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 The EndUp as seen from Harrison Street | |
  The EndUp The EndUp's location within San Francisco | |
| Full name | The EndUp |
|---|---|
| Address | 401 6th Street |
| Location | San Francisco,California,US |
| Coordinates | 37°46′38.2″N122°24′13.6″W / 37.777278°N 122.403778°W /37.777278; -122.403778 |
| Public transit |   MUNI Bus: 8, 12, 27, 47 Powell St. BART Station 4th and King station |
| Owner | Jook House Entertainment, LLC |
| Type | Nightclub •Afterhours club |
| Capacity | 100 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | November 15, 1973; 52 years ago (November 15, 1973)[1] |
| Renovated | 2011 |
| Website | |
| theendupsf | |
The EndUp is anightclub inSan Francisco,California. Opened in 1973, the club is located at 6th Street and Harrison in theSouth of Market district. Known for its status as anafterhours club, the venue has hosted a variety of benefits and events during its time as part of San Francisco'snightlife community. The EndUp's location is part of San Francisco'sLeather and LGBTQ Cultural District.
The nightclub's only location has been the site of a former 22-room hotel at the corner of 6th and Harrison.[2] The club has gone through several periods of ownership during its time, the majority of it spent under three brothers from the Hanken family.
The EndUp opened on November 15, 1973 as a differentiated version of the RoundUp, owner Al Hanken'sLGBTQcountry western-themed venue located one block north of the EndUp at 298 6th Street andFolsom.[2][3][4][5] Mister Marcus, a writer for San Francisco's monthly LGBT magazineKalendar, described the EndUp's opening in his columnMan About Town:
The long-awaited EndUp opened last Thursday too and you have to see it to believe it. I was lucky to get a demonstration of their quadraphonic sound system long ago. It's a big dance bar and certainly will add to the ambiance of Harrison Street. Congratulations to Al Hanken and Greg Loughner on their latest "baby".[6]
One of the events held at the club during this era was theJockey Short Dance Contest (1974–1978). Taking its name from the type ofunderwear, the contest was a common event in San Francisco gay clubs during the mid-1970s.[7] Al Hanken believed strong incentives like the contest were necessary to bring patrons to the EndUp's South of Market district from theCastro district, some 2 miles (3.2 km) away, as the bars there were already featuring their own versions.[2] Randy Johnson served as emcee of the EndUp's Sunday afternoon contest along with DJs Steve Newman, Peter D. Struve, and Rod Kimbel. Offering first and second-place winners $150 and $50 respectively, the EndUp's contest gained wider notice when it was featured in the weeklyserialized newspaper columnTales of the City and later in the novels of the same name by San Francisco authorArmistead Maupin.[8][9][10]
When the EndUp's sister club the RoundUp closed in 1977,[11] Al Hanken's focus went towards developing the EndUp's burgeoning DJ talent. DJsSteve Fabus andPatrick Cowley hosted the recurring eventChurch (1979–1982) which started at 6:00 a.m. to accommodate patrons who had just left theTrocadero Transfer nightclub.[2] Patrick Cowley also hosted an event calledMenergy (1981–1982) until his death in 1982.[12]
Al Hanken died in 1989, leaving the club to his brother, Helmut Hanken. During this era, events such asClub Uranus (1989–1992) created byDJs Lewis Walden and Michael Blue featured a community of artists performing asart dancers anddrag queens, celebrating creative energies throughgo-go dancing. The show featured co-hostJerome Caja and a cast of drag performance artists such as Trauma Flintstone, Diet Popstitute, Steven Maxxine, Tina-go-go, Tony Vaguely, Kitty Litter,Pussy Tourette andElvis Herselvis. Running concurrent to this wasKlub Dekadence (1991–1993) on Friday nights with DJ Bugie.[2]
Helmut Hanken died four years after inheriting the club from his brother. The lastwill and testament of Helmut Hanken named the EndUp's operational manager, Douglas Carl Whitmore, asexecutor of his estate. From the position ofexecutorial trustee, Whitmore was able to influence operations at the club more directly and with less oversight than would normally be the case with managers.[5] During this period of time the EndUp experienced numerous internal difficulties involving financial and employee turmoil, with the club eventually filing forChapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1995[13] and its employees seeking to unionize themselves in response to what they perceived were threats to their job security.[2][14] Those who attempted to join together in a union were dismissed from working, and many of these employees then began picketing the EndUp in protest.[2] After employees threatened legal action, the venue reached a monetary settlement to end the dispute; at least one worker donated his settlement funds to theQueer Victory Labor Fund.[14]
Pointing to Whitmore's management of the club as the cause of its difficulties, a third Hanken brother, Carl, began legal proceedings in Marin County to have Whitmore removed as executor of Helmut Hanken's estate, whereupon a briefinterregnum of court-disputed ownership for the club began.[15] In April 1996,Marin Superior Courtcommissioner Mary Grove ended the dispute by terminating Whitmore's executorship, saying he had "mismanaged the estate, wasted the estate's assets (and) wrongfully neglected the estate." With a new executor in control, Helmut Hanken's estate immediately sold the club to Carl Hanken.[13]
Having lost control of the venue, Whitmore confronted Carl Hanken at the latter'sKentfield residence on July 24, 1996. After chasing Hanken out of his house at gunpoint, Whitmore shot Hanken in the back.[13] Whitmore then fled the scene, and a two-week long manhunt ensued, ending with Whitmore committing suicide amidst police efforts to apprehend him after a standoff inMillbrae.[15] Carl Hanken subsequently recovered from his injuries.[13]
In contrast with the internal challenges seen during the previous era, the era under Carl Hanken experienced outside challenges, includingSan Francisco Police Department commander Dennis Martel'svice squad and their attempts at closing or curtailing nightclub venues in the South of Market district.[16][17][18][19] Events such asFag Fridays (1996–2008) featuring DJ David Harness, saw expansion of the club's operating hours.[20][21] Opening at 11:00 p.m. Friday evenings until 6:00 a.m. Saturdays,Fag Fridays combination of patrons from the LGBT andstraight-friendly communities as well as its unconventional business hours were rare among Bay area nightclubs at the time.[4][21] By the end of this era the EndUp's longest running continual event was its Sunday morningtea dance, an event which had been occurring in one form or another and produced completely in-house, since 1979.[2][4]
In August 2005 the club was sold by Carl Hanken to a group of six investors headed byBay Area attorney Sydney Leung.[22] These new owners kept intact the club's affinity for gay disco and underground house music.[4] Those styles, along withreggae,[23]mash-ups,breakbeat,techno,tech house,electro house,minimal techno andmicrohouse continued to attract top-tier DJ's from around the world, includingDerrick Carter,Doc Martin,Mark Farina,Miguel Migs,Tommy Sunshine, Ellen Ferrato,DJ Sneak andJosh Wink.[24] In 2009 the club received industry recognition with the awards "Best DJs",[25] "Best Dance Club",[26] and "Best Outdoor Bar".[27]
After undertaking renovations in 2011 and other improvements to ensure the EndUp's legacy and its brand,[4][28] Sydney Leung and four of his partners sold their shares in the venue to their business partner Ynez Stiener. Stiener had previously been part owner and managing director of the EndUp.[29] Events during this period includeSunrise Sunday featuring DJs Mauricio Aviles,Gene Hunt, Ruben Mancias,[30] Julius Papp, Miguel Migs, Norm Stradley,Jay-J, and Franky Boissy. The venue in this era has moved beyond its core focus upon theLGBT community to embrace a wider mix of clientele.[2]
In 2016, two separate incidents of violence involving club patrons occurred in or just outside of the EndUp. In the first incident on June 5, 2016, officers responding to the sound of gunshots entered the EndUp around 2:00 a.m. after witnessing several people hurriedly exiting the building. Inside, police found 19-year-old Sean Ford suffering from gunshot wounds. Ford was taken to a hospital where he died.[31] Two suspects were initially arrested and charged, but the charges were later dropped for lack of evidence.[32]
Four months later on October 2, 2016, an argument which began inside of the EndUp became physical once it moved outside the club. 26-year-old John Sanyaolu, accompanied by his friends and relatives who had joined him at the club, was shot along with two of his relatives. Sanyaolu died of his injuries after his assailants fled the scene.[33]
In 2018, The EndUp was included as part of San Francisco's Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District.[34][35]
9pm, Grand Opening, EndUp, Buffet, Buttons, Drawing Tickets.
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