Boy am I tired of seeing letters to the editor in just about every weekly paper I pick up from Jim Meko, newly reappointed member of the Entertainment Commission and the man who turned the plans for the Hole In The Wall’s relocation into a circus of delays and flaming hoops of legal process and time and money wasting tactics designed to frustrate small business owners deplete their resources and put braces on their growth and changes for selfish reasons one can only begin to wonder about, and if you think real hard on that, the speculations can get pretty insidious and scary. What’s scarier is the worst of those possibilities are probably close to the truth. But that’s not why I’m bringing this situation up again—I’d really rather not actually but I’m tired of this man still harping on about things in all the papers, seeking absolution and claiming innocence and suggesting that the Hole In The Wall’s owners are the party responsible for all the tumult, trials and tribulations this case has gone through. He is a man who denies doing several things that he has clearly done, wont stand firm on his actions or words when called on it, and then tries to turn it all around to make it seem like he saved the day and is the great champion of maintaining and helping the nightclub and bar scene of San Francisco to flourish. It’s deplorable and infuriating and if you look around, SF hasn’t had much of a vibrant or world class night club scene for over a decade. We’ve watched many of the bigger clubs and bars falter and close, some even destroyed to make room for the developers who are turning every square foot of space possible into expensive residential properties and monstrous view-blocking high rises (count the cranes in the skyline lately?) for people who make six figure salaries and don’t relish the thought of any nightclub scene existing anywhere near them.
Though the Hole in The Wall was granted approval to relocate after negotiating with the neighboring residents and accommodating structural changes to insure everyones concerns about noise, cigarette smoke and other fears of having a bar as a neighbor, the petty controlling tentacles of Meko will linger on in many ways, most significantly with the sad fact that live DJs will not be allowed as the proper Place of Entertainment permit will not be granted to The Hole. Many clubs face this same problem and try to find ways to work around it, like giving the DJ another duty like bussing glasses and bottles, and oh yeah, occasionally changing the pre-recorded CDs without looking too much like a DJ. It’s totally absurd and you had better believe there will be people just waiting around to sight an obvious violation of this absurd stipulation, the one aspect of control that Meko probably smiles just thinking about, like “I did that!” Proud man. As a DJ, this denial of a permit strips me of my right to work at a job I’ve held for over a decade. Oh well, too bad for the DJs, a part of the community the great negotiator isn’t giving a bit of thought to unlike the neighbors, business owners, people with children, the residents of the nearby public housing development, people who fear their parking might be jeopardized, neighbors possibly struggling with sobriety, property owners with “there goes the neighborhood” attitude, and many other groups possibly affected by a bar in their hood. Where’s the consideration for the suddenly unemployed? Don’t we rate? Are DJ’s just bad people? Mr. Meko seems to know a lot about who’s bad if you haven’t heard. Yeah I know, he did apologize for some of the things he has said but what does an apology mean from someone who tells lies with certain regularity and continues to do so in every print possibility citywide? Believe me I’m sick to death of this whole situation, hearing about it, explaining it to others and talking about it, but I just couldn’t read his delusional letters of half-truths and double-talk and under-handed insults directed at certain writers, publications and bar-owners who have challenged his motives, actions and statements without saying something about it. His recent reappointment to the Entertainment Commission and his unending letter-writing attacks plus the shocking rate of development occurring all over San Francisco and especially South of Market is really creeping me out in a big way. It’s clear to me that this city is turning into a soul-less concrete metropolis that will only be affordable for the very wealthy and will be stripped of the color, charm, diversity, spirit, art, creativity, personality and tradition that drew many of us here in the first place. It won’t just happen over-night but as time marches on don’t be surprised to learn that small businesses and establishments that exist for a community’s relaxation and enjoyment or to showcase creativity or artistic expression or pleasure will begin to disappear. Restrictions will eventually choke and kill the places celebrated and patronized by counter-cultures of any kind because ultimately there is no money in the underground. Pave over it and make it all one sterile well-ordered place that’s safe for perfect children and void of temptation, loud noise, expression, imagination and other dangerous notions. Nostalgia will be all that remains when control and cultural cleansing completes the vision of corporate greed. Will there be room for you in this utopia? In the long run I doubt it.
My apologies for being so grim. As always when things are getting me down I usually turn to music for lifting my spirits and there are a couple of fine shows to take in this weekend, both at Mezzanine on consecutive nights. The first is on Friday when LCD Sound System return to SF. I missed them last time through and apparently they were very very good. I was told that their latest LP Sound of Silver, which I really love, was hardly indicative of how amazing they are live. I’m really looking forward to this one.
The following night the club presents, fresh in from an appearance at Shoreline for live 105’s Big Day Out multiple band summer extravaganza, are the incredible Brazilian band Cansei de Ser Sexy or CSS. Their debut LP was one of my favorites of last year. Four girls and one guy playing bubbly synth pop with plenty of sharp rocking guitar edge and hilarious lyrics in mostly English and you’ve got a winning fresh sound with plenty of dirty words and light-hearted social commentary. Their song “Art Bitch” provides the memorable line “Lick lick lick my art tit/ suck suck suck my art hole.” You gotta love that.