![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/goodfoot.jpg\")
\u201cAnd we never looked back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Today, it\u2019s the longest running dance night in the city. Twenty-five years on, The Good Foot legacy looms large over Long Beach.<\/p>\n
Owens, whose name has become synonymous with The Good Foot, will celebrate the night\u2019s 25th anniversary at Alex\u2019s Bar on Friday, Sept. 15. The soul and funk on vinyl night has been an institution at Alex\u2019s Bar every third Friday since 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started it for fun. I was a band person, I thought I was going to be playing music\u201425 years later I\u2019m not Dennis Owens, I\u2019m DJ Dennis Owens,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Before finding a home in The Good Foot, Owens toured, sang and played guitar and bass in several bands including Suburban Rhythm, Action League and Free Moral Agents throughout the 90s.<\/p>\n Action League had just broken up when fellow bandmate Rodi Delgadillo brought Owens to a club in Santa Monica he\u2019d been raving about. Owens vividly remembers setting fateful foot in that club with Delgadillo in 1997. There he says he witnessed a kind of crowd cohesion and energy that he\u2019d been missing.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody was so lost in the music,\u201d Owens said. \u201cImmediately then, I started to become disillusioned with the rock scene that I was a part of\u2014I wanted the vibe of what I experienced that night.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after, they decided to give their own idea for a funk and soul night a shot when they were offered a night at Que Sera. Leading up to that Friday, they traipsed the streets of Long Beach, LA and beyond with stacks of photocopied flyers in hand to spread the word.<\/p>\n Eventually, Delgadillo left the project for a life in Japan, but Owens would continue on.<\/p>\n Good Foot really has two eras, Owens said. In 2011, Good Foot\u2019s monthly residency came to an end with Owens nearly ready to hang up a successful run. But it never really slipped away, The Good Foot became a pop-up club, appearing and reigning people back in for a night here and there for some two years.<\/p>\n When Delgadillo returned from Japan and convinced Owens to start up the residency again, it would be at Alex\u2019s Bar.<\/p>\n \u201cMy stipulation was that I wanted to expand the musical palette,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In the early Que Sera years, Owens was hauling in cases of \u201860s and \u201870s funk records each month. But over the years, Owens had dived heavily into salsa, cumbia and Brazilian music. Since then The Good Foot has maintained a healthy assortment of Latin, Afrobeat, disco and other adjacent sounds from the \u201860s to \u201880s.<\/p>\n \u201cThat era of Black music, with some Latin music,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lost some of our old fans in the process but we gained a lot more new ones,\u201d Owens said.<\/p>\n Delgadillo is no longer a part of the project these days, but Owens has maintained a short albeit rotating cast of resident disc jockeys to keep things moving over the years. Today, it\u2019s Lili de la Mora (DJ Lili Bird), Scott Weaver, Owens and the newest and youngest member, Nick Aguilar.<\/p>\n Aguilar, now a touring drummer for Frankie and the Witch Fingers, was hired to work the door at Alex\u2019s Bar three days after turning 21. On Friday, May 18, 2018, he attended his first Good Foot. Immediately, he became entranced by the wax wizardry of vinyl DJing and particularly Owens\u2019 selections.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was packed to the brim,\u201d he said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know any of the songs that were being played because I didn\u2019t really know what funk or soul music really was below the surface at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n At the beginning, Owens said he would often get two to three texts a day from Aguilar with questions about the music spun at Good Foot.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is essentially the reason I got into DJing,\u201d Aguilar said.<\/p>\n Owens has DJ\u2019d more than one wedding who can trace their first dates or met at The Good Foot.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd people who\u2019ve fallen in love at The Good Foot,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve met a number of people where it became a part of their life, it facilitated something important, and that\u2019s not something I ever could expect but it really achieved a deeper meaning for some people which is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n Good Foot isn\u2019t just known for its monthly Friday slot, annual specials like \u201cChristmas Good Foot\u201d have become a Long Beach ritual for hundreds. And not to mention, Owens\u2019 Good Foot anniversary parties, at which Owens has booked greats like Jungle Fire and even the beloved Brenton Wood. This year, he\u2019s chosen to give the red-curtained stage to seven DJs of major significance to The Good Foot.<\/p>\n A portion of this Friday\u2019s proceeds will also be donated to the Long Beach Rescue Mission.<\/p>\n \u201cLong Beach as a city and as a culture has given me so much,\u201d Owens said. \u201cI just wanted to give back to people who could really use the help.\u201d<\/p>\n So, what\u2019s next?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to continue,\u201d Owens said. \u201cAs long as my heart is still in it.\u201d<\/p>\n This all drums up the question, have you really lived in Long Beach if you haven\u2019t been to a Good Foot? Those who haven\u2019t will get their chance this Friday at Alex\u2019s Bar at 8 p.m. DJs Abel, Angelina, Caveman Leo, Clifton, Dennis Owens, Lili Bird, Music Man Miles and Scott Weaver will be on the decks until closing time.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct the spelling of Scott Weaver’s name.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dennis Owens apparently got off on the right foot when he decided to begin his DJ career with The Good Foot. 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