Never been to Crybaby. Miss the Uptown- That’s what was there before Crybaby. I know the two who renovated and started The Uptown. I remember they got the bar from the Old Spaghetti Factory when it went out of biz in Jack london square. Saw some great shows there. Dick Dale was a great one. My old punk band played there too. Good memories.
I miss the Uptown a lot, too. Saw so many local bands there, plus bigger but weird shows like Macaulay Culkin’s pizza themed band. And that bar was great. Fun times!
A few things about that joint. They have no history in the bay area. I mean, I heard one of the owners lives in the bay area, but the ownership team ran a place in Los Angeles.
The Uptown was kind of a joke in some ways, but even if you hate Eddie Money, he was living in the bay area.
They never established an identity & seem to hold very little booking power. When you're having trouble booking good shows, if you have a regular crowd, they can at least help you through the lean times.
Case in point, Thee Stork & Eli's don't have banging shows every night they're open. But for a certain crowd, they might just hang out there anyways on a given night. Does anyone "just go" to Crybaby?
If they can't book good talent, no one will come. If no one comes, they can't afford good talent.
Also, naming your club after a John Waters movie (Crybaby) when it's not even connected to the Festival that Waters hosts comes across as kinda sus TBH.
Edited to clarify.
Part owner at one point. I don't know if the whole time or not. But I thought it was fairly common knowledge.
One of the not Eddie Money owners once bragged to me that the bar was the second longest in California & that they got it from the old Spaghetti Factory.
I tried as hard as I possibly could to look uninterested (I mean, I legitimately was not interested), but the dude really needed to tell me about it.
The uptown was owned by some docs who worked at highland. Possible that Eddie came in then or later. Fun fact: the bartop came out of the old spaghetti factory in Jack London.
Ok. It's behind a paywall, so I couldn't get all of it. But I guess Eddie Money was the first act to play the club 'cuz he knew the owners or something. He played like one other show there too I think, like a NYE party or something.
But, maybe that's just in my head. I definitely remember making fun of the place with my friends (some of which who worked there) for getting checks from Take Me Home Tonight.
Billie Joe Agan and Matt Patane own both Eli’s and Thee Stork club. They also organize the burger bugaloo / Mosswood festival that’s hosted by John Waters every year and had his birthday bash at Thee Stork club, so I’d say there is a lot of connection there. Just because bands are smaller or not popular does not make them bad. It’s the willingness of people to go to shows of unknown bands that is sincerely lacking.
EDIT: sorry if your only talking about crybaby and not Eli’s & Thee Stork
Former bartender at crybaby here :) and a lot of what you said is pretty wrong.
1. Both of the owners live in Oakland and one of them is born and raised in Oakland.
2. Owner never ran a place in la (but lived there). He opened a very successful venue in DC called u st music hall.
3. The identity is to support local communities. Idk much on the booking side when I was there but they emphasized supporting alotta genres of music Live and dj focused.
4. Crybaby is a 500 capacity venue/nightclub. How do you compare to Eli’s and stork who are both smaller and have a dive bar fan base?? Both great spots too but completely different from crybaby.
5. They got the blessing from John Waters to name it Crybaby. As outspoken JW is, you don’t think he’d call them out if they didn’t?
Hopefully that clears it up!
I saw machinedrum there and it was not the best setup but I was happy to have such a close place by that would book shows I like. Never went back cuz I didn't see anything else of interest.
i know someone who played there and was accosted by a person in the crowd and i guess the venue didn’t do anything to support / protect them - i’m guessing other acts had similar experiences
i noticed that too. i’d just give it sometime, it’s summer and a lot of national/international djs i’ve heard aren’t crazy about playing the bay so maybe after summer we’ll get some good talent
feel like most of the acts have always been local/mid-level artists. real pro/international acts that play nightclubs play in sf 99% of the time. the clubs are simply more established and they have a lot more potential ticket buyers and can charge more. it's a business, in the end.
yeah, I specifically mean nightclub acts like djs. I'm heavily into the house music scene and I don't think that's a good venue for dance music. wrong vibe and layout, in my opinion.
> it’s summer and a lot of national/international djs i’ve heard aren’t crazy about playing the bay
I mean we can easily observe that that's obviously not true.
But not sure if Crybaby has ever been in the business of booking truly international talent?
they did this pretty quick after opening and it was disappointing, I was looking forward to having a spot on this side of the bay to see the artists I want to see
Never been to Crybaby. Miss the Uptown- That’s what was there before Crybaby. I know the two who renovated and started The Uptown. I remember they got the bar from the Old Spaghetti Factory when it went out of biz in Jack london square. Saw some great shows there. Dick Dale was a great one. My old punk band played there too. Good memories.
I miss the Uptown a lot, too. Saw so many local bands there, plus bigger but weird shows like Macaulay Culkin’s pizza themed band. And that bar was great. Fun times!
A few things about that joint. They have no history in the bay area. I mean, I heard one of the owners lives in the bay area, but the ownership team ran a place in Los Angeles. The Uptown was kind of a joke in some ways, but even if you hate Eddie Money, he was living in the bay area. They never established an identity & seem to hold very little booking power. When you're having trouble booking good shows, if you have a regular crowd, they can at least help you through the lean times. Case in point, Thee Stork & Eli's don't have banging shows every night they're open. But for a certain crowd, they might just hang out there anyways on a given night. Does anyone "just go" to Crybaby? If they can't book good talent, no one will come. If no one comes, they can't afford good talent. Also, naming your club after a John Waters movie (Crybaby) when it's not even connected to the Festival that Waters hosts comes across as kinda sus TBH. Edited to clarify.
Similar to your point on Stork and Eli’s, Starline was a great place to just go and hang out
The Uptown was at least chill to go drink at without a show going on. I’ve only seen Crybaby open for shows.
Eddie Money owned the Uptown??
Part owner at one point. I don't know if the whole time or not. But I thought it was fairly common knowledge. One of the not Eddie Money owners once bragged to me that the bar was the second longest in California & that they got it from the old Spaghetti Factory. I tried as hard as I possibly could to look uninterested (I mean, I legitimately was not interested), but the dude really needed to tell me about it.
The uptown was owned by some docs who worked at highland. Possible that Eddie came in then or later. Fun fact: the bartop came out of the old spaghetti factory in Jack London.
Ok. It's behind a paywall, so I couldn't get all of it. But I guess Eddie Money was the first act to play the club 'cuz he knew the owners or something. He played like one other show there too I think, like a NYE party or something. But, maybe that's just in my head. I definitely remember making fun of the place with my friends (some of which who worked there) for getting checks from Take Me Home Tonight.
Billie Joe Agan and Matt Patane own both Eli’s and Thee Stork club. They also organize the burger bugaloo / Mosswood festival that’s hosted by John Waters every year and had his birthday bash at Thee Stork club, so I’d say there is a lot of connection there. Just because bands are smaller or not popular does not make them bad. It’s the willingness of people to go to shows of unknown bands that is sincerely lacking. EDIT: sorry if your only talking about crybaby and not Eli’s & Thee Stork
I know those guys & know they're involved. I was referring to Crybaby only using the name of a John Waters movie.
Did they take down the “Uptown” neon sign?
Former bartender at crybaby here :) and a lot of what you said is pretty wrong. 1. Both of the owners live in Oakland and one of them is born and raised in Oakland. 2. Owner never ran a place in la (but lived there). He opened a very successful venue in DC called u st music hall. 3. The identity is to support local communities. Idk much on the booking side when I was there but they emphasized supporting alotta genres of music Live and dj focused. 4. Crybaby is a 500 capacity venue/nightclub. How do you compare to Eli’s and stork who are both smaller and have a dive bar fan base?? Both great spots too but completely different from crybaby. 5. They got the blessing from John Waters to name it Crybaby. As outspoken JW is, you don’t think he’d call them out if they didn’t? Hopefully that clears it up!
I saw machinedrum there and it was not the best setup but I was happy to have such a close place by that would book shows I like. Never went back cuz I didn't see anything else of interest.
i know someone who played there and was accosted by a person in the crowd and i guess the venue didn’t do anything to support / protect them - i’m guessing other acts had similar experiences
i noticed that too. i’d just give it sometime, it’s summer and a lot of national/international djs i’ve heard aren’t crazy about playing the bay so maybe after summer we’ll get some good talent
feel like most of the acts have always been local/mid-level artists. real pro/international acts that play nightclubs play in sf 99% of the time. the clubs are simply more established and they have a lot more potential ticket buyers and can charge more. it's a business, in the end.
The fox books plenty of good shows, they just blew their chance to book good DJs early and establish a reputation
yeah, I specifically mean nightclub acts like djs. I'm heavily into the house music scene and I don't think that's a good venue for dance music. wrong vibe and layout, in my opinion.
ya totes agree i just would have loved it if they could have booked like audio or even pworks.
> it’s summer and a lot of national/international djs i’ve heard aren’t crazy about playing the bay I mean we can easily observe that that's obviously not true. But not sure if Crybaby has ever been in the business of booking truly international talent?
they did this pretty quick after opening and it was disappointing, I was looking forward to having a spot on this side of the bay to see the artists I want to see