SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — When tickets went on sale late January for San Francisco’s first-of-its-kind event, “Club Darc,” Priscilla Chung was one of the first to secure tickets for the electronic dance music concert series.
Chung, who lives in Orange County, worried about travel arrangements later. She was drawn to the opening night headliner, Chris Stussy, admitting she has seen the Dutch DJ about seven times.
“When I saw him in the lineup, I didn’t even think twice. I just bought VIP, and I’ll book flights later,” Chung said. “Wherever he is, I’m kind of just following him.”
It’s usually the other way around.
San Francisco and Bay Area residents are normally the ones traveling down south for an artist doing only one California show, typically in Los Angeles. The inaugural Club Darc concert series by Goldenvoice is bringing the biggest names in electronic dance music to San Francisco’s Pier 48 — along with its fans.
To add to the uniqueness of this event, the shows will be phoneless, according to Club Darc founder Danny Bell, who is also Goldenvoice’s SVP of Talent. Staff will be putting stickers on their camera phones, which was not publicly announced.
“Is it? Oh my gosh. I actually prefer that. I actually went to a no-phones event last Sunday in Santa Monica,” Chung tells KRON4 upon hearing the news. “I’m used to it, but dang, I wish I can record one song. But I respect it. I respect the rule, so it’s fine… Sometimes I want to post on Instagram, and people can see, but then why am I like trying to prove something to people?”
Video above: Scene at Calvin Harris, Diplo, Illenium shows at Pier 80 for Super Bowl week
Origin of Club Darc
The concept of Club Darc began in Bell’s college dorm room. He and his college roommate, Mark, used to throw afterparties in their rooms, often playing the kinds of music that Bell now promotes in his shows.
“I want to go personal with his one because this is definitely one I want to put everything in, and I want to reuse that name, Bell said. “I love music. It’s what we do.”
Years later, Bell can now throw a party with more than a handful of people jammed inside a dorm room. That party will now be up to 10,000 people, thanks to a partnership with the San Francisco Giants.
Giants Enterprises, the San Francisco Giants’ non-baseball division, is the leaseholder for Pier 48, a venue that isn’t typically used for concerts. It is often used for corporate events, receptions and trade shows.
Bell said, “They reached out to all the promoters in the city and other partners saying that they want to activate (Pier 48)… and so I sat down with that, and I said, ‘well, can I rent it for a month?’ And they’re like, ‘How about two?’ ‘Love you guys!’
“They bought into the vision right away, and they’ve been just as accommodating as could possibly be,” Bell added.
‘Let’s Go San Francisco’: Mayor Lurie’s Support
Despite having zero involvement with the event, Mayor Daniel Lurie proclaimed himself as an huge supporter of Club Darc. Bell said there was no communication with Lurie’s office when this series was put together.
“Our arts, our culture, our music, it brings people here,” Lurie said in a social media video. “It brings people together. It drives our recovery, and I am so thrilled with the acts that are coming. I want you to check it out. Let’s go San Francisco.”
“But then he made a video announcing it himself without asking,” Bell said of the mayor. “He’s just been as great of a supporter as I feel like any mayor could possibly be.”
Lurie is more than welcoming of out-of-town concertgoers like Chung to San Francisco. The mayor seems to always hype up all events like Club Darc that bring people to the city. It also happens that the first weekend of Club Darc is during San Francisco Music Week.
San Francisco as an EDM Destination
San Francisco, recently, has been a destination for a lot of DJs doing one-off shows (non-tour stops) in the city. Swedish House Mafia and FISHER were here in December. Fred Again and Skrillex threw a party in front of City Hall in 2024.
“People in San Francisco have just made this such a great city locally because of it,” Bell said of the local EDM scene. “It’s definitely exploded over the last three or four years and yeah, you know, just getting started.
“When San Francisco shows up to show, they show up, they’re there to have fun. They’re there to dance to every note and sing every word if they can. And they’re really in it to win it with the fans.”
Club Darc features multiple weekends of shows until May. Headliners include Chris Stussy (Feb. 27), Peggy Gou (March 7) and Mau P (March 13), which are all sold out. The other headliners are Prospa and Josh Baker (April 18) and Disco Dom (May 9).
These are big names within the EDM scene, but not necessarily household names for general music fans.
Chung is used to LA shows being super mainstream, and all the crowds being massive. She prefers the “smaller” DJs like Chris Stussy — artists who may not be household names (yet). She prefers seeing artists on the come-up because “it’s more intimate.”
More Club Darc shows will be announced soon. The closing weekend lineup, which Bell is specifically excited for but elected to reveal the names, will perform on either May 15 or 16.
It’s the ultimate compliment for Bell when he hears people travelling from out of town to go to his shows.
“That’s it’s such a great compliment that someone is spending time and planning a trip and spending the money to travel just for, and it’s awesome,” Bell said. “I hope they wear comfortable shoes, and I hope they dance all night and have a blast.”
