Yes, the social caravan, also known as 7B7N, made it's way down to the Lower Haight tonight to take over the cavernous, tribal/alien booze den otherwise known as Noc Noc. Like the night previous, the 7b hounds accounted for the better part (literally and figuratively) of the patrons in the room, save for the good looking couple on Love Potion no. 9 who were joined at the face (it was only for this brief minute that we were able to sneak a photo and catch them in giggly conversation - the whole rest of the night they were making everyone in the bar strangely uncomfortable/aroused with their overt PDA). But we digress...
With bracelets safely resting on wrists with their two other companions (that is, for those of us who were at days 1 and 2), we got to select from a wide selection of beers and other such "soft" liquors, with bonus points scored by Noc Noc for their culturally political "No Bud. No Coors. No PBR." declaration at the top of their menu. How hipsters can come here and still look cool while not being able to sport their tallboys of PBR boggles the mind. Some Mission residents have formed a task force and are looking into it.
What
was looking particularly cool (other than all of us of course) was the decor. If
Frank Gehry and
Paul Klee had a love child, who in turn started a bar (and if you did the math, it could be possible - also noting the bar was founded in 1986), you would have Noc Noc. Hell, let's throw in some Tim Burton just for kicks...he'd be proud of the bar stools alone, a la something out of
Beetlejuice.
To see Noc Noc is to appreciate it, and indeed, it was definitely the protagonist of the story tonight, if we dare say, with a cameo appearance by the SF institution known as The Tamale Lady. Less dank and grimy than many of us initially envisioned (the bar, not The Tamale Lady), with a great open layout for everyone to gather but still move around, clusters of us morphed, mingled and mamboed with snake bites in hand, some of us with smuggled sausages from next door.
Knowing that everyone is pacing themselves so as to ensure they can go the distance this week, it was definitely one of our mellower evenings, and yet still our gang put the fun in funky (and by funky we don't mean
The Meters kind of funk (though they could easily have scored the soundtrack to the evening), we mean "What the hell
is this place...I kinda like it!!" kind of funky), with a good-sized group of 7b'ers staying further into the night than some of us who had school-night bedtimes.
In honor of a solid night 3 for 7B7N, we give a solid 3 cheers for Noc Noc. See select pics below...
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| Some friends of friends of friends who stopped by. THAT'S the magic of 7B7N... |
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| "So then he says to me, 'Wait, SEVEN nights in a ROW?! But why??'". "So then what'd you say to HIM?" "I'm like, "I don't really know why! But it's fun!" |
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| The good looking couple in the middle officially professed their "boyfriend/girlfriend"edness tonight. Leave it to Noc Noc to turn on the romance.... |
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| Tamales! Woot! |
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| Hey there. Is that a sausage in your...oh, nevermind. |
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| <Insert witty caption here> |
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| The bartender sportin' the Noc Noc gear. This too can be yours if you call now! |
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| Tribal bar-stools taller than many of the patrons |
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| A couple of other smiley 7B'ers |
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| The patron saints of Noc Noc |
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| Exhibit A: These girls were perfectly normal upon stepping foot in Noc Noc |
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| Exhibit B: What the night can do to you. (I love how the girl on the left is like, "Help me please, I don't know these people!") |
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| The PDA couple. After catching me take this picture they punched me in the ear and went back to making out. |
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| 7B'ers taking it to the next level and pumping themselves up for the remaining 4 nights... |
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