Revolution | 12.31.08 | San Francisco

By: Chris Clark

Revolution :: 12.31.08 :: 1015 Folsom :: San Francisco, CA

1015 Folsom :: 12.31.08 :: San Francisco by Arrow One

With the promise of a fresh start in the New Year, San Francisco came alive on New Year’s Eve, boasting some of the nation’s premier parties to close out a rather tumultuous 2008. Nowhere in the Bay was the frenetic energy as explosive as inside the multi-room confines of 1015 Folsom. Being the closest thing the city has to compare with the super clubs of L.A., Miami and NYC, Folsom offered attendees a truly remarkable setting to dance the night away. The venue’s astonishing sensuality – glistening lights, whiteout fog machines, an exemplary and innovative sound system – right down to bountiful electronic lineup, all formed seamlessly to produce a club experience second to none.

Showcasing over 35 DJs spanning the globe in four rooms over twelve hours, 1015 was a packed house of organized electro and dub step chaos. This bustling barrage of bass and body moving beats created such a fiery fervor inside that along every wall, every little nook and cranny, there were sweat-stained shirts, smiles and enough pheromones that you could surely smell the sex seeping through the walls. Going off without even the slightest of hitches, the party lasted well into the morning sunlight.

Undoubtedly, Revolution was anchored by the mash-up master Diplo. Regardless of the ever-increasing multitude of accolades being thrown his way in 2008, Diplo’s return to San Francisco and the much-anticipated debut of his self-proclaimed “Subterranean Ghetto Funk” was far more impressive than could’ve been imagined. And it wasn’t just the globetrotting champion of bass music that awoke eardrums and created moist sexiness at the event. There was the exclusive appearance of Jesse Rose, the post-modern purveyor of house music, as well as dub step wonderboys Plastician, Kromestar, MRK1 and DZ and 20-odd other acts poised to keep the speakers a blazing all night long.

Revolution’s vast array of artists was just too much to put onto paper, so I vied instead to highlight several of the most prominent performers who produced the colorful mélange inside 1015’s shimmering walls.

Diplo

1015 Folsom :: 12.31.08 :: San Francisco by Arrow One

Judging from my previous four experiences seeing Diplo live, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect going in. His mash-ups have the distinct tendency of making me want more, a feeling of being almost there but not quite. In five quick minutes, my apprehensions were answered. During his early New Year’s Day set, I have never been so blown away by the now Grammy-nominated producer. Putting aside my critic’s brain, the eager anticipation at what this Ghetto Funk would bring was answered almost instantaneously, as Diplo’s new-school flavor left nothing to be desired. The driving, intoxicatingly energetic and overwhelmingly pure electro had the Main Room frantically flowing with futuristic beats that caught many in attendance by surprise. I don’t know if I would coin it “Happy Feet Future Funk” or “Dance Inducing Sexy Time,” but in looking around, there wasn’t one person I could see not moving to the music. The crowd, an eclectic mixture of all the San Francisco stereotypes – skinny jean hipsters, hoodie clad hip-hop kids, lace and fur dressed burners – danced in cohesion as one of 2009’s Artists to Watch seemingly left no body unmoved.

Random Rab

Mr. Super Smooth was yet again, super smooth. Donning a fresh, new short haircut and his always-sultry style, Random Rab, one of the bill’s late additions, capably combined a remarkable blend of break beats and bold samples into a colorful concoction of West Coast wizardry. It’s in Rab that I saw the hugs between strangers, the high fives on the dance floor and a swarm of sexy people who refused to stop dancing.

Bay Area Bass

1015 Folsom :: 12.31.08 :: San Francisco by Clark

With so much of the multi-faceted bill coming from local acts, I’ll group several into the Bay Area Bass tag to place it into a nice, neat, hyphy package. Everyone knows that San Francisco likes to get hyphy like no other, and it’s in the Bay’s heralded hedonistic hyphers that some of the best beats came. Hookerz and Blow (a great name, if you ask me) provided some of the dirtiest, get-low bass of Revolution as Eprom and Mozaic proved why they are two of the most well-known local DJs. The club kids hit the dance floor hard as an-ten-nae‘s set morphed into a starship freak out feel, as the Burning Man faithful arose to a melodiously mesmerizing, chest-bumping carnival filled with fog so dense you couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face. Without a doubt one of the funkier sets at Revolution, an-ten-nae and Laura proved to be one of my favorite performances.

Jesse Rose

I have to admit I’m not that keen on house music. While in years past, I’ve dipped my ears into a few choice cuts, there has never been too much to the genre that’s caught my attention. At 1015, Jesse Rose certainly did just that and with it, brought me straight to the dance floor with some of that trademark, future reaching house that’s influenced so many acts since he arrived on the scene. While I didn’t stay for too long (considering there were three other rooms to juggle), I was rather impressed by Rose’s ability to work a room and make the party pop.

Beats Antique

1015 Folsom :: 12.31.08 :: San Francisco by Arrow One

Yard Dogs Road Show is definitively a West Coast entity. Possessing enough swank and hobo flavor to satisfy anyone seeking sword swallowers, burlesque dancers and ragtime poetry, they have a special place on my musical palate that I just can’t seem to get enough of. As the New Year approached, members of Yard Dogs hit the Main Stage as Beats Antique, an ultra-colorful tandem of vibrant sonic explorations and a trio of dancers to act out the vivacious textures onstage. Although the Eastern European-tinged explorations were nothing extraordinary, Beats Antique was an appropriate commencement to the craziness that would soon ensue.

Plastician, Kromestar, MRK1 & DZ

San Francisco sure does love its dub step. Luckily for Revolution attendees, four of the most prominent dub step DJs and producers in the world came together at 4 a.m. for one of the most chest-thumping, sweat-pouring moments of abundant bass I’ve ever witnessed. Dirty. Evil. Seductive. Just a few adjectives to describe the Main Room in the early morning hours during this all-star set, which was the kind of late night performance where you wear your sunglasses, bring a towel and prepare to have your insides thumped right out of your chest. ‘Nuff said.

After over eight hours inside 1015, it was time to say goodbye to the bass and a happy hello to 2009’s first dawn. Revolution was everything I wanted and more, offering an eclectically astounding lineup of some of the world’s premier electronic DJs and producers in an aesthetically unbelievable setting with some of the best people to be surrounded by as one starts a New Year off properly.

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