King Street Garage
Encyclopedia
The King Street Garage was a nightclub located at 174 King Street in San Francisco, California
near the present location of AT&T Park
. It was directly adjacent to, and physically connected with, the Club Townsend, another famous club on the other side of the block at 177 Townsend Street.
The King Street Garage hosted many clubs, notably the monthly New Wave City dance club which celebrated the best post-punk
, synthpop
, and new wave
music of the 1970s and 1980s.
Inside, King Street was a high cavernous hall with a large dance floor cornered by speaker stacks, with a spacious balcony level above it on three sides. Two staircases near the rear led up to the balcony level. There was a main bar on the lower level, and a small bar with some table seating on the balcony. The high back wall served as a giant projection screen for visuals. Often there were box platforms near the floor for people to get up and dance on. The DJ's
control station overlooked the floor from the balcony near the rear of the club.
King Street closed in June 2002, as the neighborhood was being disrupted and gentrified due to the presence of the new ballpark across the street. The site was later redeveloped as office space.
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
near the present location of AT&T Park
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
. It was directly adjacent to, and physically connected with, the Club Townsend, another famous club on the other side of the block at 177 Townsend Street.
The King Street Garage hosted many clubs, notably the monthly New Wave City dance club which celebrated the best post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
, synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
, and new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
music of the 1970s and 1980s.
Inside, King Street was a high cavernous hall with a large dance floor cornered by speaker stacks, with a spacious balcony level above it on three sides. Two staircases near the rear led up to the balcony level. There was a main bar on the lower level, and a small bar with some table seating on the balcony. The high back wall served as a giant projection screen for visuals. Often there were box platforms near the floor for people to get up and dance on. The DJ's
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
control station overlooked the floor from the balcony near the rear of the club.
King Street closed in June 2002, as the neighborhood was being disrupted and gentrified due to the presence of the new ballpark across the street. The site was later redeveloped as office space.
External links
- DNA Lounge, a smaller club with layout somewhat similar to King Street.
- Current New Wave City website