A Night of North Beach Magic with Z-Man

Z-Man himself. Photo by Sarah Arnold

The other night was like a movie. At least that’s what my text read from my neighbor Gabriel as I choked my way through my morning…err afternoon smoothie. Thank god for cloud cover because the sun is the last thing I want to see right now. It was a rainy North Beach first Friday like none other with your favorite artist Zamon aka Z-Man, aka Z-Dazzle replete with table dancing, arm wrestling, street beers, and a good old San Francisco throw down at SFOG. Z-Man the complete artist.

The scene at the Fish Tank Gallery. Photo by Sarah Arnold

Z was showing a collection of works at none other than Jeremey Fish’s Fish Tank Gallery. “Sorry Not Sorry, Yet” brought out a handful of Gurp City Allstars, musicians, and neighborhood riff raff like yours truly. Zamon paints with a vibrant consciousness that can only be matched by his music. It’s like a mushroom trip gone right. Show stealers like “Mind Over Booty” which depicted a big bootied naked woman being watched by various eyes and owls but instead of a glamorous face it was a brain. This could have many takeaways depending on the viewer.

Z-Man and Jeremy Fish. Photo by Sarah Arnold

Then there was the other fan favorite “Boy and the Biz” which featured a child sized Biz Markie being held almost like a ventriloquist puppet by a spot on looking Boy George. People from all over came and went checking out the art which will be on display through the month of February.

“Boy and the Biz” but Z-Man. Photo by Sarah Arnold

Out on the streets it was brown bags and tall cans. Folks lining the sidewalk huddled up under awnings to stay dry due to Google’s 100% inaccurate call of zero precipitation for the evening. Nobody cared, it was a family affair. Even 88 himself Eddie K made the trip to North Beach. Cats were making their way in and out of the neighboring North Beach Pipeline Dispensary and firing up the finest. Shout out to radio personality Wonway Posibul for sliding through and hopefully getting Z-Man live on the air at KALW 91.7.

The crowd stays lit outside. Photo by Sarah Arnold

We locked up shop at the gallery around 10ish and headed across the street to meet up with Barry and the homies at SFOG. We had no idea what we were in for. You can’t, well actually you can and they did, give these Gurp City misfits a pour your own open bar, a dance floor, and a DJ spinning nothing but Bay and mainly SF classics. The right and left TV’s were showing 49ers Super Bowls from the 80’s and 90’s while the center tv had it locked on throwback music videos from your neighbors and mine, such as BPOS, Bored Stiff, Gas Mask Colony and a myriad of others local to the 7×7. Definitely be sure to stop by and check out the gear all printed in house at SFOG. Really great dudes, with really dope merch.

Hella love from the folks at SFOG. Photo by Sarah Arnold

What probably should have been an Uber ride home and a call for the night ended up being a trip over to Vesuvio. Thanks to Z being Z we were ushered past the line where I was quickly able to rearrange some lovely patrons in order to slide some tables together. Then the chaos ensued. If you ever wanted to see grown men pushing 50 arm wrestling and doing their best to get kicked out, look no further than us. Z-Man is just an entertainer at heart. If you’ve been to one of his shows you know the vibe, arms swaying, running on stage side to side, while the world’s longest dreads hover a few inches from the floor. So it was a surprise to absolutely nobody when Z jumped up on the bench, threw a foot on the table and began dancing his way up which was immediately shot down by the bartenders 3 feet away. My man!

Arm wrestling at Vesuvio. Photo by Sarah Arnold

I definitely hit the winnerless trifecta of beer, wine, and shots that will have me pondering for the next few hours what the outdoors looks like. So pass the aspirin and be sure to stop by The Fish Tank Gallery to check out the works of Zamon and his show “Sorry Not Sorry, Yet” which is aptly named judging by this article.

Photos by Sarah Arnold and if you were there go steal your flick from the gallery right here.

All family all love Gurp City 2024

Z-Man and Barry, the owner of SFOG