This is the story of January 1, 2001. I went with a group of some friends of Andrew, a former co-worker of mine.
We went to the big bash at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, where there were 15 bands playing throughout the evening. The upper levels had themes in various hallways. You could also watch the entertainment in the ballroom from the floor or up on the balconies.
There were four main venues. They were the Retro-Rocket Revival, Club Release, Hip-Hop World & Beat Experience, and Lycos Ballroom.
I attended these two venues:
Lycos Ballroom - Macy Gray was the main event to bring in the New Year. She does a variety of music, from old-school soul, hip-hop, R&B, funk and rock. The performance was okay, but nothing special. There was also a DJ group called Basement Jaxx, which really stunk. Their techno didn't sound very good, and they only mixed some really bad music.
Retri-Rocket Revival - The theme was the 70's and 80's. I danced to the group Tainted Love, who specialize in the 80's hits. They were very good, and the place was packed while they were playing. All of my favorite hits were being played, and everyone was having a good time. One person had his liquor flask taken from him by a security guard from his back pocket while he was dancing. They were cracking down on people bringing their own goods into the auditorium.
When I first checked out this venue, the DJ was playing a very bad techno version of the song "Listen to the music" by the Doobie Brothers. ARGH! When I heard that crap being played, I got out fast before any brain damage occurred.
With the cost for drinks at the event, this was the first time that I didn't have a drink at a New Year's celebration. Bottled water was $4, mixed drinks and wine were $6 (about $1 per ounce!), and champagne was $7 for the same 6 ounce amount. What a rip-off, even by San Francisco standards.
The nice part was that BART was selling a "New Year's Eve Flash Pass" that allowed unlimited train travel from 6pm to 4am. It was nice being able to simply walk in and out of the stations if you wanted to go around to the other events going on in San Francisco.
Timeline in San Francisco
6:00 pm - Arrival at Union City BART station
We met at Charlene's house and got to the BART station at 6pm. A couple of friends were also coming with us and we waited for them to arrive. After everyone was together, we made out way to Powell Street BART station in San Francisco.
6:45 pm - Having dinner at the Metreon The Metreon is Sony's big showcase bash, just off 4th and Mission streets. They have an IMAX movie theatre, a Sony Playstation store with all of the latest games and other stuff and a Discovery Channel store. For dinner we went to the Woodfire Cafe and afterwards made our way back to Powell Street to go down to the Civic Center station.
8:20 pm - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
I picked up my ticket at the will-call booth outside, as I ordered it over the web. They were charging $15 to mail it to me, so I decided to pick it up there since I was going to be there anyway. It's also that much less money I didn't have to spend.
12 am - Happy New Year!
Andrew, Charlene and I were listening to Macy Gray, who was the main event. There was the countdown, with balloons and confeti dropping down from the rafters. During the performance, we was a lot of pot and cigar smoking which started to make us feel a little sick.
1:45 am - Leaving the event
We got together just before 2am and started making our way to the Civic Center BART station. A couple of us were already partially deaf from the booming music, as it was very loud. We called it quits earlier and decided to check out the other venues before our group of five got back together.
2:00 am - At the BART train platform
We were waiting at the train platform for the Fremont-bound train. There was a very large amount of people waiting, and the whole area was crowded. Two trains wizzed by us, but for some reason they weren't for picking up passengers. What's strange about it is that one of them had some passengers inside it. The second train was empty, and was probably for training a new operator. Either way, a lot of people were very upset about this.
2:26 am - BART train (finally) arrives
A train mercifully arrives, and everyone lets out a cheer. Due to the large amount of people, we ended up getting crammed literally cheek-to-cheek. Every square inch of standing room was filled up.
2:30 am - The nightmare begins
We get to the Powell Street station to pick up some more passengers. We ended up getting crammed even more to the point that some people were almost getting trampled on. Some people were getting off, and they had to literally fight their way through to get off, as a mob of people were trying to get on at the same time.
A large group of loud blacks entered the train. Judging by their smell, they obviously hadn't bathed in at least the last week. They were a big group of troubemakers who were pick-pocketing, smoking pot and causing other general mayhem. Let's just say I'm glad I didn't take my fanny pack along. Apparently, the group was headed back to Richmond.
As the train was getting ready to leave, one of them was blocking the doors. One white person said "You fucking asshole - get out of the doorway so we can get moving!" From that point on, let's just say that you could cut the tension with a butter knife. All of the blacks wanted a piece of him, and were calling him a racist. After a long series of obsenities, one of the blacks made his way to him and came within a hair of beating the crap out of him. At this point, everyone was going "No - please!" to themselves. The last thing we needed was a race fight to break out in a crowded BART train.
At each station, the shouting, name calling and other mayhem got worse. The tension was building, and everyone was hoping that this would eventually chill out. The excessive crowding didn't make things easier, as by the time we reached the Transbay Tube, all of us were getting squeezed very tightly. The next stop was West Oakland, seven long and grueling tense minutes away.
3:00 am - Fight breaks out at West Oakland station
While the train was dropping off passengers at the West Oakland station, a big fight broke out on the passenger platform. Police were brought in to break up the whole mess, which delayed out departure. The good part was that the doors were open and we got some fresh air, which was to the relief of many of us. By this time, our lungs were getting hammered by the stinch of body odor, tobacco smoke, and pot being smoked on the train.
3:15 am - Free at last!
We arrived at the Oakland 12th Street station, and got off as fast as our legs could carry us. It was a very tense situation and we were glad to be off. We made our way to the lower platform for a Fremont-bound train.
4:00 am - Crammed again!
Our train had standing room only, but there was lots of room for those of us, like myself, who were standing. When we arrived at the Bay Fair station, it seemed that half of the population from India got on board. Bay Fair is the transfer station from the Pleasanton station if you are going to Fremont. A large group of people got on, and we were back to being shoved around. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as the previous train from San Francisco.
4:20 am - Arrival at Union CIty station
We got off at the Union City station, and were so happy to be back home. Afterwards, we drove to a local Denny's for some food. I was only after some coffee, as I wasn't all that hungry.
4:35 am - Cooks? We don't need no stinkin' cooks! We got to Denny's, and found out that there was a two hour wait. Why? Apparently, the cooks decided to kick off the new year by quitting and didn't show up. The only items you could get were coffee and pie. Andrew got an apple pie that was in two pieces. The bottom crust was seperated from the rest of the pie. The cheesecake was frozen solid - literally! There were even ice crystals on it. We asked for it to be heated slightly, which made it considerably easier to eat.
5:00 am - Leaving Denny's
After leaving Denny's, we all got back together at Charlene's house. Andrew was staying the night, so I took my car and drove back home.
5:45 am - Arrival at home
I finally got home at 5:45 am, and called Charlene to let her know that I got home safely.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the party was a disappointment. It was supposed to be one of the better parties in San Francisco, but it turned out to be a real dud. I paid $70 to attend the event, and certainly didn't get my money's worth out of it. Although Tainted Love was by far the best act, it couldn't overcome the rest. The party basically ended at 1am, and people were leaving in droves. It was supposed to continue until 3am, but there was also a strange announcement that there was no post new year party and the event was over.
For next year, I'm hitting the ski slopes instead of going to San Francisco again. I had much more fun last year at Powderhorn Mountain, even though we didn't have a big party and it was all the way in Michigan's upper peninsula, far away from any major cities. There were a lot of problems downtown, with all of the heavy drinking and other crazyness.
On another note, I also have no plans on taking BART to another such event again. After this mess, who could blame me? I would've been better off driving.