"Far over the misty mountains cold,
to dungeons deep and caverns old.
We must away ere break of day,
to seek the pale, enchanted gold."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, the Hobbit
Made it out to the Uptown Nightclub for the first time this week... then ended up there a second time for another dose of delightful depravity.
The Uptown Nightclub, for those that haven't been, is a fairly nice venue. When you first enter, you get a long view of the bar which is fairly well-stocked. Parallel to the bar, but with a wall between, is the "theater" which is as big as the barroom is, but just has a few tables mounted against the walls and mostly empty space for standing with a nice little stage at the end.
The bathrooms are clean and well-lit (this is a much rarer "plus" than one would like to think). The smoking area is enclosed and out back, with plenty of seating and space - and can easily hear what's going on in the theater area.
Most drinks are about as expensive as they are in SF-proper, which was a little bit of a disappointment - but not heart-breakingly so. Bottled water is about half price, though. So that's like a win, right?
The first show I went out for was Unwoman's CD release and Birthday party back on Wednesday, 9/19. She played most of her new album, with a couple of songs from previous albums to fill out her repertoire for the evening. I personally found her enchanting - her music was, of course, excellent (it was, in fact, the reason I was there to begin with) and it was more than a bit fascinating watching her use the looping pedal to turn herself into a one-Unwoman string quartet. But she was also very charming up on stage, flirting and bantering back and forth with her crowd, and more than a little bit lovely.
I suspect that I have something of a schoolboy crush on her at the moment. But I see no reason why I shouldn't, honestly.
The second show I went to was the final Cabaret Perilous! of 2012 on 9/22. An all-round enjoyable show, truly. With swing music by Mari Mac & the Monitors, magic by Mysterium, beautiful burlesque by Jay Siren's... well... Sirens, violated Disney tunes by Princess Creampie, and, last but not at all the least, a pair of numbers by the unreasonably beautiful Standfire Collective (with my personal favorite: Unsinkable Molly).
To give you an idea of how good Standfire is, I overheard (and am ruthlessly stealing... and probably misquoting a little, but the point is the same) someone's comment from last night: "It says something that, in a show that included beautiful women taking off their clothes, that the act that got the loudest cheers by far was the trio of women that didn't take anything off." I think Shutterpunk Neil Girling was the one that said this... so credit where credit is due.
If you haven't seen Unwoman perform or heard her music or you have not seen the Standfire Collective or Unsinkable Molly dance, these are oversights that you absolutely must work to rectify as soon as is humanly possible!
The truth is, if you are unwilling to repair these failings on your part, I must only assume that it is because you were dropped frequently as a child or that perhaps your mother drank an inordinate amount while you were in the womb - as such, you are beyond my help, but I can look askance at your sorry life in pity and thank the stars that I am not forced to live an empty life devoid of music or pleasure.
In other news:
We've got Amanda Palmer (accompanied by the above-mentioned Unwoman) coming to San Francisco on Wednesday 9/26; the Days of Terror Horrorfest in Sacramento on 9/28 and 9/29; Unit77's Allegiance in SF on 9/29; Steampunktoberfest and Steamstock on 10/6 and 10/7; and a whole mess of other shows, concerts, performances, and other madness.
Tremble in fear and joy, oh gothlings, for October and the Fall cometh! Keep checking the calendar and the event pages so that you don't miss anything awesome!!
-- Mr. M.
to dungeons deep and caverns old.
We must away ere break of day,
to seek the pale, enchanted gold."
-- J.R.R. Tolkien, the Hobbit
Made it out to the Uptown Nightclub for the first time this week... then ended up there a second time for another dose of delightful depravity.
The Uptown Nightclub, for those that haven't been, is a fairly nice venue. When you first enter, you get a long view of the bar which is fairly well-stocked. Parallel to the bar, but with a wall between, is the "theater" which is as big as the barroom is, but just has a few tables mounted against the walls and mostly empty space for standing with a nice little stage at the end.
The bathrooms are clean and well-lit (this is a much rarer "plus" than one would like to think). The smoking area is enclosed and out back, with plenty of seating and space - and can easily hear what's going on in the theater area.
Most drinks are about as expensive as they are in SF-proper, which was a little bit of a disappointment - but not heart-breakingly so. Bottled water is about half price, though. So that's like a win, right?
The first show I went out for was Unwoman's CD release and Birthday party back on Wednesday, 9/19. She played most of her new album, with a couple of songs from previous albums to fill out her repertoire for the evening. I personally found her enchanting - her music was, of course, excellent (it was, in fact, the reason I was there to begin with) and it was more than a bit fascinating watching her use the looping pedal to turn herself into a one-Unwoman string quartet. But she was also very charming up on stage, flirting and bantering back and forth with her crowd, and more than a little bit lovely.
I suspect that I have something of a schoolboy crush on her at the moment. But I see no reason why I shouldn't, honestly.
The second show I went to was the final Cabaret Perilous! of 2012 on 9/22. An all-round enjoyable show, truly. With swing music by Mari Mac & the Monitors, magic by Mysterium, beautiful burlesque by Jay Siren's... well... Sirens, violated Disney tunes by Princess Creampie, and, last but not at all the least, a pair of numbers by the unreasonably beautiful Standfire Collective (with my personal favorite: Unsinkable Molly).
To give you an idea of how good Standfire is, I overheard (and am ruthlessly stealing... and probably misquoting a little, but the point is the same) someone's comment from last night: "It says something that, in a show that included beautiful women taking off their clothes, that the act that got the loudest cheers by far was the trio of women that didn't take anything off." I think Shutterpunk Neil Girling was the one that said this... so credit where credit is due.
If you haven't seen Unwoman perform or heard her music or you have not seen the Standfire Collective or Unsinkable Molly dance, these are oversights that you absolutely must work to rectify as soon as is humanly possible!
The truth is, if you are unwilling to repair these failings on your part, I must only assume that it is because you were dropped frequently as a child or that perhaps your mother drank an inordinate amount while you were in the womb - as such, you are beyond my help, but I can look askance at your sorry life in pity and thank the stars that I am not forced to live an empty life devoid of music or pleasure.
In other news:
We've got Amanda Palmer (accompanied by the above-mentioned Unwoman) coming to San Francisco on Wednesday 9/26; the Days of Terror Horrorfest in Sacramento on 9/28 and 9/29; Unit77's Allegiance in SF on 9/29; Steampunktoberfest and Steamstock on 10/6 and 10/7; and a whole mess of other shows, concerts, performances, and other madness.
Tremble in fear and joy, oh gothlings, for October and the Fall cometh! Keep checking the calendar and the event pages so that you don't miss anything awesome!!
-- Mr. M.
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