San Francisco’s Club 1015 Becoming a Rock Club?

San Francisco’s Club 1015 Becoming a Rock Club?

29 January, 2008 | 8.48PM

• Section: Music News Topics: Beatport Blog
• Written by: PhilG

For years 1015 (named for the address on Folsom Street where it’s located) has been one of the major venues for electronic artists and DJs like Paul van Dyk, Infected Mushroom, John Acquaviva, and Paul Oakenfold. Now comes the news from local alternative newspaper SFWeekly that 1015 is about to undergo a name change, add a marquee to its blank concrete exterior, and focus on booking rock bands. 

The news isn’t that much of a surprise; since its heyday in 2000 – 2001, 1015 has had to deal with a number of issues that have ultimately hurt its business.  During the 2000 – 2001 period it was faced with closure by the police because of its connection with alleged drug dealing, and as a result the club was forced to enact intense security measures that were extremely unpopular with local clubbers, driving many of them away. Then, in February of 2005, there was a fatal shooting related to an Asian gang, and just a few weeks ago there was a stabbing. Since the summer 1015 has relied mainly on local promoters to fill its five dance spaces, but many Friday nights, and almost every week night, has seen this club, with a capacity of over 1500, going completely unused.

Some of 1015’s woes certainly stem from a shifting focus within the San Francisco electronic music scene, which is moving away from “superstar DJs” in mega clubs for the masses to independent promoters booking less well-known artists with a smaller but more loyal fan base into spaces like Mighty, Fat City, Mezzanine and even The EndUp; over the past year, for example, artists and DJs like Ritchie Hawtin, Gui Barratto, ModeSelektor, and Alex Smoke have made appearances here, but all of them were in venues with a capacity of no more than 500.  The market for electronic music performances has, in other words, shrunk, but also solidified among a core group of fans that generally eschew the mega-club scene in favor of more “intimate” venues where t-shirts and jeans outnumber cocktail dresses and bottles of beer are far more common than bottle service.

1015’s transition into a rock club is the end of an era in San Francisco, one in which all-night dance parties were standard weekend fare, and names like Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed. Timo Maas, John “00” Fleming, and Paul van Dyk were the usual names on the flyers. The new era is one of independent promoters, smaller clubs, and an overall more underground vibe. 1015’s transition into a rock club might be the end of an era, but in many quarters it does not seem to be an end that is particularly mourned.

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