Wow. I had a great weekend. I’m in my early 30’s and I used to go clubbing all the time in my younger days in San Francisco and DC. Last weekend marked the end of an era for me with the closing of Nation.
Back in 2000 when I moved from CA back to the east coast, my college friends in Baltimore were telling me that I had to go to Nation down in DC. It was the bomb, great, fantastic, whatever. I was like, no, it couldn’t be as good at 1015 Folsom. And truly, it wasn’t. But eventually Buzz on Friday nights grew on me. Then Alchemy on Thursday nights grew on me too. (Those darn goth kids and their obsessions with Britpop and New Wave ’80’s!) Next thing you know, I’m there on Saturdays for my fill of gay boy eye candy just to reminisce living in the Castro and dance all night to Junior Vasquez. It’s really the only place in DC that brings out the same level of DJ excellence that 1015 does. Paul Oakenfold, Sasha, John Digweed, Carl Cox, the Detroit sound, house, jungle, techno, trance, etc. All other clubs in DC pale in comparison. They’re just pick up joints where the music is only secondary to the disgusting mating dances of junior hill staffers looking to get laid. (Oops, did I say that out loud?)
I’m an early bird when it comes to going out. I know I turn into a pumpkin at 2am and still have to drive home. That means to get the biggest bang for my cover charge , I’d be in the doors before 10pm for the reduced cover (Frugal Tip #1, get in the door early), get a drink special (Frugal Tip #2), and stay till about 1 or 1:30am. Usually the headliner was on for about 30 minutes to an an hour at that point and then time to go home. *yawn* Proudly, I could spend a well-disciplined $25 for the evening since I’m not much of a drinker. I usually down a Coke on the way over to the club just to keep my energy up and save some money.(Frugal Tip #3, start your drinking at home, responsibly!)
For the very last Friday night at Nation, I bought $35 tickets 3 weeks early (Frugal Tip #4, buy tickets in advance). There was no way I was going to miss this. Rumors are tickets were being scalped out front for $200. I laugh at the money I could have made, but for my very last raver hurrah, I don’t think I could have beat this experience. The DJ line up was incredibly fun, with a lot of old favorites like Scott Hardkiss of the Hardkiss Brothers in SF, Scott Henry, a resident DJ to Nation, and the Utah Saints. I am not one to obsess about DJ set times, but this time, it was worth it. We planned for the long haul pacing our Red Bull/Vodka drinks so as not to wear out too early. It takes dedication and discipline not get your drunk on too early while the night is still young.
It was a night to remember. For my $35 cover, I got back all the memories of every night I’d ever been there with friends, the costumes, the DJ’s, wild moments, accidents, goofy pictures, etc. So worth it. I will have no regrets at the astronomical sums spent on Friday night.
I was there from about 10:30p till 6am. I can’t remember the last time I’d been out like that. The laser lights were pretty amazing. I got a thrill just being impressed with how far laser technology has come in the last 6 years. They had 12 set up and one in particular that had blue and reds they were bending into yellow. I would love to know just how much water it takes to cool something like that.
Yeah the E-tards were out in force. One of my friends dances on stilts and was hired to entertain for a bit. That was sort of fun to watch tripping kids get blown over by him when they realized there was a very, very tall man standing next to them.
There was the obligatory post-clubbing meal at the all night diner near my house. Dropping off a friend at the Metro station when it opened up and napping all day till we had to leave for Chicago (the musical) at Wolf Trap for a more sophisticated evening under the stars.
All in all, I spent $90 at the club. Breakfast the next morning was about $7.00. I am unrepentant. At my age, there aren’t going to be many more nights like this again. I just can’t take it. FWIW, I am still sore from dancing and it’s a Tuesday.
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Live it up while you still can :p
Hey, why do you have 2 sections for comments? Is Haloscan better??
I have two comment sections because of the Haloscan trackback feature. If given the choice, I’d probably skip the Haloscan part with Blogger, but I might keep it when I move to WordPress.
I can’t say Haloscan is all that much better. Fewer people use it to comment.
The key is to spend money on the things you really want rather than “junk” that you think you ought to buy for whatever reason or buy compulsively but don’t really want deep down.
So you’re still sore from dancing, huh? Therefore it also counts as an awesome workout and makes it doubly worth it.
Even though it was an expensive evening, it sounds like loads of fun and definitely worth it. What’s the point of saving obsessively and missing out on some fun just because of a few dollars? It’s all about moderation (had to add the cliche!)
I used to LOVE going to club Nation. I have some wonderful memories of the DJ’s and the lively scene at that place. Its too bad its closed.
Best,
James
1015 is my favorite place in sf along with alchemy – nothing like cute gay boys to look at in the Castro!
But Popscene (www.popscene-sf.com) and Leisure in SF have been my favorites lately along with the Rickshaw Stop. They definitely put on a lot of 80s/brit pop nights in SF.
Good lord. Popscene? I can’t believe it’s still around. I think I went once when it was still at the King Street Garage, but that was going on for a long time before I arrived in SF in the mid ’90’s.
I wonder if Ruby Skye is still around. I hated the patrons, but the music was always good.