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5 October 1992: A date which will live in infancy? Intimacy? Infinity? Infared?

Me, 1992-ish

I’d been on the road for a week, spending nights in Nashville, Kansas City, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Winnemucca. It was my first time driving across the country and I was excited to be arriving in my new home. I had left North Carolina behind for the City by the Bay, and I would be starting this new life in a very small studio apartment with two friends who had both been more than friends in the past (both to me and to each other). Any discomfort in that arrangement paled in comparison to the discomfort of cramming ourselves into that small space on Fulton Street, half a block from City Hall.

Within a month, I had moved in with another old friend from North Carolina who had never been more than a friend but had just broken up with his boyfriend. He had a two-bedroom apartment South of Market that rented for $800/month. It seemed a little steep to me, but I sucked it up and moved in. We were roomies for almost seven years. I stayed in the apartment for almost thirteen years. Through the grace of rent control, I was paying $925 when I moved out to return to North Carolina with my then-partner. Zillow estimates it just under $4000 now. A lot happened during those thirteen years, much of it documented here.

One of the things I learned how to do while living down the street from the nursery school where the internet was being cared for by a select few was to build websites. In 1996, I started Planet SOMA, which was a website about the neighborhood and the city I called home. I documented the bars and sex clubs and back alleys along Folsom Street, ranted about yuppies and shitty music and gentrification, and actually developed a surprisingly large following for the time. Much of the content can now be seen here at the “blog” I started in 1999, but that large following is now long gone. However, I now run another site which gets more traffic than Planet SOMA ever did. It’s about old supermarkets. Go figure.

At one point I also began documenting the history of gay bars and bathhouses in the neighborhood on Planet SOMA. That content currently lives only in the Wayback Machine. That may change soon.

Planet SOMA pretty much took its last gap in 2005 or so, when I left San Francisco and started focusing on the other sites. I’ve tried to rebuild it as something new/old several times. I’m trying again. This time I envision a salute to the mystical place that was San Francisco in the 1990s,  which is a place I find far more interesting than San Francisco in the 2020s (actually I haven’t even bothered to visit since 2015). There may be dives into other eras as well.

Or I may get bored again.

We’ll see what happens.

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19 June 1999: Planet SOMA Bar Guide

Since the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Folsom Street has been a huge center of San Francisco nightlife — gay, straight, and various flavors in between. Now it’s one of the only places in the country where on any given night you can find three or four queer bars all playing some flavor of rock and roll. This is a good thing. We are pleased.

You can find just about any “scene” South of Market, from tweaker dance clubs to live music venues to leather bars with backrooms. I don’t give a shit about dance clubs, so I can’t really review them, but this page should give you a pretty good feel for the neighborhood watering holes. Come down and visit before the loft yuppies shut down everything…

Some notes. Smoking is technically illegal in California bars. Many places in the city have offered a collective “fuck you” to the state and have been so noted here. I have also offered the price of a nice mid-range domestic beer (Rolling Rock) for comparison. If you want reviews of dance clubs and Castro bars, you’ll have to get them someplace else.

Hole in the Wall Saloon
Eighth at Folsom

The greatest bars always become victims of their own success. This tiny rock and roll queer bar was a much different place on opening night in 1994, and spent a number of years as my favorite queer bar of all time. Unfortunately, the Castro/Detour crowd discovered it, the speed freaks and club kids became far too much of a presence, and on weekends, the slumming yuppies have made it a truly painful experience. The music is still great. The staff is incredible. And on weeknights, you can stilll get a feel for what the greatest bar in San Francisco used to be like.Avoid Saturday nights. Thursdays are great.

Rolling Rock: $2.50 Smoking: Yes. Music: Excellent.

My Place
Folsom near Eighth

Cheap beer. Cheap men. An active (if a little desperate of late) back room. Strange new post-Halloween decor. My Place is dark and cruisy and I love that I can come here and opt to stay completely isolated or — depending on my mood — opt for a lot of attention. I also love that the music is good at least three or four nights a week. I hate that it becomes standard disco-dreck on the other nights. Clusterfucks in the back and the bathroom.Try it on Sunday.

Rolling Rock: $2.25 ($1.50 on Sunday afternoons). Smoking: Yes. Music: Varies.

The Eagle
Twelfth at Harrison

Bye bye generic leather bar and crappy muffled disco. Hello rock and roll queer bar number three. The “new” Eagle is still developing, but John and Joe (of Hole in the Wall fame) have given the place a new lease on life. There are still the Sunday beer busts with the generic leather poseurs, but now there are also actual live bands on occasion. We like.Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons are prime time. Enjoy it while you can; the Eagle is also under pressure from the loft yuppie slime.

Rolling Rock: $2.25 ($1.50 on Sunday afternoons). Smoking: Yes (on patio). Music: Good.

The Stud
Harrison at Ninth

I almost never go to the Stud, mainly because I never know what to expect there. In other bars, this would be a plus. At the Stud, it means they have opted for the “rent-a-space” scene of different clubs on different nights. I hear good things about Trannyshack (drag show Tuesdays).

Rolling Rock: $3.25. Smoking: I have no idea. Music: Varies.

PowerHouse
Folsom between Ninth and Tenth

A Castro bar which somehow made a wrong turn and ended up on Folsom Street. This place SUCKS. I’ve been trying to avoid saying this for two years and I can’t hold back any longer. $3.25 for a Rolling Rock…a dollar more than any bar on Folsom Street. The music is techno-drivel. The crowd is attitudinous wanna-be lukewarm leatherettes and muscle queens. There is almost no neighborhood clientele. The bartenders are surly. The back room is “stand and model” most of the time, with occasional nastiness. The physical layout is great…and totally wasted in its current form. Do I make myself clear?Avoid the Thursday night “underwear parties” like the plague.

Rolling Rock: $3.25 (you gotta be kidding…). Smoking: Yes (on patio). Music: Sucks.

The Lone Star
Harrison between Ninth and Tenth

Friendly bear bar. Big spacious bar. Attractive bar. Bar with patio for smoking and socializing. Bar with no disco. Bar with hit or miss art displays. I like the place; it was the first bar I vere visited in San Francisco before I moved here. But I don’t go there very often. I’m not sure why.

Rolling Rock: $2.25. Smoking: Yes (on patio). Music: Varies.

The Rawhide
Seventh near Folsom

Country music. Lots of flags. They seem to be remodeling and expanding. I don’t care.

Rolling Rock: Who cares… Smoking: Who cares… Music: Sucks.

The Loading Zone
Mission near Twelfth

Haven’t been there as it’s a bit out of the way. I’ve heard it described as very much a leather bar with little tolerance for anyone who hasn’t bought into the scene hook, line, and sinker. I don’t qualify…

Rolling Rock: Dunno… Smoking: Dunno… Music: Dunno…

Covered Wagon (Folsom near Fifth):

Theme nights, light-to-moderate queer presence. Great place to scope bike messengers on Friday afternoons. This was the original home to Club Jesus many moons ago, and it’s a pretty queer-friendly spot.

Rolling Rock: Not sure… Smoking: Yes. Music: Good/Live.

Brain Wash (Folsom near 7th):

Becoming a bigger hangout for your host. It’s a laundromat-bar-cafe, with OK food (Cajun burger…yumm…), ecelectic music, occasional live shows, and without question the cutest, scruffiest boys in the neighborhood. OK…most of them are more or less straight, but who cares?

Rolling Rock: Not sure… Smoking: Outside. Music: Great.

DNA Lounge (11th near Harrison):

Really huge club-type setting with a balcony level and lost of space to roam. More inclined toward dance clubs than bands, but not always.

Rolling Rock: Not sure… Smoking: Not sure… Music: Varies.

Paradise/Transmission (11th at Folsom):

Good, large band space, but the Transmission Theatre usually features a really surly staff. This is a great place to get really loud and annoy the loft yuppies who were too fucking stupid to pay attention to the surrounding area before shelling out $300,000 for that drafty plywood box.

Rolling Rock: Not sure… Smoking: Outside. Music: Good/Live.

Bottom of the Hill ( 17th at Texas):

Arguably the best place in the city to see bands, although it’s a bit out of the way in Potrero Hill.

Rolling Rock: Not sure… Smoking: Not sure… Music: Good/Live.

Jack’s (16th at Guerrero):

Used to be the “official Kinko’s bar” in San Francisco, which means it’s a most comfortable place to get completely plastered. Unbelievable beer selection and a pretty decent juke box too.

Rolling Rock: You can do better. Smoking: Yes. Music: Jukebox.

Tip Top (Mission at 25th):

Yer basic neighborhood band bar. Great place. We like. Look for Alcoholocaust nights.

Rolling Rock: Not sure… Smoking: Yes. Music: Good/Live.

Dance Spaces:

Biggies include 1015 Folsom, 177 Townsend, 174 King, The EndUp (6th at Harrison), and V/SF (11th at Folsom). No reviews, ‘cuz I just don’t care…

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25 January 1999: Planet SOMA Cruising Guide

I used to spend a lot of time in sex clubs in San Francisco. About two years ago, I stopped. There wasn’t any specific reason other than burnout and the fact that I wasn’t having as much fun as I used to. I guess I’m still longing for the “friendly neighborhood sex club” days of places like Mike’s Night Gallery, where people were nice, crowds were diverse, and patrons actually allowed personalities to show on occasion.

I still believe in the concept and I think that sex clubs are a good and healthy idea. I forward friends to them all the time. There seem to be some distrurbing trends developing as to safer sex and overabundant attitude in some places, but they’re still worth a look. But you most likely won’t see me hanging around much these days, since I’m starting to find the idea of bed more appealing at 4AM. I would be interested in publishing some reader reviews. Let me know if you’re interested.

A reminder: sex clubs here are different from bathhouses in that (by law) there are no completely enclosed private spaces. If public sex bugs you, you might as well skip this scene.]

South of Market Sex Club Guide:

Blow Buddies
(933 Harrison near Sixth)

Blecchhh. How could there be so many people in one building who all look exactly alike? Boots, moderately tight 501s, white T-shirts hanging out the back pocket, nice pecs, and not a single distinguishing characteristic separating one bland white boy from the next. This is the McDonald’s of sex clubs; homogenized and cloned to within an inch of its life. Two visits in the past six months (Nov ’97 and Mar ’98) neither amused nor impressed me. Despite the “no fucking” rule, I witnessed several wide open gang bangs without benefit of latex and no one seemed to be doing anything about it. And this was right in the middle of traffic, not off in a corner or a cubicle. Blow Buddies still has a great layout, and the prices are not bad ($3 membership, $7 entrance fee), but I won’t be coming back anytime soon.

The Power Exchange: Main Station
(74 Otis Street between South Van Ness and McCoppin)

If I were designing a sex club myself, this would come pretty close to what I’d do. Lots of corridors and mazes, the tents are back, and pseudo-bedrooms have been added. Crowd skews late. Decor is now sort of trippy and clubby, with indoor smoking lounges and cool lighting; seems aimed more toward a chemically-influenced club crowd, but I liked it too. Have had some good reports recently.

The Power Exchange is “co-sexual” on some nights and divides into two zones: one dedicated to male-male only action, and the other “anything goes”, with females and transgendered persons.

Read a review by Planet SOMA contributor David Bloxsom.

Mack’s
(317 Tenth near Folsom)

I recently revisited Mack’s (July 1998) for the first time in about two years, thanks to a cute green-haired boy and his multi-tatooed boyfriend. I was pleasantly surprised. The place seemed cozy, attitude-free, and remarkably empty of steroid clones. The crowd ranged from punks and club kids to leathermen. It reminded me a lot of the late and great Mike’s Night Gallery, although it’s a tad more claustrophobic. All the info I get about Mack is positive, except for a few reports of unprotected sex. I’ve heard good things about late Friday nights; I may give it a little more attention on the coming weeks.

The Sling
926 Natoma near 10th and Howard)

Never been, but per their own info, the place is large and private and features regularly scheduled handball and water sports parties. Cigar or bear parties are occasionally scheduled. Tubs, troughs, etc. and latex are provided free with admission. Beer and lube are free on watersports nights and available for purchase other nights. Beer, and lube are free at water sports parties, and they may be purchased at other events. For schedule and prices, phone (650) 985-7085.

Clubs Outside the ‘hood:

Eros (Market near Church):
Expensive, with mandatory clothes check. Reputed to be a touch antisceptic, but I haven’t been.

Black House/Castro Party (Castro between 19th and 20th):
First sex club I visited in SF, and it seems to have been on the decline ever since. Was it something I said?

SteamWorks Baths (2107 4th Street, Berkeley):
Popular, I hear, although I don’t do bathhouses, so I can’t say.

WaterGarden Baths (1010 The Alameda, San Jose):
Ditto. I hear really good things about the place.

Dark Alleys:

I’m sad to say that the yuppie invasion South of Market has put a bit of a damper on street cruising. Keep in mind, too, that street cruising has its risks. I live here. I know the terrain. You should too. Do not attempt this when your consciousness is lacking due to too much drinking or chemical stimulation. It could be more painful than you bargained for. It’s also pretty hopeless trying to make it in most alleys before last call…too much traffic around.

Ringold Alley (between Folsom and Harrison, Eighth and Ninth)

A San Francisco tradition, this interesting spot can be experienced on foot or by car; there is even the occasional cab. Tour buses are discouraged. Ringold is by and large a late space, filling up around 2AM when the nearby bars empty out. Prime time runs until 3 or 4 especially on weekend nights, and the cruising is of a dark and severe nature. Tendencies toward leather and an older crowd, but this is not an absolute. Hustlers on occasion. SOMABoy has often made out right there on the alley. Cool, but be careful. I’m mad that my favorite open areas have been fenced off; no place to take a piss now except on the street or on someone on the street.

Rogers/Heron/Berwick (across Eighth Street)

A convenient and less public place to retire after the above, especially when trucks are parked there. Had a right nice time here with two boys one night last summer, one of them a lost Castro queen and the other a friend from the ‘hood. I’ve actually arranged dates in this alley.

Folsom Street proper (from Fifth to Eleventh)

It’s not an alley but there’s several adjacent ones. Cruise late at night, with clusters around the bookstores near Fifth, again between Seventh and Ninth, and — so I’m told — near Dore Alley. Sometimes works in the daytime too. If you wait long enough after last call, 90% of the suburban heterosexuals are gone. This makes cruising easier and more convenient. Sometimes workable in the daytime too, especially on the eastern fringe, but you gotta have an eye for it.

Parks ‘n’ Stuff:

I can’t really personally recommend some places, as I deny the existence of the Castro, and like places within walking distance. There is a cruising park in the Castro — where little seems to happen — behind Cala Foods at Eighteenth and Collingwood .

Buena Vista Park in the Upper Haight is interesting around midnight, they say, and the views are good. There are also rumors of youngsters in the after school hours if that’s your thing, but if you’re over 18, make sure they are too.

The Windmills at Golden Gate Park (older crowd with a tendency toward closets) and Land’s End (younger and prettier and sunbathing nude in the summer) offer sex in a beach setting. Watch those cliffs. The donut patrol (cops) have been making rounds here of late, I’m told. Land’s End is also a national park and is thus outside the SFPD’s slightly less homophobic jurisdiction. Be careful.

Lafayette Park in the lower Pacific Heights area (Gough at Sacramento) has also been recommended. No personal reference here. Never tried it; Pacific Heights (a/k/a “Specific Whites”) gives me the willies.

As to the tearoom scene, should you be so inclined, recommendations include Rincon Center and 4 Embarcadero Center in the Financial District, and Keith at cruisngforsex.com recommends the fourth floor of the library at San Francisco State University. SF is not known for its tearooms.