here for updates."

And, according to the press release, the lighting will be fabulous. Work. Ahem: "Acclaimed lighting and interior designer David Chesal is overseeing the extensive multi-million dollar construction project. The award-winning designer has over 30 years of experience creating some of the world’s most captivating and elegant adult nightclubs and has been featured on Spike TV’s popular Bar Rescue design renovation show."

We'll have further updates the moment we see the beauty and touch the magic for ourselves.

[Grub]

Your days of enjoying a combo plan of getting a disc or two via those red envelopes in the mail and streaming content from California-based Netflix are numbered, kids. Starting September 1, the popular site is implementing separate plans for streaming and physical disc borrowing.

This move is "to better reflect the costs of each and to give our members a choice," explains Netflix on their blog.

Uhm, really? If you, like so many of us, are enjoying the $9.99 a month unlimited streaming and one-disc-at-a-time plan, if you'd like to continue enjoying such a set-up, get ready to nearly double what you pay:

[Netflix's] current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans:

Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming), for $7.99 a month.

Yeah, that's nearly $16 to have your disc and stream some, too.

"We think $7.99 is a terrific value for our unlimited streaming plan and $7.99 a terrific value for our unlimited DVD plan," enthuses Netflix. "We hope one, or both, of these plans makes sense for our members and their entertainment needs."

This obviously makes sense for Netflix, who realized that doing the mailed discs for a $2 add-on to the $7.99 streaming was cutting them out of some bucks. However, for the customer who enjoys streaming, but supplements the sometimes paltry offerings with items only available on disc, this is a big f-you. The trouble is, so many of us have come to rely on how we use Netflix--so how many of us will say "f-you" back and close our accounts?

Wanna go on a date with an elected progressive? Well, the city's left-of-left-of-center ilk will pimp out their leaders at tomorrow night's Smokin' Hot Progressives 2nd Annual Auction. San Francisco mayoral candidates Dennis Herrera, Bevan Dufty, Leeland Yee, David Chiu, and Phil Ting will be auctioned off during a live bidding war at Public Works (161 Erie) in the Mission district. Supervisor Jane Kim and Senior Advisor to the Mayor's Office Paul Henderson will also work it for your dollars.

We think most of the stable here are partnered up with significant others, so don't expect any slap and tickle. Word of wisdom, if you will, will be the only fluid exchange.

Money will go to support the New Leaders Council (NLC) of San Francisco, "a national nonprofit whose mission is to train and support the next generation of progressive political entrepreneurs - those who are leading industries, setting trends, and building institutions that support robust civic and political life in a global America."

Find out more at Smokin' Hot Progressives 2nd Annual Auction.

John Waters Live Christmas Show: Those with a hefty holiday budget best be getting their tickets to "John Waters and his sleigh full of smut" now. The event takes place on December 11 and benefits the Roxie, which just turned nonprofit.

Back to After School Specials: On Saturday the 20th, Midnites 4 Maniacs presents a triple bill of late-70s young adult cult classics at the Roxie, featuring Scott Baio illustrating the many side effects of marijuana in Stoned, along with the rare Rich Kids by a then-unknown Robert Altman, and A Movie Star's Daughter (What? It's hard!).

Amoeba 20th Anniversary:Amoeba celebrates its 20th Anniversary on Saturday with a huge sale, gift bags, a raffle, an afternoon of DJs, and live music by Foxtails Brigade (busking throughout the afternoon - in the store and out) and Lyrics Born at their Berkeley location. The SF store will also have a sale and DJs.

Magic Bus: Magic Bus, which launched this summer, is here to stay. Every Saturday, Sausalito's Antenna Theater, in partnership with Teacher Bus, has embarked on a traveling show aboard a renovated 20th century bus, which combines a "veeeery trippppy thick, twisted multi-media mix of oral histories, Rock and Roll, live action, 3-d and video projections while the bus rumbles through North Beach, the Haight and Golden Gate Park."

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Your SFist editor is titillated (ahem) because he plans on attending his first-ever female strip club spectacular! (OK, we did once attend a strip joint in Reno via an astounding bachelor's party; however, the dancer, who grinded her bottom in our lap for several minutes, left a fury-inducing streak of body paint/glitter on our new suit, and thus rendered the entire visit null and void.) See, the Gold Club, San Francisco's Premier Gentleman's nudie club, celebrates its six-year anniversary tomorrow, Thursday, July 22.

And we want to go to tell you all about it!

But, seeing as how the stripping with which we are most familiar is this show-stopping number from Gypsy, we need your help. Voyeurs, listen up: Do we need to bring a roll of $1 bills? (We've seen countless TV shows and moves employ the use of bills to shove in dancers' bathing suit areas.) Sexual contact is de rigueur at certain male adult theaters, but must we touch a boob if it is offered? (We'd rather not.) Are there food or TV options to amuse us if we tire of the fleshy entertainment? (We hear the food is quite nice, actually.)

Please leave us helpful strip club tips in the comments.

If you want to check out Gold Club's Anniversary Bash -- which boasts an open bar, "lavish hors d'oeuvres," and a live performance by Cirque Noir -- visit GoldClubSF [NSFW-ish] for further details.

We just noticed the bus ad for RocketBoat at Pier 39 the other day and went home and looked it up right away. How long has this thing been around, and why hadn't we heard of it until now?

RocketBoat promises thirty minutes of high-speed and wet-and-wild fun that reportedly makes "grown men giggle like school girls," not to mention breathtaking views of the bay. Plus, the front page of their website has a whole slew of disclaimers and warnings -- we're there!

A couple of pro-tips from RocketBoat veterans are not to go on a cold day or while hungover. Good thing it runs through October, when we have that two-week summer somewhere between now and then.

Because 24th Street and Mission exists as a bastion of soft-eject tranquility, living anywhere near the intersection means a peaceful night's sleep, right? Not so. One neighbor near popular dive bar the Attic is suing the venue for being too noisy.

According to Mission Mission, Jonathan Joiner, who lives a few doors down from the Attic at 24th and Barttlet, "is suing the Attic for personal damages because he can’t sleep at night, focusing on the technicality that the bar is not allowed to play any music since it doesn’t have a cabaret license." Which, yes, the Attic does need an 'Place of Entertainment' thingy to entertain their customers with DJs grooves. But still. It's the Attic. At 24th Street. In the Mission.

Anyway, you can read more about it at Mission Mission.

Last night, according to BCN (via SF Appeal) "a trade organization dedicated to serving the interests of nightclubs and other entertainment venues in San Francisco" kicked off their via a launch party. One of the association's goals is to "fill a void in the media and political dialogue surrounding entertainment issues."

Their Board of Directors include Sean Manchester, owner of Wish and Mighty; Demetrius “Deech” Chapin-Rienzo, the Director of Operations of Vintage415 and owner of Mamacita, Umami, The Aventine, The Ambassador, and Double Dutch; Barry Synoground, General Manager of DNA Lounge; Terrance Alan, former Chairman of the (controversial) San Francisco Late Night Coalition; Tim Benetti, co-founder of Bottom of the Hill; Guy Carson, former General Manager of Hotel Utah, and most recently the current General Managing Partner of Café DuNord/Swedish American Hall; and the beloved Deborah Jackman, General Manager of Mezzanine.

Manchester, the Board of Director's President, said the "the group would be modeled after a similar organization, the New York Nightlife Association in New York City, as well as the Golden Gate Restaurant Association, a group that focuses on restaurants in San Francisco rather than nightclubs."

Just before the city's arguably useless Entertainment Commission voted to close killer nightclub Suede for 30 days -- if you recall, a 20-year-old Richmond man was killed and four wounded in a February shootout outside the Fisherman' Wharf club -- the mayor said the commission should call it quits. "I think we can simply do without the Entertainment Commission. I don't see it adding real value," Newsom told The Chronicle. "I don't, at the end of the day, feel it's lived up to its purpose."

Founded back in 2003 "with the mission to regulate, promote and enhance the field of entertainment in the city of San Francisco," the Entertainment Commission was more famous, as The Chronicle goes on to point out, for allegedly "voting on projects they're linked to or with which they have perceived conflicts of interest." Before February's fatal shooting, the commission had heard 10 complaints about Suede's brewing shitstorm, and did nothing.

Without the commission, though, some worry about the continuing loss of SF nightlife, which according to NYT, "was a large part of the motivation for the creation of the commission."