It's a happenin' place these days... I'm going to The Uptown tonight. The Hoo are playing, an all star band that does (a great job playing) Who covers. Eddie Money headlines. Smashing indeed!
More on The Uptown in this article
Restoring the heart of Oakland's arts - 2005-08-15 - East Bay Business Times:
'I think it's long overdue,' said Fratti. 'Once you bring nightlife to Oakland, everyone will see what a wonderful downtown we have.'
The bar and club is the former home of the Oakland Box Theater, which had closed when Burns and Fratti stumbled across it in November. Each man is in his mid-50s and both were at loose ends, so they grabbed the chance to open a club. Since then, they have spent many thousands of dollars as well as hundreds of hours.
'This will be a place where all the local bands can play and touring acts, so that people do not have to go to San Francisco for entertainment,' said Burns, who worked for Bill Graham Presents.
'It's been a dream of ours,' he continued. 'There's very little competition in this area.'
As Burns and Fratti scramble to honor the date of their Sept. 16 concert featuring singer Eddie Money, Historic Sweet's Ballroom is marketing its 31-year lease for sale and its building, 1933 Broadway, is changing hands. Meanwhile, across the way, the Fox Theater continues its ponderous path toward reopening.
Burns believes it's all good.
'With the Paramount, with Sweet's Ballroom and with the Fox, my God we're going to turn this into one of the coolest areas for live music and arts and entertainment in the country,' he said.
The influx of residents downtown drives the change. Roughly 2,400 homes have been built in the East Bay's most populous city in the past six years and plans by Forest City Enterprises to build another 700 housing units nearby are lost on no one.
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