But new Friday parties like Polyglamorous and Dragula now have a home here too, both of which harken to the glory days of nightlife in cities usually more associated with after-dark revels, like New York and L.A.
Now, SF Weekly raved in a cover story last week that the place has singlehandedly saved SF nightlife, which may be a bit of hyperbole. She and fellow drag queen D'Arcy Drollinger, along with two other partners, had for years been looking for a permanent home for their regular performances and parties, like the famed Trannyshack (rechristened Mother this year in the name of political correctness), and their live stagings of sitcoms like The Golden Girls and Sex and the City. Oasis burst onto the gay scene this year, throwing an opening bash on New Year's Eve, and seemed already destined for success given the party-throwing experience of co-owner Heklina. Below, SFist's tried and true favorites, in honor of Pride.
Over the last couple of years, gay nightlife has gotten a jolt of fresh energy thanks to a couple of new venues, and the off-playa work of a couple of popular Burning Man camps, and now, so long as you aren't trying to leave the Castro on Mondays or Tuesdays, there's pretty much always somewhere lively and cool to shake your ass and get wasted. (especially as a percentage of the overall population here), and we're a weekend mecca for the rest of the gay Bay Area too. But San Francisco is, after all, one of the gay centers of the universe, with a dense and diverse homo population that rivals any major city in the U.S. It's Pride Week, and with that comes a whole bevy of once-a-year parties to fill the dance cards of every LGBT party kid in town.