The EndUp
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The EndUp is the longest-running dance club in San Francisco, California having been founded in 1973. It is located on the corner of 6th and Harrison, in the SoMa (South of Market (Street)) district. The EndUp has two bars, a lounge with fireplace, a dance floor with mirrored columns, and a large open-air deck with a waterfall, plants and seating. The venue has hosted a variety of benefits, events and clubs and each night has a unique dance focus catering to subsets of the dance community. The club reflects the changing nature of gay, dance and San Francisco cultures.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
When the nightclub first opened, the dance floor was made of translucent plastic with flashing lights below. The EndUp was originally an entirely gay dance club, catering mainly to Asian-Americans and their admirers. It was famous as the location of the Sunday Afternoon Wet Jockstrap Dance Contest from about 1974 to about 1992 . Entering this contest is how many San Francisco Go-Go dancers began their go-go dance careers. This contest was made famous in the 1978 book Tales of the City, the first volume of the six-volume series (hexology) Tales of the City by San Francisco author Armistead Maupin and recreated on the PBS made for TV mini-series of the same name.
The EndUp began opening at 6am on Sunday morning in 1980 for a party originally called The Church with DJ Steve Fabus. Those who had been up all night dancing at the Trocadero Transfer and still wanted to dance more, came to "The Church" when the Trocadero Transfer closed at 6am. The EndUp is famous among DJs as the place where Hi-NRG music began with the DJ Patrick Cowley at the Menergy parties in 1982 . On Valentines Day (February 14) 1984, a contest called Go-Go's Wild was held at the EndUp in which the person who was judged by the audience to be the best go-go dancer in a wooden cage (with four vertical poles--shaped like a telephone booth) got a prize of $100. Many people entered this contest and it inspired many to begin their go-go dance careers.
[edit] Early 90s
In the early 1990s, the EndUp was the location of the popular avant-garde queer club Club Uranus (often referred to by its patrons simply as "Uranus") every Sunday night from December 1989 to December 1992 (with occasional special events such as the "Miss Uranus" contest continuing until April 1994) and the Klub Dekadence every Friday night from December 1991 to December 1993.
Created by counter-culture nightclub promoter Gregg Taylor, who later also created "Product" at 1015 Folsom, Club Uranus was not only a very fun club but also fostered a community of artists and "freaks" who celebrated excessive creativity and encouraged others to flex their creative energies. The DJs were Lewis Walden and Michael Blue. With co-MC Jerome Caja and a cast of Club Kids, drag artists and performance artists like Trauma Flintstone, Diet Popstitute, Steven Maxxine, Kitty Litter and performers like Pussy Tourette and Elvis Herselvis, Club Uranus was the place to be a part of the bohemian underground scene. The annual Miss Uranus Pageant became widely known in the larger LGBT community when a contestant, a performance art dancer named "Betty" fed a hamster with carrot sticks. She threw a carrot hitting an audience member in the eye. She had been feeding the animal by holding the carrot between her butt cheeks. The local gay media ran a series of letters attempting to get any legal names of the performers but no one cooperated.
The club also served as a catalyst to the mushrooming early-90's rave scene as a place for the mixed crowds to gather at 6AM after a night of partying, since the End Up was and is open 24 hours a day on weekends.
[edit] 1995-2005
The two most popular clubs at the EndUp between 1995 and 2005 were Fag Fridays on Friday evenings (which has usually featured male go-go dancers) and a T-Dance on Sunday morning from 6AM til 8PM. The former was closed because the new owners, especially Sydney Lueng demanded an increase in the cover charge.
[edit] The EndUp today
Its most popular parties are the daytime Sunday T-Dance, followed Sunday nights by Super Soul Sundayz, Reggae Gold - 2nd & 4th Saturday nights, and Fag Fridays every Friday night. The EndUp has played host to an enormous spectrum of international DJ talent, and continues to represent the artistic-underground culture of the city. Some of the regular acts currently performing in the space include Pink Mammoth, Red Melon, Green Gorilla Lounge, Deep House Project, and David Harness.
From October 2005 to July 2006 one Saturday a month, the EndUp hosted the Revolutionary club, put on by club promoter Jim "Astro Boy" Williams and featuring DJ Keoki.
The Sunday morning T-Dance is still the longest running party at the EndUp. the T-Dance has always featured a lineup of some of the best-known house dj's in San Francisco such as Aaron O, Blackstone, Nikki Rivera, Tommy Rogers and many others from back in the day of the early house music era. The Current DJ lineup includes residents Jim Hopkins, Vince, Adrian, Nikola Bayalta and Hawthorne as well as various once a month guests like "The Early Show".
The new parties change so frequently these days as to give the impression that the dramatic changes made by the new owners and the corresponding drop in attendance have made the clubs financial health suspect at best and poor at worst.
[edit] Ownership change in 2005
In August of 2005, the club was sold by the brother of the founders to a group of six owners with eclectic backgrounds (Lawyer, Former Bouncer, Former Stripper, Boating Enthusiast, East Coast Restaurant Owner, and an Oracle founder). A direct result of this was a fundamental change in music programming, which altered its legendary status. Gone are internationally-known "Devotion", Fag Fridays, Other Whirled, Kit Kat, essentially all the parties, which made the club famous. Attendance, as expected, has dropped off to unheard of levels.
The EndUp is currently trying to take most of the promotions in-house to maintain control. The new owners have very little trust for any outsiders. The clubs at the venue still have a lot of variety including the gay disco and early house music that helped create the club, the classic sounds can still be heard Sunday afternoons. David Harness, a well known House music DJ, is still playing at the End Up as of 2007. Music styles include reggae, mash-ups, break beats, and techno/Tech-House. DJ's from around the world still appear including Derrick Carter, Tommy Sunshine, DJ Sneak. With the departure of Fag Fridays DK Hawthorn's Ghetto Disco has been added to the lineup. First Saturdays are Kontrol featuring minimal techno and micro-house with an emphasis on live performance. Third Saturdays now has John Early of Burning Man fame. Sydney Leung, one of the new owners emphasized that the EndUp is committed to keeping the place "legendary," but is also the main proponent of all these "control" changes.
[edit] References
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