How Monarch Helped Save SoMA — and SF Nightlife
I thought I had been to every room at Monarch, the “reigning throne of San Francisco’s nightlife dynasty,” but I was wrong.
I’ve watched aerial performances in the Victorian-meets-Steampunk bar upstairs, danced to the superior Void Acoustics audio system in the nightclub downstairs, and sipped elegant cocktails in the regal Emperor’s Drawing Room. But the real treat was joining Micah Byrnes, Monarch’s managing partner, for a chat in the hidden Green Room.
It’s not called that just because it’s where the musical talent relaxes when they’re not performing; it’s literally green from wall to wall. A disco ball spun over us as we lounged in the colony of vintage Victorian couches. We chatted sandwiched between two sparkling statues of Teddy Roosevelt lookalikes.
“They were going to throw those away at Supperclub, so I grabbed them, painted them gold and covered them in glitter,” Byrnes explained.
Supperclub was a decade-old nightclub, restaurant and performance space that closed last year because, as general manager Brad Ramacher told SFGate, “[San Francisco nightlife] has definitely been gentrified to a specific type of person or lifestyle.”
Ramacher’s lament over cultural and demographic shifts in San Francisco is a common concern when discussing city nightlife among friends, but Byrnes was opposed to this train of thought.
“Nightlife is thriving!” he proclaimed. “I’d even say there’s a boom in nightlife in the city.”
He has the figures to back it up.
“On New Year’s we threw a party called ‘It’s a New Day’ that had over 5,000 people, and at the same time there was another daytime New Year’s party that had 7,000 people,” Byrnes began. “That many people going out on New Year’s Day in San Francisco to party is huge. The past few years have been really good for nightlife.”
According to a 2012 San Francisco Nightlife Economic Impact Report, the nightlife industry took in almost $4.2 billion in revenue over the course of 2010. Byrnes also mentioned some of the work that’s been going on over the years between the recently established San Francisco Entertainment Commission, the California Music and Culture Association and the Bay Area nightlife movers and shakers.
“The city is actually passing a bunch of legislation right now to really protect the culture and get behind nightlife in general,” he said. “Now that they know how much money it generates and what it does for neighborhoods they’re like, ‘Oh wait, this is a resource for the city!’ So they’re really trying to streamline the process to foster creative situations and grants, because they’re aware that some of the cultural aspects and important people of San Francisco are being pushed out.”
Byrnes explained to me that Monarch thriving on 6th Street in SoMa is a testament to how nightlife can help improve local areas.
“One of the things that has made us the most successful was our outreach with this neighborhood,” he began. “We’ve been told by neighbors that our bar has changed this three block radius for the better. Traditionally, 6th Street is one of the worst neighborhoods in America. It’s an unofficial containment zone they used to just drop off so-called unwanteds.”
The venue that ultimately became Monarch wasn’t helping, either.
“It was a really run down hip-hop club that had bullet holes in the floor. The city hated it,” Byrnes said. “It was the worst. Bullet holes in the floor and blood on the curtains. It looked horrible.”
After a year of attracting investors and planning it’s creative direction, Byrnes and his friends renovated the space and were open for business in under a month. The plan was to steadily establish Monarch as an eccentric cultural hub for San Francisco.
“We weren’t going for the quick easy money,” Byrnes confessed. “We were even going to forgo money to keep this place cool and turn it into an institution with our selective programming and throw certain events.”
The plan worked. The parties continue to be creative. In April Monarch hosted “Ballin Outta Control,” where the club was turned into a gigantic adult ball pit. The staff can hardly keep up with the roster of successful events and surprise guests that come through Monarch’s doors.
“Bands will go on these massive tours, but forgo the big money when they come to the city and want to play here,” he said, proudly. “You can’t get that San Francisco vibe that exists here at bigger venues and stadiums. M83, kaskade, Disclosure, all these acts that are way too big to traditionally play at a 400 person venue come through and want to play here.”
Having an accessible and unconventional edge is what Byrnes and his partners had in mind when establishing Monarch, and it’s that eccentric mentality that’s brought them to this next chapter in their nightlife takeover.
The team has expanded their empire to include catering parties and festivals through Monarch Beverage Catering, and they’ve recently signed a contract to purchase Mighty, a much larger nightclub that will go under a huge remodeling in August.
I’ll be there for the opening.
For more info, visit: http://www.monarchsf.com/
Note: This article originally appeared on Ripple.co, which has been acquired and now appears on Hoodline.
