The Vowel Movement

I believe this is the place where my ex-​boyfriend had his beat boxing competition! A wide variety of competitors — and they even had a competitor named Cornbread! The judges were fair and everyone was a good sport towards the end, DOPE show with friendly people on stage and around you!
Ambience
Lots of posters from different events, sending different messages that are hung around the room! One stage, and next to the stage is where the bathroom is located (one bathroom for both sexes). Low on seats, but lots of floor space from the last time I saw this place which back in my high school days.
Parking
I believe it was incredibly hard to find parking, considering the event that was happening at the moment.
Overall, I had a great experience and fun time at the beat box competition, one of many that I will be attending!

I had a perfect «San Francisco moment» at the Vowel Movement. Of course I’ve had them before. You know the moments where you have an epiphany so strong it stuns you… it’s those moments where you think, «damn, I love this city. I love the fact that it’s my home now.»
We had just navigated our way through the climate theater and it was the closest experience to a live M.C. Escher piece that I’ve ever experienced. There were intersecting and criss-​crossing doors and rooms everywhere. Each room had a different vibe. Evidently a collection of artists have a gallery here and each room showcased a different aspect of art: mixed media, performance, sketches, etc. It was a sensory overload in the best way. Food was free, drinks were paid for by a donation of your choosing. Drinks in hand we FINALLY found the stage…
The Vowel Movement is a collection of Bay Area Beatboxers. What’s a beatboxer, bucky? From wiki:“Beatboxing is a form of vocal percussion connected with hip hop culture although it is not limited to hip hop music. It primarily involves the art of producing drum beats, rhythm, and musical sounds using one’s mouth, lips, tongue, voice, and more. It may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntablism, the simulation of horns, strings, and other musical instruments.” Now you know, and knowing is half the battle… Back to the Bay Area Collective. These cats get together and put on a performance every couple months in the Bay Area at different local theaters as a way to showcase their talents.
This brings us to Saturday and our first attendance at a Vowel Movement show. I’m standing there watching the show with a couple of friends when one beatboxer finishes his set which was mostly hip-​hop influenced. Another performer takes the stage dressed in what one would call hip-​hop style, does a few minutes solo and then brings another performer to the stage. This second performer is an older gentlemen dressed to the nines in full suit. He has a guitar with him. They sit and set off into a performance that blew me away. They did an Ani DiFranco cover and then an original which had a Spanish/​Flamenco style. BOTH guys were beat-​boxing/​singing accompanied by a lone guitar. Not at all what I was expecting at a hip-​hop show… this was the catalyst to my «San Francisco Moment.»
We spent the next day telling our friends about it, talking to each other about it. Oh snap… speaking of friends, after we left one our friends got up on stage and performed his own beatboxing routine, AND they asked him back to the next show. That’s how cool these guys are. Seriously, they deserve your attention and support!!!
*waiting (im)patiently for the next show*
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
Unilocal’s very own Jamie S. onstage @ the Vowel Movement:
Jamie S.: