Vaccination Time!

No one reading this needs to be reminded of the importance of being vaccinated against COVID-19.  It’s essential for your personal health and safety, it’s essential to our community, and now it’s essential if you want to get a drink.

Throughout SOMA (and elsewhere), bars, clubs, private parties and others are increasingly requiring patrons to provide proof of vaccination, or extremely recent negative COVID-19 test results.   (See the SF Eagle’s detailed page on the subject.)

So when you visit SOMA, please bring proof of vaccination.  The original paper vaccination record will do, but for faster service (and to make life easy for the door personnel), consider getting an official State of California Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record right on your smartphone.

And if you aren’t yet vaccinated, please click here for info on how you can get it.  It’s free, it’s easy to get, it’s safe, and, oh yes, it might just save your life.

Leather Life Resumes in SOMA

June 15, 2021 will be remembered as the day California re-opened.  And nowhere is the reopening more welcome than in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco.

The bars that were already open, like Powerhouse and the Lone Star Saloon, are now able to operate without the strict social distancing and mask requirements that kept patrons in their seats and at more-than-arm’s length from one another.

The Hole in the Wall reopened Tuesday night, and the consensus was that it was exactly the same as before the pandemic began, which was just the way folks wanted it.

The SF Eagle grand reopening has now been announced for this coming Friday, June 25.  And not a moment too soon!

Here are some of the parties and events that demonstrate that SOMA is alive and well:

SF Eagle

The SF Eagle – Pride Weekend Kick Off and Grand Reopening Party is this Friday, June 25, from 9 pm until 2 am.  DJ Manuelito from LA and special guest Rob Racine invite you to celebrate the Grand Reopening of the SF Eagle all weekend long!  
One of favorite regular events from the before-times, Leather Lounge, resumes June 26 at the SF Eagle.

Leather, Gear and Cigars will be welcome on the patio, with free cover before 9:30 for those in gear.               

Bearracuda is expected to be a regular first-Saturday’s event at the Eagle, beginning July 3rd.  Doors open 9pm.

More info (including accurate price*) is at bearracuda.com.

Other SF Eagle events include The KINK(dom), a show where kink and performance collide, hosted by Sadie Payne, to be held every first Sunday starting on July 4th.  

 

Powerhouse

Scott of the Powerhouse has resumed the full schedule of parties, just a few of which we can highlight here:

This Wednesday is the first monthly SOMA Bar crawl:  meet at Powerhouse at 7pm to honor the ascendency of St. Phatima Rude.  We can only imagine where the night will take you from there!

 The Powerhouse’s famous Underwear Thursdays are now called BB&J  (Boxers, Briefs & Jockstraps).  This weekly celebration of near-nudity is made possible by the trustworthy clothes-check skills of the SOMA Guardians.

 

The monthly “Stank” parties at Powerhouse are always worth postponing a shower or two for.

The first one is Pride Friday, June 25, starting at 10 pm..  $`15 cover.*

Art created by Diego Gomez, scents created by 15 months of hibernation.

Stank. Art by Diego Gomez
“Pride Saturday” (June 26, 2021) should be a very special day.

First, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence  present an afternoon of art, music, performance, and dance called “Black, Blue and Pink All Over”.

The celebration runs from noon to 6pm, in Dore Alley at Folsom .

That party leads up to the Bare Chest Calendar’s “Investiture in the Alley”, at 6 pm.  It’s live, in person, with “lots of touching”, as Team 2022 is vested.

 

The party then moves into the conveniently-adjacent Powerhouse.  with Grinder’s #Comeback party starting at 9 pm, featuring Jason Godfrey Koji Táré & William Williams
Sunday the doors of Powerhouse open at 1pm Mikey Strider on the decks and Vaughn Rush on the boxes!!
Powerblouse returns on July 3, with Juanita MORE! and GlamaMore treating one lucky volunteer to a full-fantasy drag makeover.

The event benefits The Imperial Court of SF.

Also in the works at Powerhouse is a Creator event on July 11th.  Queer artists who would be interested in exhibiting their merchandise should contact Uel Renteria or Jeremy Novy for details.

Lone Star Saloon

The Lone Star Saloon happily resumes its weekly Sunday Beer Busts, from 4 to 8 pm.

The first one is a benefit for SF PRIDE, on June 20.

Expect Jello-shots, hot bears on the patio, and DJ Stefonik rocking with a revamped sound system

IRON BEARDEN:

A NIGHT OF METAL

with DJ MetalBob
THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 20218:00 PM

Metal up your A$$!

Big Boys are Proud and they are coming back. This is one of most popular monthly parties and we have been looking forward to this one for a long time. Inclusive, sexy, body positive events are important to our community and this is all that and more. Big Boys know how to have fun!

DJ boyshapedbox

SF Catalyst

SF Catalyst — the all-volunteer meeting and play space operated by the SF Bay Area Leather Alliance, is once again open and accepting reservations for your next party, photoshoot or other event.
The fully equipped play space offers slings, benches, beds, bondage furniture, and much more.  And the new Russ Street extension offer more room, easier access for folks with mobility concerns, more flexible options for different size events, and even an outdoor patio for your smoking or sun-tanning needs.
SF Catalyst is located at 1060 Folsom Street near Russ Street, in San Francisco.
Frisky Pups get the action going this Thursday, June 24,  with UNLEASHED: a men’s play party, from 7 pm until 1:30 am.  UnLeash your primal side, and enjoy a sweaty night of kinky fun and debauchery!

Tickets and full details are here.

Eagerly returning to Catalyst, on Sunday, June 27, from 4 pm to midnight, is the CUMUNION Pride Party, for gay and bisexual men of all types, ages 18 and up. hosted by CU Events, Parties by 442 and SF Catalyst.  For more information and tickets, visit www.cumunion.com.

Expect more news soon.  (Send corrections or additions to Web@sflcd.org.)

*  NOTE:  Do not trust Facebook if it says an event is “free”. This is a known issue.

Please patronize these venues, and all the small, independent, and queer-friendly businesses of the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District of San Francisco.

Most of these businesses are struggling to survive, pay off past rent and other debts, employ our friends, and create a safe, vibrant, loving community for all of us.  Please support them in every way:  pay cover charges gladly, obey the rules of the house, tip generously, be good neighbors when you depart, and have a great time!

And take PRIDE in the unique, exciting, decadent world of SOMA!

Out of Site

If you enjoyed the “Out of Site: SOMA” tour (either in person  or online), you might want to catch EyeZen Presents’ latest on-the-street theatrical event, Out of Site: Haight- Ashbury, a performance-driven queer history tour running weekends through July.  Full info and tickets are at https://www.eyezen.org/oos-haight.

 

 

Save Azúcar Lounge’s Parklet

 

There is a petition to save Azúcar Lounge’s Parklet:
https://www.change.org/p/city-of-san-francisco-save-az%C3%BAcar-lounge-s-community-parklet

More info is on the Azúcar Lounge Facebook Page.

We believe this issue will also be discussed at the SOMA /West Community Benefit District’s Neighborhood Identity Committee Meeting on Tuesday June 22, 2021, from 6pm – 7pm (PDT).  You can join the Zoom Meeting at  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7408417062?pwd=QlNHendZa3hyV0ExVTBBOTJON0F0QT09 (Zoom Meeting ID: 740 841 7062, Passcode: 334441).

Thanks for supporting this important local business.