Maceo Plex Takes Over The Great Northern on Friday

The Ellum Audio founder and melodic-techno mainstay plays the 700-capacity Design District club on Friday, Nov 13.

Friday night in the Design District, a 700-person warehouse room, and one of the producers most associated with melodic techno behind the decks. That's the setup on Friday, Nov 13, when Maceo Plex plays The Great Northern.

Maceo Plex plays The Great Northern on Friday, Nov 13, 2026, at 9pm. Tickets are through Eventbrite. The club holds 700, which is an intimate size for an artist who has spent years on festival and Ibiza bills.

Maceo Plex is the best-known name of Eric Estornel, a producer who has also recorded as Maetrik and Mariel Ito. His work has spearheaded the melodic techno style, with astral, widescreen sounds, and he has built a run of labels around it. Ellum Audio, his own imprint, was founded in 2011 and has kept up a steady output of club-ready house and techno; it describes itself as a home for "deep, dirty and beautiful music." His newer label, Lone Romantic, leans toward electronica, and it's where his 2023 album *'93* came out. His catalog also includes releases on Crosstown Rebels and Drumcode, and the *Journey to Solar* double LP sits at the top of the Ellum catalog as ELL 001LP.

That range matters on a night like this. A Maceo Plex set can lean into the slow-burning, melodic end of techno or go harder and darker, and a room the size of The Great Northern is where that kind of patience pays off. You're close enough to the booth to feel the build rather than watching it from a field.

A 700-capacity room is where a long, patient techno set actually lands.

The Great Northern is at 119 Utah Street, near Showplace Square. It opened in late 2016, when the owners of Monarch took over the old Mighty SF warehouse and relaunched it, and it has since become one of the city's go-to rooms for house, techno and electronic nights. Reviewers point to its art deco styling, multiple rooms and a custom Void sound system, which is exactly what you want under a set built on low end and long blends.

This is a short stop on Estornel's calendar. After San Francisco, the next date we have listed for him is Austin on Dec 4, so this is the one Bay Area chance on this stretch.

A few practical notes. The listed start is 9pm, but club nights like this tend to run late, so pace yourself. Tickets are sold through Eventbrite, so buy ahead rather than hoping for the door. And check the club's own listings for any set-time updates before you head out.

There aren't many better ways to spend a Friday in this city than a big-room name in a small room. Get there, find your spot near the speakers, and let the night stretch.

Sources: Maceo Plex — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org); Maceo Plex — Journey to Solar 2LP (Forced Exposure) (forcedexposure.com); Maceo Plex goes solar on new album (Mixmag) (mixmag.net); 10 Iconic Maceo Plex moments (Mixmag) (mixmag.net); Maceo Plex (Techno Airlines) (technoairlines.com); Stream Maceo Plex's 'The Tesseract' (Dancing Astronaut) (dancingastronaut.com); The Great Northern (Time Out San Francisco) (timeout.com); About The Great Northern (TicketFairy) (ticketfairy.com); Maceo Plex at The Great Northern (Eventbrite) (eventbrite.com); Maceo Plex at The Great Northern (JamBase) (jambase.com)