Bring It! August 31, 2009

I’m a Pollyanna of the gay dance circuit. In my eyes, all is glittery and love under the disco ball, a community coming together to move their bodies and spirits.

Which is why it warms my gay heart when the community also comes together behind the scenes, with party producers/promoters joining forces to deliver a disco double-whammy.

Take Sundance, the Russian River circuit revival brought to us by Gus Presents, along with some help from DJ Luke Johnstone’s Dig-It-Talent. After a 5-year hiatus, the event made a hugely successful comeback, bringing the boys together for an unforgettable day of dancing in the sunshine.

From my perspective on the dancefloor – which is somewhere in between work and play, somewhere between promoter and party girl - collaboration and cooperation produce better results than competition.

Take Black XXXmas, another event Gus and Luke come together to produce each year. It’s unique and huge, and we look forward to it each year. Can we get some more of that, please?

I know it sounds idealistic (Pollyanna), but my take is that our nightlife scene is really working when we’ve got the best of our producers and promoters working together.

With all the fun parties/scenes in San Francisco, it’s hard enough out here for a promoter. Party people are moody and fussy. We’re skeptical of new events, even though our favorite complaint is that that there aren’t enough of them. We always want more but we don’t want to pay more, and we have short memories when the essentially thankless job of producing goes well.

That just means we’re no different than any other city, but I like to think of San Francisco as a city that transcends.

Like at this year’s Pride, when the Wunderland team threw its support to the boys behind The Disco. The party surpassed expectations and was the hit of the weekend. Gay Day Great America brings together Fresh’s Janine Shiota and DJ Luke Johnstone, and the result is an event that consistently overflows with talent.

The power to have more partnerships and less drama lies within us. We vote by showing up, and we can easily encourage our nightlife scene to be less war-torn and more like a gay United Nations.

The Folsom Street Fair couldn’t be what it is today without promoters and producers rallying together. It’s now a worldwide model of what can happen when a simple party transcends, having grown up into not just a San Francisco icon, but a massive fundraiser as well.

Why wouldn’t we want more parties backed by more people who know how to give us the goods? If my gays have taught me nothing, it’s that more is more and less is a bore, so to all the promoters who are willing to tag-team to give us more, I say “Bring it!”