Sneakers Required to Peep Mos Def and Goapele
New Year's bash with a twist rocks San Francisco
By SEHER SIKANDAR
Updated 6:48 PM PST, Thu, Jan 8, 2009
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Ankh Marketing’s annual Sneakers Required Ball was no joke – a party with the beautiful men and women of the Bay sporting their flyest New Years attire with sneakers to go.
With lines around the corner for blocks that persisted at least a couple hours, you’d think that half of San Francisco was there rockin its freshest kicks. It probably was.
Well over a thousand styled out twenty-what par and thirty-something’s flurried the forum at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. A place to see and be seen, creative and classy ladies strutted their vibrant ensembles while dapper young gentleman popped a collar or two in ties and blazers.
Local tastemakers and young San Francisco business owners were amongst those in attendance. Papalote (fresh Mexican food) and Farmerbrown (organic soul food) represented hard, providing yummy eats as part of the open bar and buffet.
Alfred De' Tagle, former manager at Huff and now a designer for Black-Scale and Berceau Clothing, along with Ruben Red-I from Wild-n-Krazy Kids, created a custom "sneaker wall" intallation to round out the ambiance.
The all-star DJ lineup kept hands raised and booty’s shakin with KMEL’s own Big Von, DJ’s Mr. E and Apollo (also party of Invisibl Skratch Piklz), along with Bay Area party rockin veteran, DJ Sake One.
A lucky bunch these ticket holders were indeed.
Some snapped up $65 pre-sales, while others doled out a pretty $95 for the sold out event. Yet others were found on Craigslist seeking and selling tickets for the highly anticipated New Years Eve hot spot.
Fans flailed about excitedly as special surprise guest Goapele took the stage in a black satiny fitted tube dress with high top black Converses to match. Her pink square shaped earrings glittered as she serenaded the crowd with tunes old and new.
And finally, just after the clock turned to midnight, Mos Def brought the New Year in complete with a fedora, suspenders, checkerboard scarf, and a tasseled masquerade mask. He grinned from ear to ear as the crowd waved and screamed, singing along to every word.
As one of the biggest independent Bay Area hip hop concert and event promoters, Ankh Marketing is known for its knack in bringing super live sold out awesomeness to the people. Stay tuned for ‘09.
Seher Sikandar is a Bay Area based photographer and writer who covers music, the arts and the community. You can view her work on her site Rehes Creative.
First Published: Jan 8, 2009 1:54 PM PST
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