What time of year? Do you want scenery? Is "nightlife" a necessity for that night? You could do the whole drive in one long (not extremely long) day, so I assume you want short drives. It also means that going not quite half way or more than half way one day won't make a huge difference. You'd end up with two fairly short drives for each day.
-Taking Hwy. 99 south to Bakersfield, then Hwy. 58 over Tehachapi Pass to Hwy. 395 south, etc., would be an easy drive. Boring, but easy. Bakersfield is known for country music, but I imagine you could find other types.
-The most scenic route, by far, would be to drive over Tioga Pass in Yosemite (closed by snow in winter) to Hwy. 395, and south from there. The scenery is so great I'd opt for it even if it means one quiet evening. The "liveliest" place along the way would likely be Mammoth Lakes (ski resort in winter, a bit quieter but still active in summer), though that would make for a short day the first day (unless you make side trips, such as to Bodie State Park--ghost town). There are several other towns, such as Bishop, further south (might be quiet nightlife, but if you ask the locals I'm sure they can direct you to anyplace with music, etc.). Then an easy drive into Big Bear. BTW, 395 passes near the old mining towns of Johannesburg and Randsburg; the latter has the White House Saloon and Floozy House.
Note: in earlier post, I think the poster was meaning the city of San Francisco, though SFO is actually the designation for the airport, south of the city.