There's some ridiculous talent in town, including Bassnectar at Red Rocks, Julius Papp at Bar Standard, and there's also some dope parties, including the inaugural Full Moon Gathering of 2012, an underground camping blowout, and more. Page down for the weekend's best dancing and nightlife bets.
Bassnectar is obviously the biggest thing happening in electronic music this weekend; the earth-shattering dubstep king will headline Red Rocks on Friday night with Diplo and Keys n Krates and on Saturday night with Flying Lotus, VibeSquaD and Raw Russ -- with that kind of support, get to both shows if you can! (all ages, 7:30 p.m., $39.50-$45)
House veteran and Montreal native Julius Papp will be the name of the game at Full Flavor Fridays at Bar Standard this round; now, Papp is a local favorite in San Francisco, so we'll let that speak for itself. Greg Campbell and Steve Synfull will open things up. (21+, 9 p.m., $5-$10)For even more bass madness, head to Beta tonight to check out 12th Planet with Rumblejunkie and Dayquill warming up that crazy sound system. (18+, 9 p.m., $15)
It's the end of an era. Tonight is your last chance to catch Lipgloss, the award-winning club night, in its current location at La Rumba. Next week, one of the city's longest-running dance nights is making the move to Beauty Bar for the beginning of a whole new era.
Fridays are for reggae lovers. Irie Fridays at Kinga's will be going down once again with all the drink specials you can handle. (21+up; 9pm; no cover). Over at the Gypsy House Café, you can dance well into the evening with DJ Uplifter, Zion SoulJahz and more for the Roots Dance, kicking off the summer thing just right. (21+up, 11pm-3am; $5 cover)
The Hive is hopping these days after its official grand opening last week. Playmate/DJ Ms. Vicious will be on hand for this charity fashion show. (21+up; 9pm). H*Wood and Kid Vegas will be on hand for live performances to keep you entertained.
Peter Black and his Analog Space crew will be wrecking shop at Meadowlark getting your ass in gear for summer. (21+up; 9pm; No cover) No posturing, no pussy-footing, this one is for the dancer in you.
A collaboration between Duane Taylor, Francois Baptiste and Alvin LaCabe of 3Deep and Kevin Kain Ent., Soiree is the brainchild of three of the city's top promoters and Bar Standard's latest Saturday night party. Judging from last week's packed patio opening, the results thus far are impressive. The launch of Soiree at Bar Standard strengthens a longstanding relationship between 3Deep Productions and SoCo; the former's long-standing Thursday night Reggae on the Roof party at Vinyl earned a nod in this year's Best Of Denver issue, and Soiree looks like it will become an equally hot party this summer as well.
Get wound up for summer at the aptly named Summer Wind Up at Diamond After Dark, with a tech/tech-house/deep house room and a dubstep/glitch/eclectic room (with a smattering of tech-house); the lineup includes Torin Schmitt, Mike Louth, Rough Weekend, RA13, Jon Foster, PowTron, Richard Morrissey, ALERT and Tiny Robot. That's a lot of goodness for a reasonable investment. (18+, 9 p.m., $10 before 2 a.m., $15 after)
A good portion of party people will be heading for the hills and the first Full Moon Gathering of the season (and 2012!), featuring Scott Everett, Just Ben, Tess, Louis Marr, Deciprocal, newnumbertwo, Cardinal and Justin Case on a new, private location about an hour outside of city limits. Leave no trace, drive in slowly and quietly, and get ready to get down; visit the event Facebook page to get location details. (21+, 6 p.m., $10-$15 donation per person)
Beta heats up with Art Department, Sergio Santana and Wolfe putting the "fun" in FUNhouse Saturdays. Basically, it'll be dance-floor mayhem, so come prepared. (18+, 9 p.m., $10)
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