French dance party celebrates Bastille Day at the Rickshaw Stop
The Bay Area's favorite -- and only -- Francophile dance party returns to celebrate Bastille Day with groovy sounds from the '60s and beyond at San Francisco's Rickshaw Stop Saturday night when Bardot A Go Go fills the club.
Founded by DJs Brother Grimm, Pink Frankenstein, and the Cali Kid in the late '90s, the regular dance party took advantage of the resurgence in mod '60s pop and soul fueled in part by the popularity of the Austin Powers film series, but with a distinctly French twist.
Focusing on the "yé-yé" tunes of Brigitte Bardot, Jacques Dutronc and Francoise Hardy (many penned by iconic songwriter and later a lascivious star in his own right, Serge Gainsbourg) and French covers of American and British hits, the throwback DJ night drew big crowds dressed in mod clothes to a variety of San Francisco venues well into the 2000s with its go-go soundtrack accompanied by period film projections, pop-art displays and occasionally live synchronized performances by popular SF dance troupe the Devil-Ettes.
At one point, the dance party became a weekly event, though organizers eventually found themselves taxed by holding Bardot A-Go-Go that frequently and scaled things back. Over the past decade, the event has focused on celebrating specific dates including the birthdays of Gainsbourg and its iconic namesake Bardot, as well as an annual party held on or around Bastille Day.
While DJ Brother Grimm (aka longtime Rickshaw Stop booker and talent buyer Dan Strachota) has largely kept the party going on his own for Bastille Day and other notable dates after his partners moved out of the Bay Area, last year's 25th anniversary celebration saw a reunion with co-founders Pink Frankenstein and the Cali Kid for a sweat-inducing onslaught of '60s go-go grooves. Grimm and Pink Frankenstein team up once again bring the Bastille Day party heat this Saturday night.
Bardot A Go Go Post Bastille Day Party
Saturday, July 13, 9 p.m. $10-$15
The Rickshaw Stop
