If you thought Temple SF — once one of the most popular nightclubs in the city, and perhaps even the U.S. — was shutting down for good, you could be forgiven.
In April, multiple local news outlets and music publications reported on the venue’s closure, citing a layoff notice filed with the state in which the club said it would cease operations because of “financial difficulties due to economic changes within our industry.” The club was set to halt operations on May 25 — for good — and lay off 86 workers, according to the filing.
But come May 25, Temple SF was still holding events. Temple SF’s VIP director, Melody Ahn, posted on Instagram a full slate of Memorial Day weekend parties. On the 25th, it hosted LA radio jockey DJ Triple XL; on the 26th, regular Temple performer DJ 97 did a set. (Ahn declined to comment to Gazetteer, explaining that she was on medical leave.)
The only public reference to the discrepancy came on June 1, when Temple SF’s Instagram page posted a video stitching together media reports of its closure with a clip of Wolf of Wall Street’s Jordan Belfort yelling, “I’m not fucking leaving!”
“Our June Line up [sic] is live! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯” the caption reads.
So they didn’t close. What gives?
Were you laid off by Temple SF? Do you have any idea what’s going on? Contact Joshua via email at joshua@gazetteer.co or on Signal or text at (707) 742-3756.
Since then, the club has seemingly been operating as usual, bringing in local DJs and reality TV stars to fill its calendar. Earlier this month, Vanderpump Rules’ “number-one guy” James Kennedy performed at the venue, while Jersey Shore’s very own Pauly D is set to perform in August. DJ trio Cheat Codes — a group that I have not thought about in years, but once made a pretty good EDM-pop song with Demi Lovato — is also scheduled at the end of August.
“That was something the media — you guys — took and ran with,” Phoenix, who identified himself as Temple’s general manager, told Gazetteer on Thursday as he took a drag of his cigarette outside the club. (He declined to give his last name.)
Around the time the closure was first reported by local press, electronic music-focused news source EDM Identity published a story citing an anonymous source who claimed that Temple SF had plans to rebrand under a new name: Future Factory. But that has yet to happen, at least in any way Gazetteer could find.
The idea to rebrand may not be a bad one. The club has been hit with multiple lawsuits in recent years, which have included allegations of violent, homophobic bouncers and a lack of security on club grounds leading to clubgoer injuries. They were also the subject of several complaints filed with the Department of Building Inspection over alleged safety concerns and a pest infestation. Club owner Paul Hemming did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Gazetteer.
But if the club is still operating, what happened to the workers that Temple SF said it would lay off in state filings?
Phoenix told Gazetteer that the club had undergone a “top-to-bottom” restructuring allowing it to stay open. When asked if they laid staffers off, he nodded, but told this reporter to “get that information on his own.”
