For the last 20 years. the San Francisco based Wicked parties have made a stir in the house and disco scene. This year they celebrated 20 years of disco glory taking the show on the road and I was ready! Next stop BROOKLYN! The party was located in a private warehouse in Williamsburg, a fun and unique Brooklyn neighborhood. When I arrived they were just hanging the disco ball. Jenӧ was getting things started with some delicious house and acid grooves, the lights were still up and I started to take it all in, I knew this was gonna be a good night. The location was perfect!

Outside there was a covered bar and tables with a wide opening to the inside that housed a pumpin’ sound system. The dance floor was ready for stomping and WICKED Brooklyn perfectly tagged up on the brick wall. People started arriving and you could tell this was a family affair! I immediately met some of our 90hz crew and as people trickled in with their “Wicked SF” shirts, we all gave a little smile to each other as we found our places on the dance floor.

Jenӧ built up the vibe and got everyone moving. The dance floor filled up fast and the next thing I knew the entire place was packed with heads and feet moving! He rocked us for a solid 4 hours, I was seduced into dancing the entire lot. Thomas came on next  but unfortunately the power went off a few times, so he was stuck playing one record after the next, dropping some of the funkiest and dirtiest choons on us. Finally Garth took the stage with his grinding bass and funky grooves. He played a stunning 3 hours before I left. (I heard he rocked the joint till 7am!) 7 hours of dancing and getting down with our San Francisco Wicked Family!!! Thanks to Jenӧ, Thomas and Garth for an amazing evening in Brooklyn!!!

More to come from Chris Love and Tom Mello.

Here’s what the Wicked 20 Years of Disco Glory party Facebook page has to say about the crew.

“In the spring of 1991 a small brave crew of Acid House seekers set sail from south east England in search of adventure. San Francisco was the destination.They made their mark under the Golden Gate Bridge at Baker Beach with the first in a 6 year run of wild and lawless full moon parties. In a haze of psychedelic smoke the crew came up with a name. Wicked was born and consummated the following weekend with an all-night loft party above BMP Records in the city’s sex district.From here they moved below ground to Jesse Street, a sweaty after hours jam that became the crew’s first weekly residency. Kick off was 2am! Quickly outgrowing the tight confines of the basement, Wicked threw a series of warehouse parties before settling in to the King Street Garage with their own custom designed Turbosound system and camouflage netting.

By 1995 the parties and Wicked’s rep had grown exponentially. They invited the best DJs the world had to offer to play on the Wicked Sound System. Tony Humphries, Francois K, DJ Pierre, Louis Vega, Roger S, Harvey, Stacy Pullen, Robert Owens, K Alexi, Alton M, Three, Mike Clark, Chez Damier, Kenny Hawkes & Joe Claussel all made their SF debuts at Wicked jams on King Street, Townsend or DNA. Wicked was the pioneering sound system at Burning Man in 1995. The same speakers went on to rule the late night airwaves each year at Reggae on the River with guest appearances on the mic by Reggae legends Mikey Dread and Junior Reid.

By now word of Wicked had spread across the states. After a couple of years touring in a convoy of vans the crew teamed up with friends in Berkeley and all aboard Clay’s customized ’47 Greyhound bus, took the country by storm.By 2000 the crew had swept through Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Salt Lake, Boulder, Denver, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Dallas, Austin, New Orleans, St Louis, Chicago, DC, Baltimore, NYC, Miami, Tampa & Gainesville, spreading their gospel.

As a side note, each of the crew has had successful recording careers which began on Garth’s Grayhound Recordings. Before ruling the airwaves with his Noise from the VOID radio broadcast, Jeno had several acclaimed remixes on the label. Markie recorded as Defenders of the Faith w/Neil harris and as Wicked with Garth who also recorded as Rocket w/Eric James and as Crosstown Traffic w/Rob Doten. Thomas had notable hits as Mirror Boys and has since gone on to international acclaim as half of NYC’s Rub ‘n’ Tug and Map of Africa w/Harvey.

Between them they have remixed Tribe Called Quest, Faithless, Perry Farrell, Freeland, The Glimmers, The Units, Coldplay, Roxy Music, Beastie Boys. Yabby You, !!! & Out Hud and licensed songs to two films – SF rave flick Groove and Gus Van Sant’s Speedway Junky.

Jeno is busy putting the finishing touches on a documentary he’s making with Mo Films about Wicked’s Full Moon parties and the west coast dance movement they helped create. Coming to indie theaters this summer!

Not a bad run for a salty bunch of disco pirates. Catch ‘em while you can in 2011 folks!”

written by Courtney K

edited by Julia Marie