Two weeks ago the announcement came that The Uptown Night Club in Oakland was closing for good. Like all other live music venues, the Uptown, which is located across the street from The Fox Theater on Telegraph Avenue, closed in March due to the novel Corona virus and it's ensuing pandemic. On September 4th the owners made the announcement the nightclub's website that it would not be reopening. Siting the fact that there's "no date in sight when live entertainment will be safe" and the cost of rent, in addition to other expenses, with no income now or in the foreseeable future, the sad decision was made.
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| The Uptown Nightclub marquee |
In the 15 years since it opened in 2005 I didn't see many shows at The Uptown. I always saw flyers and posters in their windows for upcoming shows when I was en-route to usher a show at The Fox. I missed when Oakland natives Green Day played there in 2009/2010. I wasn't there for Oakland Raiders fan Ice Cube either, that day had to have been a good day. Though I missed those two, huge acts at the 300 max capacity night club in downtown Oakland (which is referred to as Uptown not down town) I did see a couple of small shows by bands who would go on to be big.
I was there for two separate private performances from Alabama Shakes and Tame Impala. The year was 2013: Tame was really starting to make a splash with their smash hit single "Elephant" off of 2012's Lonerism while new kids on the block Alabama Shakes were already shaking things up right out the gates with their debut single "Hold On". This was before each band would go on to play sold-out tours and spend Summers playing festival circuits (Tame Impala would go on to headline Coachella in 2019 and was slated to headline Outside Lands in 2020).
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| Alabama Shakes @ The Uptown Nightclub 2013 photo by Nikki DeMartini |
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| Alabama Shakes @ The Uptown Nightclub 2013 photo by Nikki DeMartini |
Both shows were hosted by then local radio station LIVE105 (now known as ALT 105.3).Both intimate shows were during the day but it was so dark in The Uptown, thanks to it's mahogany paneling, that you couldn't tell the difference from inside. Neither performance felt phoned in and I remember being blown away by Brittany Howard's voice and the fact that Kevin Parker was barefoot at a divey venue in Oakland. So, while I might not have seen too many shows at The Uptown, the two shows I did see there were special ones.
The announcement of the permanent closure of this small yet beloved music venue is a hard hit because you can't help but wonder how many other venues will not be re-opening? There is no telling when live music can and will return even as things slowly start to re-open here in California and everywhere.This is a sad realization for fans and scary fact to facing all music industry workers, from stage hands to show runners and everyone in between who make shows (not just concerts) happen.
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| Tame Impala @ The Uptown Nightclub 2013 photo by Nikki DeMartini |
Thank you for the memories Uptown nightclub, even if I don't have many myself I know that many others do.
If you haven't and if you have, keep sending emails to your senators and representatives to save our stages.
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