When a fistfight breaks out at an ordinary club night, it's typically cause for alarm and swift intervention by security. But when such punches are thrown at a Fight Club Sadisco* party, it's just part of the usual chaos and cacophony of the combination dance fest and slugfest.
Arguably one of the more infamous events in Phoenix nightlife scene, Fight Club Sadisco* takes a page from Chuck Palahniuk and features Tyler Durden-style brawls backed by a mix of industrial music and harsh electronica sounds. It's put on by local DJ collective Sadisco* and is an often anarchistic, sometimes bloody, and definitely different sort of party.
And it's coming back for one more round this summer.
Organizers announced on Facebook recently that the final edition of the party -- entitled "Fight Club Sadisco* (end credits)" -- will take place on Saturday, June 21, at the Monarch Theatre.
If you've never attended one of the Fight Club Sadisco* bar parties put on by the collective, it boasts a similar setup to the novel and movie versions of Fight Club, minus the explosives and gunplay. People can voluntarily get into dustups with other willing participants in short bouts out in the parking lot while a crowd watches. At previous versions of the party, some throw blows to test their mettle while others do it for fun. (I personally fought someone in both 2010 and 2011 just for the hell of it.)
Meanwhile, the half-dozen or so DJs in the Sadisco* crew -- including Squalor, //she//, VEX, 5arah, and Blonde Noize -- drop grinding industrial, EDM, and harsh noise tracks.
Such will be the setup on June 21 when DJs will perform in the Monarch Theatre's main bar while fights will be held in its cellar, which (oddly enough) resembles the dank bar basement setting seen in the 1999 Fight Club movie.
Fight Club Sadisco* used to be one of the many freaky theme parties that the collective put on monthly at local bars for more than six years. (Themes included everything Timothy Leary and Charles Manson to World War III and David Lynch movies.) In 2010, Sadisco* dialed things down because of burnout to just a couple of events each year, one of which was typically its Fight Club party every summer.
They stopped promoting events altogether last year, however, after Sadisco* founder Squalor (real name: Toby Heidebrink) was diagnosed with cancer.
And while there hasn't been a Fight Club Sadisco* held since 2011, the collective is holding the party one last time to help out Squalor in his cancer battle.
According to the event's Facebook page, half of the proceeds from the event will go towards helping the musician and DJ cover the cost of his treatments. (The remainder of the money will be donated to children's cancer charities in honor of the late Thom Gabaldon, a local DJ who succumbed to the disease last year,)
Squalor, who also is a member of L.A.-based industrial act HexRX, will also perform a live version of "Teminal Monster" at the party with members of local group BlakOPz. The track, a collaboration between both bands, will appear on the soon-to-be-released Electronic Saviors Volume 3: Remission, an industrial compilation album on Metropolis Records that benefits cancer charities.
Fight Club-themed costumes are also encouraged, although sporting a pair of "bitch tits," like participating in one of the fights, is entirely optional.
Fight Club Sadisco* takes place on Saturday, June 21, at the Monarch Theatre. Admission is $15.
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