Covered Wagon Saloon

Covered Wagon Saloon
Covered Wagon Saloon
	; Fifth and Folsom.
Background information
Founded	1988 (Covered Wagon Saloon); 2003 (Cherry Bar); 2006 (Annie's Social Club); 2012 (Qi Ultralounge); 2015 (Codeword)
Location	San Francisco, California, USA
Website	Codeword SF

Covered Wagon Saloon was a venue based out of San Francisco, California, hosted on Fifth and Folsom just outside of the Mission District. CW was initially active between 1988 and 2002, hosting a wide variety of music along with showcases for Man's Ruin Records and Small Stone Records. High on Fire notably performed their first live concert at the venue with Acid King.^[1] In 2002 the venue would close, with their last official concert on 30 August, featuring Porn (The Men Of), Acid King, Old Grandad and I Love a Parade. The flyer would be designed by Frank Kozik, depicting Adolf Hitler and billing the show as CW: The Final Solution.^[2]^[3]

The Cherry Bar would follow, opening in October 2002 as a lesbian club that also hosted various shows. The founder of this venture would be one Mariah Hanson, best known for promoting the longtime lesbian dance nights “Girl Spot” and “Club Skirts.” She also founded Palm Springs' Dinah Shore Weekend and the Monterey Women's Festival, two Sapphic retreats considered to be the premier events in the country, and started lesbionic vacation getaways to Mexico, Hawaii, and the Spice Islands. However Cherry Bar would ultimately close in 2005.^[4]

Annie's Social Club would open in early 2006 and revert back to hosting punk and metal concerts on the regular.^[5] Annie Whiteside would be the founder, whom previously ran Annie's Cocktail Lounge (across the street from the Hall of Justice) for seven years. The venue had many punk regulars, including Exene Cervenka of X. However the venue would close at the end of 2009 due to the economy.^[6]^[7]

Qi Ultralounge would open in 2012, implied to be a high-end to the chagrin of the punk and metal regulars.^[8]^[9] Billed as "San Francisco's Sexiest New Luxury Lounge",^[10]^[11] Qi would open in the Summer of 2012 and remain active until 2015.^[12]

Finally, Codeword would take it's place starting in November 2015. Jamie Zawinski, who notably owns the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, would purchase the space on 1 June 2015.^[13] The space would initially start as a queer-friendly nightclub but would also be expanded to host shows, remaining active until June 2017.^[14]^[15]

Venue Incarnations[]

Covered Wagon Saloon (1988 - 2002)
Cherry Bar (2003 - 2005)
Annie's Social Club (2006 - 2009)
Qi Ultralounge (2012 - 2015)
Codeword (2015 - 2017)

List of Selected Performers at The Venue[]