Culture
On Thursday, historic musician Bert Jansch headlined an intimate concert at the New Parish nightclub in downtown Oakland. Jansch’s music blends acoustic folk, traditional Irish and Scottish music with some blues and jazz. He is thought of as one of the world’s most influential folk guitarists and music greats such as Neil Young, Nick Drake and Jimmy Page have covered his songs.
The Oakland lawn bowling club has been rolling on the greens at Lakeside Park for nearly a century. The game dates from 13th century England, and was played by the likes of Sir Francis Drake and Henry VIII.
As popcorn popped and kids ran around kicking a soccer ball, people laid out blankets and set up camping chairs on 49th Street and Telegraph Thursday night. The whole block was coned off and a jazz band played while people waited for the sun to set. By the time it was dark, nearly 200 movie-watchers had gathered for the first night of the outdoor Temescal Street Cinema.
Silvio Rodríguez — who took his first US tour in thirty years to Oakland’s Paramount Theatre — is to Latin America as Bob Dylan is to the United States. He is a folk singer and guitarist who sometimes veers into jazz or other styles of music, but first and foremost his music is about the lyrics — and politics.
There are only two requirements to read at Lip Service West: Your story must be true, and can’t be longer than 1,500 words. In this new public reading series sponsored by the San Pablo Arts District Fund, local writers swap tales and bring some nightlife to the Golden Gate neighborhood.
At the cafes, pubs and bars of North Oakland, the World Cup debates have begun, and are sure to escalate throughout the month-long tournament — although the nine-hour time difference between California and South Africa means coffee may gain on beer as the favorite game-watching beverage.
We sent ten reporters out with their cameras, and invited community members to help us capture images of a day in the life of the city. Work and play, rest and motion: Just an ordinary 24 hours in Oakland. There will never be another one exactly like it.
Off of 19th and San Pablo in downtown Oakland lies an unassuming two-story building; if it’s a quiet night, the only giveaway that something is going on inside is a big bouncer with an ear-piece standing out front and a small black and white sign that says “The New Parish.” But inside, the New Parish is Oakland’s newest music venue.
Before there was AC Transit or BART, there was the Key System. A privately-owned mass transit company that operated electric railcars, street cars, and ferries, the Key System linked ten East Bay cities and San Francisco, and it shaped the development of this area.