Scenesters go with the soul at Missouri Lounge. Photo by Joshua Rotter.
By Joshua Rotter
If it's a soul night - be it Memphis, Philly, or Northern - I'm the first on the floor, spinning, flipping, and back-dropping. Still, I’ve never fully understood why white people, myself included, so identify with the genre - and seeing The Commitments several times has done little to clarify this for me.
So like a modern-day Penelope Spheeris, I took an anthropological adventure - to what felt like 20,000 leagues under and across the Bay via BART - to Berkeley’s Missouri Lounge for Soul Knockout to gain a better understanding of this phenomenon.
About to hit its first anniversary, Soul Knockout is hosted by DJ Hot Grits, Sweats the Bed, and seasoned veteran E Da Boss (Slept On Records) at a renovated dive bar that has become a pit stop for hip white kids, while still remaining down-home.
“There's no cover, no pretension, or elitist attitude, and a good vibe in general for fans of soul, funk, and disco,“ said Hot Grits, a.k.a., Alex Dorfman. “Friendly folks looking to have some drinks might not be afraid to start an impromptu dance party.”
What they're dancing to is a region- and era-spanning set of everything from southerner Merry Clayton's "Southern Man" to Northern soul artist King Floyd's "Woman Don't Go Astray." Bay Area performers are also represented with Dorothy Morrison's "Spirit in the Sky" and the recent funky re-edit of "Tighten Up" by San Francisco's own mixmaster Mophono.
Amid the white man overbites, I realized that the universal joy that’s found in soul comes from its rich emotion and shakeability quotient. I also discovered a great reason to leave the city on a Saturday night and head over to what haters - sans soul - might call the "Least Bay."
Soul Knockout
2nd Saturday of the month, 9 p.m.-2 a.m., free
Missouri Lounge
2600 San Pablo, Berk.
(510) 548-2080
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Comments (2)
What an awful write up. Your editor should fire you.
Posted by Jason Gonzalez | March 18, 2008 09:44 AM
Jason, thanks for the awesome feedback. But my editor kinda likes my writing, which is why I'm writing reviews, and you're writing comments. xo
Posted by Josh R. | March 19, 2008 04:48 PM