What to do on a Wednesday when the weekly you're accustomed to hitting up is no longer running (in this case the now defunct Infatuation). Asides indie-electro hipspot Beauty Bar, there's The Triple Crown literally serving up a dish of food, drink and proper sounds! And being ready for a nice dinner, that was the plan! But before making my way there, where Barclay Crenshaw, aka CLAUDE VonStroke of DirtyBird Rec.'s, was the evening's special guest dj, I found my way into one of SF's newest digs- The Smuggler's Cove , a tri-level saloon decked from top to bottom in what could be called "ship-hull chic"; and the drinks, whether you're a fan of rum, or new to it all together, are awesome! Thankfully the friend who'd suggested the voyage, had sent me a warning text message: pace yourself. Good advice, thanks! I'll add my own advice: Refrain from pirate-speak, please!
I finally made it to Triple Crown; it'd just started to get crowded and I happen to make it in and over to the bar, but to my chagrin the kitchen had just closed. A couple of pints would have to do. Manny, aka Dj M3 and the bar's owner, is warming up the now nearly packed place from the dj booth, and the crowd's anticipating Claude to take the helm.
Word on the street was this was an all-vinyl night. It was. Later disclosed by Jon Holiday was that CVS had stopped in at Red Sky Records in SoMA, and was shopping for dub-plates from thy crates. I recall 11 years ago at the loft of my friend Callaway and I, 1145 Griswold (just off of Capitol Park / 1217 Griswold St.), I'd met Barclay. Here's the kicker: for those who didn't know, as prolific as CVS is, his musical stylings are rooted in Drum and Bass / Break-beat culture. And in that vain, when hand dropped the needle on the literal groove, introduction faded in, and that familiar amen-break of DnB nomenclature fired off, breaking the mold; & quite the mind-f_ck it was too, lol! In attendance whom I saw and saluted along the way were, Mal (1/2 of 2Cents) of Compression-SF , newcomer to the West Coast Jules Measures, Jenelle & Corey (Sleazemore), Jessica Neideffer, Linden C, and even my ex co-worker Richard Soulspin from over at TempleSF (it's been a minute!) At any rate, it goes to show that it's not really about the genre of music you represent, but what each person brings to the gathering.
Supposedly some in attendance vacated, for the fact that they came to hear neither the drum(s), nor the bass. . it can be nice to view things from outside of the circle, so to speak, and this night was no exception.. Somehow it all faded away, just like night's-out of yester-day, -week and -year...
