Goodbye to Ggreg

2001 Events

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Saint Patrick's Day

I didn't do anything special for St. Pat's this year.

My friend Rob and I finally went out for dinner to celebrate my birthday (two months late, but the 17th part was correct). Rob was playing a Moby CD and hearing that track "Go" made me feel so ancient because I still remember being at a rave called 'OAP' (One Almighty Party) in LA when I heard it for the first time like three lifetimes ago.

Ggoodbye Ggreg

After dinner, we went to Ggreg Taylor's going away party at The Eagle (Tavern? Saloon? Whatever they're calling it this week, it used to be a leather bar and now it's having an identity crisis.)

Ggreg moved to London, England on 20 March, 2001 so he organized a going away celebration for the night before. He claims he'll be there at least two years so I HAD to attend the party and say goodbye.

A Little History

I was one of the first people Ggreg met in SF. We hung out in the Homocore (gay punk) scene in the late 80s. I was also hanging out (creating) the burgeoning house scene too, but Ggreg never liked dance music.

Imagine my shock and surprise in 1992 when he opened a competing dance club (Called "Product") and hired away our opening DJ. I was bummed a little, but realized that the only crowd he was pilfering from our club ("Carefree Dancing") were the tedious beef muscle queens and they were the type of floor filler that our core supporters despised. Despite his protestations to the contrary, Carefree eventually fell apart because of internal forces that had more to do with psychedelic overload, speed psychosis and sleep deprivation than anything that Ggreg could ever manufacture.

Friends Forever

About 16 of my friends left the planet that year so I stopped counting. Ggreg knew most of them and claims he stopped counting dead friends at 27. Grief and survival are strong bonds and I know Ggreg will always be my pal.

Cheers M'dears! Surprises at the Party

His party was a melancholy mix of old and older faces. I haven't seen some of the people there since the 1980s (shame they still look and act the same, well maybe they look a bit older or more drug-spent) It seemed like most of the 500 or so people that he invited were all there.

I was surprised to see Christian from Bakersfield (He's been living in New York for the past 8 years) and Tony Meredith who came up from L.A. He said he was hosting Tranyshack the following Tuesday, but it's a work night for me so I don't go. There were quite a few people from LA there actually. I arrived too late to see Ggreg's mum and his aunt Kitty who came down from Spokane, Washington.

Leprechaun Hat Another surprise of the evening was seeing Daddy Gary and his boy Eric, celebrating Daddy's birthday with a little crowd tucked in a corner of the patio.

Everyone's Irish on St. Patty's Day