DNA Lounge

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Coordinates: 37°46′15.54″N 122°24′46.46″W / 37.7709833, -122.4129056 DNA Lounge is a late-night San Francisco nightclub in the SoMa district, owned by former Netscape programmer and open-source software hacker Jamie Zawinski. The club features DJ dancing, live music, burlesque performances, and occasionally conferences, private parties, and film premieres. It is located at 375 Eleventh Street, near Harrison Street.

The club maintains a number of unconventional features, including several publicly accessible computer terminals (running Fedora Core Linux) with a wireless network for internet access. The club also provides continuous audio and video webcasts of all events free of charge.

1 Facilities
2 Events
3 History
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Facilities

The club consists of a large main dance floor and stage, surrounded on three sides by a balcony, open to below. There is also a back room with its own dance floor and separate sound system. There are three full bars, and a full kitchen, serving Mexican food.

[edit] Events

The space functions as a venue for both live music and regular dance nights. Popular regular events at DNA Lounge include:

Bootie, a twice-monthly all- mashup dance night
Meat, an industrial dance night featuring free barbecued meat
New Wave City, San Francisco's longest-running new wave and 80s event
Pop Roxx, a modern alternative and indie rock dance night featuring a different live band each night
Hubba Hubba Revue, a monthly burlesque show, featuring classic striptease, vaudeville comedy, variety acts, and live music

Notable bands and DJs who have performed at DNA Lounge since its re-opening in 2001 include:

The DNA Lounge has also hosted several notable tech-industry events, such as CodeCon, a hacker convention. The release of Mozilla 1.0 was celebrated there in 2002. Cypress Hill's music video for "Insane in the Brain" was filmed at DNA Lounge in 1993. In the background of some shots can be seen parts of the Keith Haring mural that used to adorn the walls of the upstairs lounge.

Notable bands who have performed at DNA Lounge prior to 1994 include:

[edit] History

The venue first opened for business in 1977 as a leather bar called Chaps, owned by Chuck Slaton.

In 1985 it was purchased by Jim English, Jeff Mason, and Brian Raffi who opened for business under the name DNA Lounge on November 22, 1985. The name was rumored to be an acronym for "dancing, not art". The earliest regular DJs were Ted Cousens, Adam Fisher, and Brian Raffi. One of the early doormen was Doc Martin, who later became a popular house music DJ. Some nights were genre-specific, with both live bands and DJs. Notable nights and resident DJ's included DJs Blackstone (who spun hip-hop and rap on Wednesday nights) and Kelly Spencer (who played punk and new wave on Tuesdays). Many of DNA's posters and flyers were designed by the San Francisco-based artist, Rex Ray.

In 1994, the club was purchased by Tim Dale, John Schneider, and Rob Schneider, but quickly fell in to disrepair.^[1]

In April 1999, the club was purchased by Zawinski, who spearheaded a successful grassroots effort to maintain its late-night permits, facing opposition from several neighbors and the SFPD. The club was closed for extensive remodeling and soundproofing from April 1999 until it re-opened on Friday, July 13, 2001.