Best of the Bay Readers Poll
"Best Retro Night" 
Feeling nostalgic for the heady Reagan era? Our readers must,
judging by their endorsement of New Wave City. This roaming
'80s dance party features music from the new wave era of the
late '70s and early '80s, including theme nights dedicated
to bands such as the Clash, Bauhaus, the Go-Gos, and the Cure.
There is always a half-hour block of music at midnight during
which only the featured band's songs are played, so the fans
can truly get down. Vintage videos or slide shows complete
the event. Founded by DJs Skip and Shindog in 1992, this night
is still a favorite. (415) 675-LOVE.
- San Francisco Bay Guardian, July 2000
Best of the Bay Readers Poll
"Best Retro Night"
As the 21st century approaches, it's pointless to question whether
the '80s revival is over - the real question is how many times
the '80s can be revived. New Wave City has been reviving the
'80s for years, and thanks to DJs Skip and Shindog, it has been
doing so with an enthusiasm that puts the easy kitsch of other
revivals-come-lately to shame."
- San Francisco
Bay Guardian, July 28, 1999
Shindog was quoted
in a year-end Chronicle story asking DJs about their ultimate
party.
"DJ Shindog of New Wave
City and Ballroom Blitz, says his ultimate New Year's show would
be a benefit with the reunited Pixies.'Besides rocking our butts
off, hopefully we could remind everyone to help each other and
help the planet -- the perfect next-millennium message.'"
- San Francisco Chronicle, December 19, 1998
Best of the Bay Readers Poll
"Best Retro Night"
When you have that irrepressible urge to break out the mousse
and blue eye shadow, there's not one but two "killer"
places to rock your lobster. New Wave City, the roving dance
party, brings "Centerfold" and "Stray Cat Strut"
back to the dance floor and onto the karaoke stage. Eighties
night at the Stud gives a queerer crowd a similar trip back
to adolescent pop la-la land. New Wave City, (415) 675-LOVE
or www.newwavecity.com. The Stud, 399 Ninth St., S.F. (415)
863-6623.
- San Francisco Bay Guardian, July 29, 1998
NOTE FROM SHINDOG: New Wave City is NOT known for playing "Centerfold"
!!!
 We
got special feature coverage in the Bay Guardian's 1998 Bar
& Club Guide.
Read the full text here.
"New Wave
City is, well, new wave city; it's brimming with women in Go-Go's
dresses, thick bows tied around their short, frizzy-banged hair.
Lots of men with pencil-thin ties and spiky techno dos hang
around too; I even spotted a few clove smokers huddled outside.
And if you still don't know where you are, the TV screen in
the front of the bar flashes images of '80s giants like Dexy's
Midnight Runners, Boy George, Devo, and Soft Cell. And oh, the
dance floor. It's difficult to describe the truly unmitigated
glee the dancing mass expressed at the beginning of each eagerly
anticipated song, all those yelps of exuberance at hearing,
say, the first few bars of Soft Cell's 'Sex Dwarf' or Duran
Duran's 'Girls on Film.'"
- San Francisco Bay
Guardian, March 4, 1998
As if that wasn't enough, the NWC promoters got grilled
for the Bar & Club guide. Read
it all here.
"New Wave City is more
a floating family, a nomadic tribe, than a floating club. And
Skip and Shindog, its creators, DJs, and 'father figures,' are
avid documenters of their past, keeping extensive photo albums
of their devoted kin. Veterans of more than 10 venues, the partners
started the City in '92 at the now-defunct new wave landmark
the I-Beam. The years have seen many of their famous theme nights
(Rock the Casbah Belly Dancers, Molly Ringwald Night) and New
Wave Theatre performances, one of which featured Skip and Shindog
as Robert Palmer girls, lip-synching 'Addicted to Love.' To
catch them in top form, come early, when they play their 'little
gems.' You won't be alone, though, because as Skip says, 'People
plan their lives around New Wave City.'"
- San
Francisco Bay Guardian, March 4, 1998
KRON'TV's "First Cut" program covered the
80s revival and sought out our own Shindog as an expert on the
period.
"New Wave was an outgrowth of
the punk rock movement," explains Steve Indig, co-founder
of New Wave City. "There wasn't so much the hard core rebelliousness,
but still people were enticed by things that looked different
and...exciting."
- KRON-TV's "First Cut," January 24, 1998
No doubt many of you saw the
SF Chronicle piece reporting on the '80s revival. Although the
reporter had more of a fixation with so-called "yuppie
parties," you might want to read the original article on
'80s clubs , or the accompanying story on the decade in general.
New Wave City was acknowledged as the leader of clubs laying
claim to the decade, with both photos accompanying the article
( take a look at the photos here! ) taken at our club (actually
the April 97 event), and the following copy:
"Saturday
nights get a jolt once a month with New Wave City, at nearly
5 years old the longest-running '80s dance party."
- San Francisco Chronicle, July 10, 1997
"For those whose Carter-era sphere
of reference extended beyond that of a suburban third grader,
New Wave City's Class of '77 celebration should inspire more
acute pangs of nostalgia. This night, the roaming dance party
salutes the year punk/New Wave came of age by giving away the
latest albums by that year's valedictorias Johnny Lydon and
David Byrne, and spinning the best of Blondie, the Ramones,
et al. New Wave City, King Street Garage, June 21st"
- BAM, June 13, 1997
"While the Black and White Ball sends revelers home dreaming
of Fred and Ginger, New Wave City's alternative dance party
the Black and Black Ball conjures visions of Budgie and Siouxsie.
"Death Guild"'s Melting Girl joins DJs Shindog and
Skip as co-hostess and guest DJ. People are expected to dress
accordingly; go ahead and relive those memories of the 'rents
wringing their hands and pleading "Why can't you wear something
cheery?" The Black and Black Ball is at the King Street
Garage."
- SF Weekly "Night & Day", May 7, 1997
"Maybe you're looking for a
more traditional way to say howdy-do to 1997, but nothing can
quite compare to those youthful parties of yesteryear. Have
no fear, the staff of New Wave City knows your pain - and your
age. You are invited to relive New Year's Eve circa 1979 with
all of your favorite hits from your favorite artists (no, this
is not a K-Tel commercial): the Cars, the Clash, the B-52's,
Ian Dury, the Records, the Talking Heads, Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello,
David Bowie, Joe Jackson, Madness, the Police, the Knack, the
Buggles, Flash & the Pan, the Specials and Blondie. But
wait! There's more. For absolutely no additional cost, you will
get party favors, door prizes, a balloon drop, a midnight champagne
toast, and a new wave karaoke room where you can get drunk and
butcher all the bygone hits just for laughs. The flashback begins
at 9pm on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at the CW Saloon, 911 Folsom."
- Silke Tudor (The House of Tudor), SF Weekly, December
25, 1996
"New Wave
City, a roving, '80s-themed club, is scheduled to celebrate
both Simon LeBon's birthday and Halloween on Friday at the Martini
Lounge in Hollywood. Celebrants are encouraged to sport 'New
Romantic' or any other '80s attire."
- Heidi Siegmund
Cuda, Los Angeles Times, October 24, 1996
"San Francisco's floating club, New Wave City, comes to
L.A. with DJs Shindog and Skip spinning music from '80s greats
like Duran Duran, Adam Ant, the Smiths and more."
- LA Weekly, September 26, 1996
Our First L.A. press!
"Club buzz:
San Francisco deejays Shindog and Skip are testing L.A. waters
by bringing New Wave City, their 4-year-old roving dance club,
to the Southland. New Wave City can be found at the Garage in
Silver Lake on Sept. 20 and the Martini Lounge in Hollywood
on Sept. 28. Expect plenty of Duran Duran, Adam Ant and Go-Go's.
New Wave City, (213)694-1866 or (415)675-LOVE."
-
Heidi Siegmund Cuda, Los Angeles Times, September 12, 1996
San Francisco Bay Guardian
"Best of the Bay"
"Best Club for New Wave Oldies"
Some might say nostalgia for the '80s is a trend; others might
say it's a disease caused by fin de siecle fear of the future.
Whatever the case, New Wave City tapped into '80s nostalgia
long before the trend (or disease) reached epic proportions.
The monthly (sometimes semimonthly) traveling party, hosted
by deejays Shindog and Skip, brings ska boys with skinny ties
and Goth girls with jet-black hair together under one roof to
perform herky-jerky dance moves to the beats of the Reagan era.
New Wave City's next party features a live performance by Berlin,
the Los Angeles talents responsible for the aural soft-porn
hit "Sex (I'm a ...)." Be there or be square. Various
locations, S.F. (415) 675-LOVE."
-San Francisco
Bay Guardian "Best of the Bay" Issue , July 31, 1996
"New Wave City is the leading
80's-retro, alternative-dance music event in the city. It's
heads and shoulders above the rest of the clubs trying to pull
off this format, and they've been doing it for a number of years.
Each affair pays tribute to a late 70's/early 80's, alternative
recording artist or a genre of music. DJ's Skip and Shindog
spin tunes ranging from rock-a-billy to gothic. They're all
over the board."
- Oblivion Magazine, April/May,
1996
"This '80s club
only comes around one Saturday a month, and the leathered-up
crowd looks like it just came from the famed punk club CBGB
in New York. By 11:30 p.m., there is a line down the block.
The dance floor gets packed and one recent midnight, the Cure
one of the great downer bands of the '80s, was played for a
half-hour straight. [Another recent New Romantic theme included]
featured bands Duran Duran, Adam & the Ants, Visage and
Ultravox. Theme requests are welcomed."
- San
Francisco Chronicle , March 3, 1996
"It's Saturday night at Cat's Grill and Alley Club and
New Wave City is in full gear. Krista's mohawked partner, Amy,
attests that they haven't missed a single night of the monthly
floating dance club since they discovered its existence... most
of New Wave City's patrons are repeat customers.... Full of
pogoing men in pointy, shiny shoes and women in miniskirts imitating
Molly Ringwald's Breakfast Club dance, [New Wave City] is a
sight to behold. 'The '80s were really geared towards fun,"
says a bespectacled man in New Romantic gear. "The clothes
are flashy, the makeup is flashy, but people are out to have
fun - not just to pose..."
- Silke Tudor /Night
Crawler, SF Weekly, December 13, 1995
** This
is a great piece! Try to get it and read the whole thing if
you can.
"One recent
Friday night, I found myself in a packed nightclub called New
Wave City. While Flock of Seagulls' 'Space Age Love Song' played,
the crowd performed the universally recognized dance of the
eighties, sweeping their legs in graceful circles and moving
their wrists around as if wearing handcuffs... Once a month,
hundreds of twentysomethings gather to dance to songs that are
almost 15 years old: Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart,'
Depeche Mode's 'Everything Counts,'..."
Rafer
Guzman, Pacific Sun, October 18, 1995
** Another superb article! Check it out if at humanly possible.
"Who in this day
and age would dare offer a special salute to The Smiths to a
crowd of San Franciscans? Nobody but New Wave City - the only
folks under the sun who, when faced with the recent Duran Duran
and Adam Ant revivals, held firm their belief that the early
'80s never went out of style. The parties are fun, and the music
is great if you love it and quaint if you don't. This time around
it's the club's third birthday..."
- Bay Guardian
, August 30, 1995
"...Right
now, musical salutes to the '80s are commonplace on TV (VH-1)
and CDs (via Rhino), but New Wave City revived the era long
before it was trendy to do so. The traveling new wave/new romantic
club is celebrating its third anniversary, and it's an 'Unhappy
Birthday,' devoted to the peerless poetic miserabalism of the
'80s greatest boy band, the Smiths..."
- SF Weekly
, August 30, 1995
"New
Wave for a Cause ...proceed to visit New Wave City's Pride of
the '80s Dance Party, where you can invent herky-jerky dance
moves while helping a worthy cause. All proceeds will go to
Project Open Hand..."
- SF Weekly , June 7, 1995
"New Wave City and 80Something - the two Bay Area production
groups that present regular new-wave dance parties in San Francisco
- are teaming up for "Pride of the '80s," a benefit
for Project Open Hand. It features DJs Dangerous Dan, Paul Cruikshank,
Shindog and Skip, as well as lip-synch performances by Deena
Davenport's New Wave Video 2000, a buffet and prizes for best
'80s garb."
- San Francisco Chronicle , June 11,
1995
"At no time since
Dec. 31, 1989, has it been easier to step into the '80s... DJ
Skip and his partner DJ Shindog are the wax spinners and promoters
of New Wave City, a club that is currently spilling through
the city and carrying folks back to the early '80s."
- Bars & Clubs: A Bay Guardian supplement, April 1995
"On a recent rainy
Saturday night South of Market, a group of revelers collected
at New Wave City, a monthly 'roaming '80s dance party,' to pay
tribute [to the Go-Go's.] Marian Ringwald, 26, remembered that
at age 14, "I liked them because I thought Gina Schock
was one of the best drummers in rock.'"
- SF Weekly
, November 12, 1994
"The
latest edition of the New Wave City dance party happens Saturday
at the I Beam. I will include a prize giveaway of Rhino's new
five-CD compilation 'Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits of
the '80s.' And rumors abound that the I Beam will be closing
its doors for the last time at the end of the month."
- San Francisco Chronicle , July 17, 1994
** NOTE : The I Beam did close, which made that New Wave City
event its last night EVER!.
"Forget
all of this 'New Wave of New Wave' nonsense the Brits keep flogging
away at. Here in San Francisco, it's easy to be transported
back in time and feel all the power and energy of the real thing:
Yep, that intrepid traveling club of late-'70s/early-'80s fun,
New Wave City, is back, complete with the stunning mirror-balled
ambiance of yesteryear. DJs Shindog, Skip and Brian Raffi will
be plundering their vinyl collection - this music was hot way
back in the days before cute little shiny discs, remember? -
to bring us New Wave's eternal classics. So don your skinny
ties (or, depending on our personal leanings, that white stripe
across your nose), and prepare to thrill to the sounds of 'Antmusic,'
'Tainted Love,' 'Poison Arrow' and 'Eton Rifles.' Go back to
a land far away, where music was real and you possessed enough
stamina to stay up until 3:30 am and still get to your day job
on time the next morning."
- SF Weekly , June
29, 1994
POP CHARTS:
Each week, The Chronicle will look at various charts, including
music videos, hits from around the world and personal favorites
from local personalities.
LOCAL FAVORITES
DJs Skip, Shindog and Brian of New Wave City;
| 1. |
New Order |
'Temptation' |
| 2. |
Madness |
'One Step Beyond' |
| 3. |
Dexy's Midnight Runners |
'Come On Eileen' |
| 4. |
Men Without Hats |
'The Safety Dance' |
| 5. |
Big Country |
'Big Country' |
| 6. |
Stray Cats |
'Stray Cat Strut' |
| 7. |
Pigbag |
'Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag' |
| 8. |
Duran Duran |
'Girls On Film' |
| 9. |
Sex Pistols |
'Anarchy in the UK' |
| 10. |
Adam & The Ants |
'Antmusic' |
- San Francisco Chronicle , May 22, 1994
"...Punk revival nights are popping
up at nightclubs throughout the country, including San Francisco,
where nightlife entrepreneurs Steve Indig and Grant 'Skip' Medeiros
have drawn big crowds with their infrequent 'New Wave City'
nights at various clubs..."
- Oakland Tribune,
May 30, 1993
"...It
[the '70s movement] is being displaced in the demimonde by an
'80s revival, which is occurring in the form of events such
as the 'New Wave City' dance parties.."
- San
Francisco Chronicle , March 22, 1993
"...last week I attended my first New Wave party at [New
Wave City] which must mean that time has - surprise!- marched
on... at the party, there we all were, dancing merrily away
to songs by Duran Duran, the Go Go's and Scritti Politti.."
- Gina Arnold, Express, February 5, 1993
"...Regardless of how you want
to discard it ('We've got the beat'), recall it ('Bela Lugosi's
dead'), or invoke it ('I might like you better/if we slept together'),
[New Wave] is back with a vengeance at New Wave City..."
- SF Weekly , January 20, 1993
"...Are you ready for '80s nostalgia? Try New Wave City,
featuring music by all the great ones - you know, Adam and the
Ants, Nina Hagen, the Go Go's, Romeo Void, and the rest.."
- San Francisco Bay Guardian, January 20, 1993
"...If you already miss the
'80s and crave an opportunity to undulate to those 'modern rock
classics' of yore, check out..'New Wave City' dance parties..."
- San Francisco Chronicle , January 17, 1993
"...The dance crazies of the
'70s and early '80s can revive their sweaty habits at New Wave
City..."
- San Francisco Chronicle , January 14,
1993
"...The faded
glory of the old I-Beam nightclub on Haight Street gets a flash
of '80s nostalgia..bringing back DJ's and the 'new wave' music
that made the club one of the high energy nightspots of those
long-ago times..."
- San Francisco Chronicle ,
August 20, 1992 |
