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Thanks to everyone that came out to the Casbah for our party last night! Great to see so many old friends and new faces. If you have photos please share them with us. #casbahsd #onenationsd #BartBlackstone
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THANK YOU
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TONIGHT! The return of One Nation/Jivewire at the Casbah. Free party for our San Diego friends and family. It’s going off! 9pm Doors 9-10 Mr. Mazee 10-11 Vaughn Avakian 11-12 Bart Blackstone 12-1:30 Melee Round
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Some more photos of One Nation at the Whistle Stop early 2000’s by Matty. Our next party is this Wednesday night at the Casbah. See you there!
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One Nation/Jivewire poster by Jim Mahfood. This Wednesday night at the Casbah. To the roots ... and back!
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Playscool - San Diego Sports Arena. I had been djing for Playscool since it’s first days at the Hotel San Diego downtown. The year before - think this is around ‘88 - we had done a party just in the backstage area at the Sports Arena and it had gone over big. The following year Todd Zweig wanted to come back and take over the entire Sports Arena. The whole thing. I was the DJ in the main arena with some backup from @Billions. My turntables were set up on a big section of stage that had been used by Van Halen a few weeks earlier. We started setting up 3 days before and almost immediately realized how impossible the task was. This was orders of magnitude bigger than anything anyone in the San Diego club world had done before. It was crazy to even think about it and now we had to figure out how to actually do it. A small team from Playscool (with some help from the arena’s union stage hands) worked non-stop over the days and nights to grind it out. I stayed awake for two days straight and finally passed out in a jumpy castle at 5am the night before, waking up a few hours later in a cold sweat. We didn’t have a sound system. The lights weren’t working. Security, box office, volunteers all needed to be briefed. A ton of stuff that was supposed to be delivered never showed up. It was chaos. The rest of that day was an insane dash just to get the bare minimum of things working. It felt like a hopeless suicide mission, and soon enough someone was yelling “It’s 9pm!! They are opening the doors!!” I could hear terror in the person’s voice. We totally weren’t ready. I threw a record on. Sound came out of that huge sound system and it sounded incredible. I started focusing on the mix and lost myself in the music. Over time I could feel the crowd and energy steadily growing and growing but was only really aware of my records and about a hundred feet in front of the stage. Everything was flowing and sounding so good. (Continued below in the comments!)
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THIS COMING WEDNESDAY NIGHT! See you st the Casbah.
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Heat on the dance floor. Rebecca, Teresa and Scott at the Casbah for One Nation/Jivewire sometime around (guessing) 2003?
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A few more photos of 1980’s era Whistle Stop to go with that last post. Alan Brown did this incredible artwork for our first anniversary party with the band #ElevenSons. Also pics of Duff MacDonald, Joe Bender and Jessica Schwartz.
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Not a lot of people know this, but the Whistle Stop was originally a gay bar owned by two retired vets … who were really, really into trains. In the 80’s we ran a popular club there and everyone from the Cult to Siouxie and the Banshees stopped by when they were in town. I had been resident DJ at the Roxy, now known as the Lafayette Hotel’s Mississippi Room. The Mississippi Room has been remodeled, but at the time the Roxy could hold upwards of a thousand people every weekend. We were having problems with the Russian mobster owner and decided to find a small out of the way club we could pack out and play a more eclectic mix of music, more of the stuff we really liked and listened to. My friend John Stoup stumbled upon the Whistle Stop in what was then called Golden Hill. At the time driving down 30th street felt a little like driving off the end of the earth, but our regular Saturday night club was packed immediately and went on for several years, bringing many people into the neighborhood the first time who are still there to this day. Have to say it is still one of the best clubs I have ever been to. Eventually our club moved on and not long after the Whistle Stop bar closed down and was abandoned for almost a decade. The two owners, Mike and Joe, were lovely guys and I had heard one of them passed away. After I moved to New York whenever I drove down 30th St. and saw the Whistle Stop boarded up I have to say it broke my heart a little bit every time. Years later my friend Sam Chammas told me he was going to try to reopen it. It seemed unlikely but I’ve known Sam from college, where we were part of a small team that relaunched the college radio station KCR. I knew that he is a guy that doesn’t give up until he gets it done. Somehow through years of dogged determination he was able to purchase the bar, totally renovate it, and turn it into the community hub that it is today. Vaughn Avakian and I also came back to the Whistle Stop after Sam relaunched it and did One Nation there from 2001-2010. That bar is pure magic. Thank you Sam!
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One Nation party at the 838G gallery downtown - sometime around 2000. Phil Flood, as usual way too much on the smoke machine.
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Electric wall projections at the One Nation party at the Richard Kenvin and Phil Flood's 838G Gallery downtown - right around the corner from the old #greencirclebar . . . . . . #onenationsd #downtownsandiego #sandiegohistory #bartblackstone #838G @hydrodynamica @philskioflood
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One Nation at the Whistle Stop circa 2006.
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Building the stage for a warehouse party we threw in an abandoned warehouse space at the corner of 10th and K St in downtown San Diego (now underneath Petco Field). Sometime around 1989. Our friend and partner Ethan Feerst from #SledgehammerTheater was helping to run cables. We'd been doing illegal parties almost every weekend for a couple of years around San Diego with 1000-1500 people coming out every week. At first we were surprised that somehow we weren't getting busted (see the post about Norway Hall). But as the parties got bigger and more high profile word got around to police and the vice squad of what was going on. This was the night they crushed us. What we heard was that the vice squad put together a special crew of 3 informants - kids in their 20's who had been busted for some other offense and then offered a deal if they would work undercover. This crew was put together specifically to shut down the One Nation parties. The three informants came to the party, checked it out, then left and reported back to a small army of police and vice officers that had assembled several blocks away. The police then swept in and shut down the party. They seized many thousands of dollars in liquor and sound equipment. And worst of all, they put two of my friends who had been working the bar in jail overnight. Working with a lawyer we were eventually able to get the charges dropped but the bust killed our cash flow (with big events like this there is a huge amount of money tied up in overhead, you are counting on the money you made last week to get everything you need for the event next week). The bust put the club out of business for a while and forced us to reassess what we were doing. After some fancy footwork, we were able to figure out a way to get the events fully licensed and insured which was better for everybody.
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Fantastic night at South Park Walkabout last night! What’s up San Diego?! Who came up the genius idea to put a bar in a record store? Thanks to @badmadge @wearevinyljunkies @whistlestopbar @vaughnavakian @mrmazee @tre3beatles @imperialgroundscoffee @21standbroadway @jessicaschwartzperez and everyone else that came through and hung out. See you July 3rd at the Casbah.
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The records made it to San Diego OK!
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We will be djing at the South Park Walkabout tonight. Bart Blackstone and Vaughn Avakian will be djing at our friend and collaborator Tanya McAnear's awesome vintage store Bad Madge. Mr. Mazee and Los B3EATLES will be djing at Vinyl Junkies Record Shack next door in between bands. 6-10pm - it's all free and a chance to check out one of San Diego's coolest neighborhoods. We have been down with neighborhood for a long time (does anyone else remember the Baobob?) from djing at the original Whistle Stop with Club Cult in the mid 80's to One Nation parties at Sam Chammas's relaunch of the Whistle Stop in the early 2000's. Always been one of San Diego's most interesting neighborhoods. .. .. .. .. .. #southparkwalkabout #onenationsd #southpark @badmadge #onenationunderagroove
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Tonight One Nation/Jivewire dj’s will be at the South Park Walkabout. Bart Blackstone and Vaughn Avakian will be djing a special party at Bad Madge vintage and Mr. Mazee and TR3S BEATLES will be djing between bands at Vinyl Junkies Record Shack. Stop by and say hi!
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Monique making drinks at One Nation/Jivewire at the Casbah. . . . . . . . #onenationunderagroove #jivewire #onenationsd #casbah #casbahsd #casbahsandiego
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Valerie Hodge was always cool. Early days. .. .. .. .. .. @CasbahSanDiego #CasbahPresents #LiveMusic #SanDiego #California #SanDiegoMusic #
[email protected]
#JiveWire @CasbahSanDiego #CasbahPresents #Music #4thofJuly #FREE #DanceParty #OneNationUnderAGroove #Disco #DowntownSD #SanDiego #California #SanDiegoMusic #Clubbing #BartBlackstone @VaughnAvakian @MrMazee @ChulitaVinylClub #dennisborlekismyspiritanimal
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“Bart - I love you. Be love. Ru Paul 1990” “Bart - Kool Out homeboy- Raheim””Flash” “Peace - Mel” Going through records tonight getting ready to DJ at the South Park Walkabout this Saturday. . . . . #onenationsd #southparkwalkabout @badmadge #southpark #goldenhill #bartbkackstone
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Checking out (part of) Mr. Mazee's record collection, summer 2010. . . . . . #onenationsd #mrmazee #casbahsd #casbahmusic @mrmazee
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Poster from 10 years ago this month. Friends, apologies if we have been photobombing IG lately. Just so many great photos to get through before our party at the Casbah on July 3rd! Could have started this a year ago and still had great photos left over. Hope this has brought back some memories of good times. #onenationsd #onenationunderagroove #caesars #bartblackstone #gaslampquarter
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One Nation circa 2009. Working the front door at Caesar's Iranian Disco, downtown San Diego. . . . . . . . #onenation #onenationsd #caesars #danceparty #disco #gaslamp #sandiegoclubhistory
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Junior Metro at One Nation/Caesar's Iranian Disco circa 2009, Downtown San Diego . . . . . . . #onenation #onenationsd #juniormetro #caesars #disco #danceparty #gaslamp #downtownsd #bartblackstone
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One Nation circa 2009. Caesar's Iranian Disco, downtown San Diego. See you at our upcoming party July 3rd at the Casbah!
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One Nation at Caesar's Iranian Disco circa 2009. Downtown San Diego. See you July 3rd at our upcoming party at the Casbah. Thank you @badmadge for the many great photos of that night! . . . . . . #onenation #onenationsd #downtownsandiego #gaslampquarter #sandiego #downtownsd #americasfinestcity #gaslamp #sd #rethinksandiego #dtsd #littleitalysd #gaslampdistrict #sdnightlife
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Getting down at One Nation/Caesar's Iranian Disco circa 2009. Downtown San Diego. See you July 3rd at the Casbah! . . . . . . #onenation #onenationsd #gaslamp #sandiegoclub #dancefloorheat #bartblackstone #sdnightclubs #discoheat #sdnitelife
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Oh you pretty things, One Nation circa 2009. Caesar's Iranian Disco, Downtown San Diego. See you at our free party at the Casbah July 3rd! . . . . . . . #onenation #onenationsd #onenationunderagroove #bartblackstone #caesars #disco #nightclubbing #bestnightever #sandiegoclubhistory
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This is how we get down. Laura owning the dancefloor at One Nation circa 2009. Caesar's Iranian Disco, Downtown San Diego. See you July 3rd at our upcoming party at the Casbah! . . . . . .. #onenation #onenationsd #caesars #downtownsandiego #disco #dancefloor #gaslamp #sandiegoclubhistory
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Junior aka @thediscopunk - One Nation at Caesar's Iranian Disco, downtown San Diego circa 2009. . . . . . . #onenationsd #gaslamp #onenation #downstownsd #sandiegoclubhistory #caesars #sdnightlife
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One Nation at Ceasar's Iranian Disco, Downtown San Diego circa 2009. See you July 3rd for the return of One Nation party at the Casbah! . . . . . #onenationsd #ceasars #disco #danceparty #gaslamp #gaslampquarter #downtownsandiego
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On the dancefloor, One Nation circa 2009, Downtown San Diego - Caesar's Iranian Nightclub. See you July 3rd for our One Nation/Jivewire party at the Casbah!
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Dancing on the chairs at One Nation circa 2009, Caesar's Iranian Disco. Downtown San Diego. . . . . . . . #onenation #onenationsd #caesars #dancefloorheat #myfeetkeepdancin #disco #bartblackstone #downtownsandiego #gaslamphistory #gaslamp
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One Nation/Jivewire at the Casbah circa 2008 . . . . . . . #onenationsd #casbah #casbahmusic #littleitaly #jivewire #bartblackstone
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One Nation at the Whistle Stop circa 2006. Emily working the line!⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #onenationsd #whistlestopbar #bartblackstone #southparksandiego
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Emily at One Nation at the Whistle Stop Circa 2006.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #onenationsd #whistlestopbar #sandiegosouthpark #sandiegoclubhistory #getillgoldenhill
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Peter Verbrugge - @peterverb. I was djing at the Pink Panther during one of their original 12 Days of Xmas and snapped this pic. When I was 15 1/2, on the day I got my learner's permit, I told my parents I was going to a church dance in Clairemont and instead drove downtown to the opening night of the Skeleton Club, San Diego's first punk club opened by Tim Mays and Laura Fraser. The bands were fantastic, the club was fantastic, but what impressed the most was Peter. He was a kid who had just moved over from the UK and had a whole case of punk and reggae 7's that he was playing between bands. Incredible stuff that no one in San Diego had heard before, and that night set me on the course to being a DJ. Thank you Peter.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #onenationsd #bartblackstone #pinkpanthersd #pinkpanther #skeletonclub #mrmazee #sandiegopunk #sandiegoclubhistory
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Thank you @pebblezdj #onenationsd #godfather #jb #kcr
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Sharon @chermoto - One Nation underground party at the Centro Cultural de la Raza. Early days.⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #onenationsd #bartblackstone #sandiegoclubhistory #warehouseparty
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One Nation underground party, Centro Cultural de la Raza. Can you spot - Manuella? Rebecca McMullan? Dionne? Ratty? Shari? Micheal Soriano? ⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ #onenationsd #centroculturaldelaraza #danceparty #nightlife #undergroundparty #onenation #dj #djratty#bartblackstone #vinyl #records #funk #soul #disco #warehouseparty #oldschool #nightclubbing #throwback #sandiegounderground #sandiegomusic #sandiegolove #sandiegoevents #sandiegostyle #sandiegoclubs #sandiegoclubhistory.⠀ ⠀
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Ace soundman Andy Ruthenberg kept the sound system running tight. Great guy.⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀
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⠀ The crew. We hustled all day to get the Centro Cultural ready in time for the party, then snapped this picture at the last minute, just as we were about to open the doors. Wardell @war_dellnsilhouette Beth @bmwrallyebeth Barry @thebarrywe Bill @billions Darin Hollings, Jack @therattyshow Hope Sinatra Sean Leslie Iverson Valerie Hodge and @bartcheever⠀ ⠀
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The bar, One Nation party at the Centro Cultural de la Raza in Balboa Park.⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ #onenationsd #danceparty #nightlife #littleitaly #onenation #dj #bartblackstone #warehouseparty #udnergroundparty #sandiegoclubhistory⠀
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@billions aka Bill McMullen aka Billions McMillions aka Billy Peculiar aka Commander Hairdo (and Mike Parsons in the back) at One Nation party, Centro Cultural de la Raza.⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ #onenationsd #danceparty #nightlife #centroculturaldelaraza #onenation #dj #billmcmullen #bartblackstone #vinyl #records #funk #soul #disco #warehouseparty #oldschool #nightclubbing #throwback #oldschoolhiphop #sandiegounderground #sandiegomusic #sandiegolove #sandiegoevents #sandiegostyle #sandiegoclubs #northpark #cocktails #commanderhairdo⠀
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One Nation party, Centro Cultural de la Raza. The one and only Coconut in the front. Paul Jensen + girlfriends in the back. ⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ ..⠀ #onenation #centroculturaldelaraza #coconut #danceparty #nightlife #balboapark #onenationsd #dj #bartblackstone #vinyl #records #funk #soul #disco #warehouseparty #oldschool #nightclubbing #throwback #sandiegounderground #sandiegomusic #sandiegolove #sandiegoevents #sandiegostyle #sandiegoclubhistory
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One Nation underground party, Centro Cultural De La Raza, Balboa Park, San Diego. Centro Cultural is one of my favorite places in San Diego and we did several parties here in our early warehouse era days. It was a giant abandoned water tank that the city gave to a group of Hispanic artists in the 1960's for the creation of a Chicano arts and community center. The inside is like one giant 40' high concrete wall that goes all the way around and is covered top to bottom in Chicano murals. It's famous all over the world, but I'm always surprised how many San Diegans have never set foot in it. For our parties people had to park in a lot in the middle of the park, then walk back on a trail that wound through a dark forest grove. Our friends at trade roots reggae hooked us up with hardcore smoke pots and as you walked up the whole park smelled like incense. It was magic.