Bondage-a-Go-Go Is Closing, Over Pandemic And ‘Ongoing Issues’

Image: BaGG via Twitter

Many San Francisco club nights were bound to close during the COVID-19 pandemic, but this one really hurts. The weekly BDSM/kink institution Bondage-a-Go-Go announced its closure on Monday, possibly bringing an end to the “longest running fetish dance party in San Francisco” after 27 years. The long-lasting leather, latex, and lingerie club had us grinding our privates on dance floor partners to Nine Inch Nails and Sisters of Mercy til the wee hours on so many Wednesday nights, and left us hung over with bruised buttocks on so many Thursday mornings.

It is with a heavy heart that we must announce that Bondage-a-Go-Go is closing. pic.twitter.com/2vskQoPyS3

— Bondageagogo (@Bondageagogo) August 24, 2020

Bondage-a-Go-Go’s leadership team let the cat out of the BaGG with a Monday statement on social media. “It is with both frustration and sadness that we must announce that Bondage-a-Go-Go is closing. Between the current pandemic and ongoing issues, we feel it is no longer feasible to continue operating Bondage-a-Go-Go in its current form,” they said.

“We are hopeful we will be able to find a new set of owners to pass on the legacy and ideals of Bondage-a-Go-Go in a new, more viable way,” they added. “We want to thank everyone who has supported us and helped BaGG reach 27 years of continuous operation.”

Wednesday nights were made for fun! Love hanging out with my friends at @Bondageagogo, and hope that you'll come out, too pic.twitter.com/sQgP5kti7t

— Rae @ the apocalypse (@_moonrae_) March 10, 2020

Bondage-a-Go-Go started in 1993 at the old Trocadero Transfer (now The Grand), where founding kinksters George Lazaneo and Scott Grudge kicked off a vision that would last for decades — an alt-goth-fetish club where newbies could mix with advanced players, with a hardcore sex club vibe, but no nudity or actual sex. A character named “Snakeman Dan”  Dieguez danced in a g-string with an 11-foot-long Burmese python (drawing the ire of the city’s Animal Care and Control department, when he did live feedings onstage). The club got famous overnight when Playboy magazine did a 1994 feature on the club, and would regularly draw underground 90s luminaries like Crash Worship and Lydia Lunch.

THIS WEDNESDAY we have the illustrious, and always captivating, @rodeo_kitten go-go dancing for our anniversary party!! It is always a good time when they hit the "stage" pic.twitter.com/WXawTBL2nQ

— Bondageagogo (@Bondageagogo) March 8, 2020

The club would move on to venues like the Glas Kat and the Cat Club, with an evolving cast of hosts and DJs, and dungeonmasters operating a bondage playspace that welcomed everyone from the curious to the sexperts. They would establish annual favorite nights like the Rocky Horror Bondage Show, Betty Page Look-a-Like contest, Blood Wrestling, Pirate Night, and of course their recurring late November party Spanksgiving, creating a popular kink culture gateway friendly to all sizes, colors, and genders, where we could all have a great time, expand our horizons, and quite possibly get some action.

Already starting to look like a fun night! pic.twitter.com/bW82gnVGfd

— Bondageagogo (@Bondageagogo) February 13, 2020

The club’s current DJ Fact 50 reminisces to us that “I had worked with Bondage-a-Go-Go off and on for over a decade as a guest, and in 2018 they brought me on as a regular back room DJ, for special event nights. Later in that year I lost three full-time DJ gigs in the same month, and out of the blue, the management at BaGG contacted me to say that they had really loved all of the music I’d been playing in the back space and offered me a full time position in the front room, with DJ Damon. That single act of kindness brought me out of an almost 6 month bout of depression. 

“For that I will be eternally grateful. I hope that the team can figure something out and come back once more. I’ll be ready if they do.”

Dancing with @rodeo_kitten at the first @Bondageagogo of 2020 ⛓❤

? by @Sundin_Photo pic.twitter.com/gXmEgT3b5S

— Shay Tiziano (@ShayBlondie) January 12, 2020

Pretty much all of us in the Bay Area kink scene learned the ropes through Bondage-a-Go-Go, where we figured out how to transform our shitty porn VHS/DVD fantasies into a self-actualized wardrobe, communication, and consent game. The current team bid farewell saying they’re “hopeful we will be able to find a new set of owners to pass on the legacy and ideals of Bondage-a-Go-Go in a new, more viable way,” so we do hope they peg some new generation leaders who will get to the ‘bottom’ of this and bring Bondage-a-Go-Go back.