Summertime in San Francisco means it’s time for Burning Man fundraisers. This past weekend was no different with two separate parties raising money for Burning Man camps and art projects. But, unfortunately, one of those parties was an underground, and, following a recent trend in San Francisco, it was busted by the cops before it even got started.
Anesthesia III was a fundraiser for a Burning man art project. It was being held in a space on 5th St. and Folsom in the SOMA district. A friend of mine who was an eyewitness to the unfolding of events told me that apparently an undercover police officer bought a ticket and then went inside the venue. Once inside, he called backup and five undercover officers rushed the space. Once inside, they arrested the door girl, the sound guy, and a couple of other people and, worse, they confiscated the sound system! I’ve been involved in throwing underground parties here in SF for the past 8 years and I have never heard of the police confiscating the sound system.
But, there recently has been a trend of underground parties being busted. One of those promoters actually contacted me after a piece I wrote for Resident Advisor and we talked a bit about how the police have been cracking down on the underground scene. Back in April, a Bang the Box party was busted in Chinatown. A blog I was referred to (and can’t seem to locate and link to) said the issue is that the police chief is retiring so there is currently a lot of posturing among various department heads to be the next pick for chief. Illegal warehouse parties are an easy target: it’s fairly easy to find out about one and there is little chance for any violence or resistance from the party-goers. In essence, it’s an easy score on a soft target for the police.
The trend seems to have gotten out of hand though. I was told that in one weekend recently, five parties were busted by the police. Usually, the promoters are given tickets and the party shut down. But with people being led away in handcuffs and equipment confiscated it seems that the war on the warehouse party has escalated to a level I’ve never seen before. It’s unfortunate though since these parties don’t pose any real threat to the welfare of the city. These are events that provide after-hours entertainment in a city that essentially closes at 2 am. It also allows many promoters the ability to bring in artists from around the world and provide them with a space to play extended sets in a safe atmosphere. Much of what gives San Francisco such a dynamic music scene are the various underground events that run after the legal venues have closed down for the night.
But, like all things, this trend will eventually pass. A new police chief will be chosen and slowly but surely, the underground scene will start up again, one party at a time. When that will happen, though, is anyone’s guess. But for now it seems that the underground party scene is officially dead.
