Welp, it’s 20 years since this Bay Guardian feature about the Ringling Brothers circus coming to San Francisco, and … after 146 years, the Big Top just shut down for good in 2017.
Dilettante 22: Outer Mission bars
Here’s an opinion I espouse now that wasn’t even on my radar 20 years ago this week when I wrote this column: Drinking is a stupid waste of time, especially in lowlife bars. My 20-years-younger self would be shocked to read that, but my skin, hair, liver, and general health thank me now. Ladies, it’s not cute after a certain age, that’s all.
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Dilettante 21: Spice Girls concert tour ’98
View PostDilettante 20: Nouveau vaudeville
In the late ’90s before dot-com rich kids blew out the underside of the city’s culture, San Francisco used to be full of fashionistas who danced well and could hold their liquor.
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Dilettante 19: Backstage at the Zoo
Twenty years ago this week was the first and last time we went to the San Francisco Zoo. True to form, we only went because they gave us backstage passes.
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Dilettante 18: Riding a Mechanical Bull
View PostDilettante 13-17: Normal, healthy spectacles of yore
Summer, 2018: I know that fascism is here because everything is less fun now.
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Dilettante 12: Beach Blanket Babylon
Spectacle. It can be a need. Sometimes, the cheesier the better. Just bring on the ridiculosity.
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Dilettante 11: Chicken John’s Whore Church starring Dr. Ducky DooLittle
View PostDilettante 10: Björk at the Warfield ’98
Some concert halls feel like chapels. Hallowed walls vibrate a warm room tone; the masterful lights transport the listener to another realm where music has color and pulse.
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