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club hopping

sat 8 dec i got offa work relatively early on wed night. CrazyCzech decided to go out near union square.

the night started at Otis. it’s a small cluuuub on a little side street offa Union Square. a few years ago, it was a members-only place for young San Francisco socialites. now it seems like a place for well-heeled successful 30-somethings to hang out after their jobs in the fashion or music industry. the women were dressed. in dresses. and heels. you don’t see much of that in frumpy SF. the men were in suits, but not business suits. schmancy suits. i felt like i was back in NY. when we got there about 11pm, most were finishing up their drinks. and lots of buppies, there, too.

and apparently, Otis has just started to serve lunch during the week. gonna have to check that out one day.

next stop, Vessel. on a nearby side street. i’d peeked my head in there when it opened a few months ago. and the bouncer douche wouldn’t let me in. this time, no bouncer. as we descended the stairs to the lower level, i was surprised to find the place rather cavernous. and more crowded than Otis. same type of people. literally, some of the same people from our previous venue.

the dance floor was sparsely populated. lounge areas with bottle service lined the perimeter, and a small platform area housed more sofa-type things where i imagined more bottle service would be.

we bellied up to the oh-so crowded bar. CrazyCzech recognized one of the bartenders as a somewhat-frequent guest at the restaurant he works at in the Marina. strange, as he always imagined Bartender guy working in the financial district. he was relieved to find out that he was a bartender, and not a financial district guy.

there’s a weird smoking room nearby to the bar. it looks like it’s outdoors, but in reality, its just a little room, with lotsa air vents.

as i looked around the cluuub, i felt like i was in Vegas. everything in the club seemed so new, so carefully planned out, so… contrived. so very Vegas.

a DJ was up on stage, and about 20 mins into it, the salsa/meringue band started playing. nothing gets drunk white people moving like salsa-slash-meringue music.

as we finished up our drinks, we noticed a few people we “knew” from the gym. and headed out.

back up the stairs, and we’re just at the edge of Union Square once again.

next stop, Slide. it was wednesday, after all, and we hadn’t been to see DJ Solomon spin in a few months. he usually spins with guitar guy, Chris Clouse. in theory, its fun, but in practice, guitar guy makes the whole situation kinda snoozy. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

it’s about 1am as we enter Slide. i hear the oh-so familiar guitar riff from Dire Straits’ “money for nothin”, and i realize that guitar guy and Solomon are at it again. their set is okay… not great.

the crowd seems mostly tourist-esque. i get the feeling that most are from california. the part of california where it’s hot. several gaggles of drunk 20-somethings/recent college grads.

eventually, guitar guy finishes playing, and DJ Solomon starts to do what he does best. mash-ups. good times. the dance floor quickens. in a few minutes, it’s hoppin.

and before i know it, last call.

i’ve said it before, DJ Solomon is way better solo than with guitar guy. he should look into ditching Chris Clouse. because DJ Solomon is way way way more fun on his own.

read what i said about him before. back in June
and then again a week later
and also in May

it was cool to be able to go to 3 places in one night. and even better to wake up the next morning and not be hungover!



[where: 25 maiden lane, san francisco, ca]
[where: 85 campton place, san francisco, ca]
[where: 430 mason, san francisco, ca 94102]






This entry was posted on Saturday 8 December, 2007 at 3:01 am and is filed under club, dancing, DJ, san francisco with tags , DJ Solomon, otis, Slide, vessel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

