Townhouse — affectionately shortened to "Toho" or "ToHo" in the local scene — was a two-story Midtown Sacramento nightclub and dive bar known as a hub for dance nights, DJ residencies and live local music.[1][2] Located at 1517 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, on the P and 21st block of Midtown, it was an anti-glamour alternative to dress-code-and-bottle-service clubs.[2][3]
At a glance
- Address: 1517 21st Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.[3]
- Opened in the late 1950s as a fine-dining seafood and steakhouse; became a neighborhood bar and LGBTQ institution before transitioning to a nightclub.[4]
- Two-story venue: bands/DJs upstairs, additional acts downstairs.[5][6]
- Located on the "sleepy" P and 21st Street block of Midtown Sacramento.[2]
- Cheap beer, stiff drinks, tagged-up bathrooms and low-lit interior; nicknamed "Toho."[2]
- Home base for marquee dance nights: Fuck Fridays (started 2004), Grimey, HUMP and Heater.[2][6]
- The building later became Starlite Lounge, then was slated to reopen in 2017 as the all-ages venue Holy Diver.[6]
History
The building that housed the Townhouse has a long history on Midtown's 21st Street corridor. According to the Sacramento Press, it opened in the late 1950s as a full-service fine-dining restaurant specializing in seafood and steaks, with dark wood interiors — originally owned and operated by Frank Torres.[4] The establishment's iconic neon signage was manufactured by Sacramento firm Pacific Neon between 1955 and 1958; the signs featured cartoony yellow letters, a blade sign, and a martini glass design.[4]
During the 1980s and 1990s the surrounding neighborhood on 21st Street became known as Lavender Heights, Sacramento's LGBTQ district, and the Town House served the community as a neighborhood bar. According to the Sacramento Press, the best-attended night of that era was a drag-queen karaoke night.[4]
Frank Torres owned the venue until his death in 2004, after which it was sold to Desi Reynoso, who transformed the space into a nightclub with DJ nights.[4] This transition set the stage for the dance-oriented programming documented by Submerge from 2010 onward.
Location and character
Townhouse sat at 1517 21st Street on the P and 21st block of Midtown Sacramento, a low-profile pocket tucked away from freeway noise amid parking lots, office buildings and a tattoo parlor.[2][3] Submerge described it alongside the nearby Press Club as an "infamous" alternative to posh clubs with dress codes and bottle service: the beer was cheap, the drinks stiff, the bathrooms tagged-up and claustrophobic, and the interior kept deliberately low-lit.[2] In the scene it was commonly called "Toho" or "ToHo."[1][2]
The two-story layout was central to its programming. Events routinely ran simultaneous rooms — one upstairs and one downstairs — allowing a single night to host multiple acts or DJ sets at once.[5][7] This upstairs-bands / downstairs-DJs model was distinctive enough that it carried over into later plans for the building's successor venue.[6]
Dance nights and DJ residencies
Townhouse was best documented by Submerge as a dance-night institution. Under Desi Reynoso's post-2004 ownership, additional DJ nights included RECORD CLUB, BLOW UP, PITFALL, POP FREQ, BLACK RADIO, and BLITZ, alongside DJs Jon Droll, Missy, Roderick Carpio, and Arnold.[4] The Sacramento Electronic Music Festival was also hosted at the venue, according to the Sacramento Press.[4]
- Fuck Fridays (FF): A weekly dance event that first started at Townhouse in 2004, becoming "an incubator for emerging music" with elaborate themed parties (e.g., "Circus," "Prom"), guest DJs, DIY lighting rigs and an uninhibited crowd.[8] DJs Shaun Slaughter and Adam Jay (Adam J) were associated with the night.[5][8] By late 2011 Fuck Fridays had dissolved, leaving Townhouse in need of a new Friday event.[2] The night was later resurrected in 2015 — but at Midtown BarFly rather than Townhouse.[8]
- Grimey / Grimey Tuesday: A biweekly dubstep and bass-heavy night held every other Tuesday at Townhouse, with resident DJs Whores, Crescendo and Jay Two (DJ Jay Two), plus emcees Skurge and Bru Lei.[7][2] Cover ran around $10.[2] The night was coined and anchored by local DJ Whores (Daniel Osterhoff), and was credited with turning Townhouse into "a full-on sweaty dance party."[7][2]
- HUMP: A Wednesday night opposite Grimey. It originated as "Warpaint Wednesdays" with Terra Lopez; Whores joined to assist and teach DJing, and when Lopez left to start Sister Crayon she handed the night to Whores, who renamed it HUMP.[2] As Grimey's popularity grew, HUMP declined and was reportedly nearing its end by November 2011.[2]
- Heater: A once-a-month party co-created by Whores and Shaun Slaughter after Fuck Fridays dissolved, described as an open-format "straight party" spanning house, electro, Baltimore, indie, dubstep and breaks. It was free before 10 p.m. with an RSVP.[2]
- New Year's Eve 2011: Fuck Fridays and Lipstick co-hosted a NYE bash using both floors — upstairs a "Booty Bass Exxxplosion" room with Shaun Slaughter, Adam J and Taylor plus guest Richie Panic; downstairs a "Lipstick Year in Review" room with Roger Carpio.[5]
Notable live shows
Beyond DJ culture, Townhouse hosted touring and local live acts:
- !!! (Chk Chk Chk), April 12, 2011: Sacramento dance-punk band !!! headlined a Grimey Tuesday (with Concerts 4 Charity) as a stop on their way to Coachella, fronted by Nic Offer. Who Cares played upstairs; Man Machine, Billy the Robot and Ellis Rush played downstairs.[7] Local videographer Sean Stout of Terroreyes.tv was interviewed at this show.[9]
- Roman Funerals / X-Ray Press / Winter's Fall, Jan. 30, 2011: A genre-mixed bill headlined by Sacramento's Roman Funerals (fronted by brothers Evan and Matt Ferro, formerly of Bright Light Fever), with Berkeley's Winter's Fall — playing their first Sacramento show — and Seattle math-rock/hardcore band X-Ray Press.[10] Kris Anaya of Doom Bird and the Alternative String Band joined Roman Funerals onstage.[10]
Closure and successor venues
By the mid-2010s the Townhouse building had changed hands. It was for many years known as The Townhouse before becoming the downtown venue Starlite Lounge.[6] After Starlite Lounge announced its closure in 2017, Bret Bair — one of the figures behind Ace of Spades and Goldfield — confirmed plans to take over the building and reopen it as a new all-ages venue called Holy Diver, aiming for a Nov. 1, 2017 opening.[6] Bair said they intended to continue "the whole thing... with bands upstairs, DJs downstairs," preserving Townhouse's two-floor model, and hoped to make the space "a cultural epicenter."[6]