DNA Lounge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
DNA Lounge is a popular late-night San Francisco nightclub in the SoMa district, owned by celebrated hacker Jamie Zawinski. The club features DJ dancing, live music, burlesque performances, and occasionally conferences, private parties, and film premieres. It is located at 375 Eleventh Street, near Harrison Street.
The club maintains several unconventional features, including several publicly accessible Fedora Core terminals and an open wireless network for internet access, and a large scrolling LED sign with a publicly accessible web interface. The club also provides continuous audio and video webcasts of all events, for free.
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[edit] Facilities
The club consists of a large main dance floor and stage, surrounded on three sides by a balcony, open to below. There is also a back room with its own dance floor and separate sound system. There are three full bars, and a kitchen which serves basic snack-staples including nachos and quesadillas.
[edit] Events
The space functions as a venue for both live music and regular dance nights. Popular regular events at the DNA include:
- Remedy, a popular weekly dance night featuring deep house and hiphop
- Bootie, a monthly all- mashup dance night
- Meat, an industrial dance night featuring free barbecued meat
- New Wave City, San Francisco's longest-running new wave and 80s event
- Pop Roxx, a modern alternative and indie rock dance night featuring a different live band each night
- Bohemian Carnival, featuring eclectic dance music and circus performances
Notable bands and DJs who have performed at DNA Lounge since its re- opening in 2001 include:
- Afrika Bambaataa
- Aphrodite
- Bad Manners
- Digable Planets
- The Fixx
- Front 242
- Garaj Mahal
- Genitorturers
- Goldie
- Grandmaster Flash
- Groovie Ghoulies
- GWAR
- Incredibly Strange Wrestling
- Infected Mushroom
- KMFDM
- KRS One
- Lee Presson and the Nails
- Mark Farina
- Marques Wyatt
- Miguel Migs
- Mixmaster Mike
- Neurosis
- New Model Army
- Nina Hagen
- Pigface
- Q-Bert
- S.U.N. Project
- Spinderella
- Swingin' Utters
- Talib Kweli
- My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
- VNV Nation
- Z-Trip
The DNA Lounge has also hosted several notable tech-industry events, such as CodeCon, a hacker convention. The release of Mozilla 1.0 was celebrated there in 2002.
[edit] History
The venue first opened for business in 1977 as a leather bar called Chaps, owned by Chuck Slaton. In 1985 it was purchased by Jim English, Jeff Mason, and Brian Raffi who opened for business under the name DNA Lounge on November 22, 1985. The earliest regular DJs were Ted Cousens, Adam Fisher, and Brian Raffi. One of the early doormen was Doc Martin, who later became a popular house music DJ.
In 1994, the club was purchased by Tim Dale, John Schneider, and Rob Schneider.
In April 1999, the club was purchased by Zawinski, who spearheaded a successful grassroots effort to maintain its late-night permits, facing opposition from several neighbors and the SFPD. The club was closed for extensive remodeling and soundproofing from April 1999 until it re-opened on July 13, 2001 (Friday the 13th.)
