Acapella
Live music venue · San Pablo Gateway ·
Vintage-chic bar, music venue, brunch spot, and dance hall
Vintage-chic bar, music venue, brunch spot, and dance hall
"I saw that Starline Social Club in Oakland, a favorite for cocktails and low-key shows, will close on January 1, and that the owners framed the last days (Dec 28–31) as the end of the venue "in this iteration" after earlier plans to reopen as a worker-owned outfit." - Paolo Bicchieri
"After a rough pandemic run, the storied music venue and vintage-chic bar is set to close: Starline Social Club’s owners announced in an Instagram post that it will close as of January 1 and that scheduled concerts after that date are being moved to new venues. I read that an initial move to sell the space in October 2020 and a later attempt to convert it into a worker-owned co-op left former employees apprehensive before its February 2022 reopening; the space itself features a ground-floor bar and lounge plus an upstairs ballroom in a historic former Oddfellows Hall and saloon." - Dianne de Guzman
"Although Starline Social Club in Oakland announced it will reopen as an employee-owned business, its employees said they had no idea about the pivot, and a former bar manager criticized the move, saying you can't form a co-op without speaking to the staff and that the intentions did not seem genuine." - Paolo Bicchieri
"Tayler Sampson of Starline Social Club has contributed a menu of vibrant, tropical drinks and a natural wine selection to Jo’s bar program." - Lauren Saria
"Housed in a historic 1893 Odd Fellows Hall, this vintage‑chic venue pairs a ground‑floor bar and lounge with an upstairs 400‑person ballroom and became a central hub for Oakland’s art and music scene after opening in 2015. It hosted jazz nights, comedy, poetry, karaoke, open mics, underground dance parties, art installations, food pop‑ups, major performances from artists like Solange Knowles and Big Freedia as well as local hip‑hop, punk, and metal acts; it also ran Oakland’s largest natural wine fair and community events such as resource villages offering showers, hot meals, barbers, and rent‑relief fundraisers. Founded and operated by partners including Adam Hatch, Drew Bennett, and Sam White, the partners purchased the 8,520‑square‑foot building in 2018; because the business model depended on filling the ballroom, the pandemic forced them to briefly list the space for $3.2 million and the business for $300,000 until SBA loans and the promise of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant allowed them to stay afloat. They are now revising systems and renovating—upgrading the kitchen to increase efficiency and volume and addressing persistent bathroom lines—with plans to reopen as a worker‑owned, community‑based mixed‑use venue so staff have ownership, agency, and “skin in the game.”" - Ellen Fort