The furry scene: San Francisco’s Frolic party – interview with Neonbunny part 3
by Patch O'Furr
Interview series: Artists, animation directors, DJ’s and event organizers, superfans, and more…
Neonbunny is founding DJ and promoter of Frolic. The 90 minute interview has 4 parts, with one a week posting this month.
- Intro: The most furry place in the universe?
- Part 1) Counterculture to Furry – Neon’s background in the SF Bay Area.
- Part 2) Starting Frolic – Throwing parties and finding other furries.
- Part 3) The furry scene – Frolic’s venue: The Stud – Promoting and operating Frolic.
- Part 4) Controversy and success – Music, DIY culture, Furry events, sex, drama, and more.
3) The furry scene – Frolic’s venue: The Stud – Promoting and operating Frolic.
For many furries in the world, the San Francisco Bay Area is the place to be. For many in the Bay, Frolic is THE most furry place. It isn’t the only center, but it’s an influential one. It’s not just the best Furry party… I’d call it the best party San Francisco has, period. Check out Frolic’s website, and read about it in The Bold Italic magazine.
Neonbunny, founding DJ and promoter of Frolic, met me for a long interview over dinner. His partner Jody who handles tech, lighting and animation was with us. It was a year ago, just after they got back from 2013’s Burning Man event in Nevada. Neon’s early trips to Burning Man led to discovering Furries in the early 2000’s, and making friends to help throw parties. It turned into a scene connected to local counterculture.
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(Patch) – The Stud adds a lot of history to Frolic. One of the bar tenders, Bernadette, wanted to talk more about this.
(Neon) – Michael is the owner. He was the manager in the early 1990’s when The Stud was going into financial trouble. It came close to shutting down. He and a few bartenders got together. They would have been fired. The owner needed to sell – it was near going bankrupt. They took out a loan to buy- Michael did most work to be the major shareholder. Maybe not initially, but others sold their shares or died.
It’s important for culture to have places you know you can go where people care.
San Francisco’s Folsom Street area used to have dozens of gay bars. Now it’s down to a couple. It used to be a whole mile stretch from SOMA to the Castro, full of gay bars and clubs back in the 1970’s. AIDS killed a lot of people.
A friend who I know (through dancing in a furry music video together) took me to Powerhouse. He’s connected with the Radical Faeries. It’s one of the only places that still has the old school 1970’s vibe. You go in the back alley – it’s closed off but not technically under the roof, so people do whatever they want back there.
The Stud has history before Michael and the owners bought it. It’s the oldest gay club still still operating. It was established in the late 1960’s, where the Holy Cow is now. It moved to the new place in the 1980’s. It has a history of encouraging counterculture in show and costumes.