The James Logan Courier

By Micah Mahinay, Courier Staff Writer

Also known as America’s hottest party, Blow Up held it down on last month for the lovely Ava Berlin’s (club owner/photographer of Blow Up) birthday party weekend. It’s located on 155 Fell St., at the Rickshaw Stop.

The cover charge at the club is $15 for 18+ and $10 for 21+, on Fridays except the first Fridays of the month. The weekly party features the resident house dj’s from the city, like Richie Panic and the co-owner of Blow Up SF, Jeffrey Paradise.

I arrived early the evening of the Nov. 13 event, because my friends and I thought the club was going to be packed, and it was probably the best decision we made all night because of length of the line to get in. We entered the club dressed well, and said our greetings to Ava as we made our way to the dance floor, then took a break and headed up stairs where there are couches and a balcony to chill to take a breather from the grimy atmosphere. There’s also a mini bar upstairs where beer is served and a smoking room for all those chimney-lungs people to hang out in.

Once again, the room was a sweatbox, but it’s always hot in there, to the point when the walls and ceilings are dripping with sweat. As my friend Michael said in a previous interview I did with him at Spookfest: “It was hot...the hottest party, I ever dj’d at, I had to take off my shirt off.“

The dance floor was packed with ravers and drunken people, until Gil Mantera’s Party Dream band took the stage. They were good live, but usually when bands play at Blow Up it seems that it doesn’t fit the scene since everyone just wants to dance. Don’t get me wrong; the band was good, but based on everyone’s expressions it seemed that people just wanted to shake it on the floor and lose control to pre-recorded music..

On the other hand when international dj’s come to spin some tracks it usually gets the crowd wild. When the band finished their set around midnight, everyone rushed back to the floor and danced after Jeffrey Pardise took the booth and started playing electronic tracks to get everyone back in the mood to break it down, and burn some calories. There were also club photographers, walking around with their cameras to snap a shot of the party people, so when the people who attended the club that night go on blowupsf.com, they may see photos they don’t recall being taken. It’s awesome, trust me.

I’ve gone to this club a couple of times, but this night was special because I presented a fondant cake for Ava’s birthday and it pretty much made her night, which made me happy to see a smile on someone’s face. As lame as it sounds, bringing a cake into a club like that was a great idea since everyone is drained from the energy they spent dancing. Jeffrey cut up the cake and we all settled down to talking about many things.

When I got home I took a long hot shower (best feeling ever) after this club. It was a night to remember. I don’t even consider this club a club. I just refer to it as a crazy and wild party. With the sweaty, dripping walls and attendant musty odor, it probably sounds nasty, but I think it’s a party where everyone should experience it once in their lives.

IT'S JUST SUPER FUN. CHECK OUT:
Blowupsf.com
Myspace.com/blow_up_415
Twitter.com/blowupsf
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