Oakland music scene on the upswing after years of stagnation

This past spring, local bands and South Oakland residents convened for a night of live music…. This past spring, local bands and South Oakland residents convened for a night of live music. Combining its vintage and modern appeals, The Hideout hosted South Oakland Fest, an evening of live performances by four local bands made up of Pitt students, alumni and friends.

Now is a fortunate time to be a live music fan at Pitt. Though the neighborhood of Oakland and the entire Pittsburgh community have a recent history of being snubbed by popular acts, the past few years have shown the beginning of a major turnaround in the area.

In past decades, Oakland attracted many popular bands to its various bars and music venues. But as the neighborhood changed over the years, so did its musical appeal, and soon, the big names began passing over Oakland.

Music venues such as Club Laga, Decade and the Electric Banana flourished in Oakland in years past. These locations hosted frequent live performances, and since they were located in Oakland, students could enjoy the music in its natural form, rather than through a set of boom box speakers.

Club Laga, which was previously located in the present-day location of IGA and its upstairs apartment complex, hosted many bands and artists.

“Imagine [the IGA supermarket] as a 750-capacity club with dancing and live music every night,” Manny Theiner said. Theiner has been a key player in the resurrection of the Oakland music scene and was the organizer of this spring’s South Oakland Fest.

After its peak in the ’80s and ’90s, the music scene in Oakland began to decline. The once-lively clubs shut down, and music stores began to close. Any form of music scene disintegrated in the area, and local shows dwindled.

Today, however, Oakland’s music scene is making a comeback. With the success of South Oakland Fest and the growing popularity of a few local acts, the music scene is being reinvented.

According to The Hideout’s manager, Rick Schofield, the inaugural South Oakland Fest nearly filled the venue to capacity, and was a welcome change from the seemingly endless drought of live music in the neighborhood.

“There really hasn’t been a whole lot in the Oakland area until recently. Most of the time, I would go to the Shadow Lounge in East Liberty to see live bands,” Pitt senior Paul Schillinger said.

But just in the past year, bands such as No Age and Man Man have made the University’s William Pitt Union a full-fledged venue because of WPTS-FM, Pitt’s student-run radio station.

The Hideout also has emerged as a respectable concert venue. Originally a bar located deep in South Oakland, The Hideout — with the help of The Original Magazine, which presented South Oakland Fest — is becoming a focal point for live music in Oakland.

The name of the venue speaks volumes about its location. Nestled at the bottom of Bates Street, The Hideout looks and feels like its name suggest. Unlike the multitude of bars in Oakland, The Hideout offers all-ages shows for the under-21 crowd, making it a good option for younger students still looking to enjoy live music.

Katie Capri, the executive editor at The Original Magazine, said last spring’s Fest came as a result of some advice she received from a gallery owner the magazine worked with.

“I know Nina, the owner of Assemble Gallery, and she basically told us, ‘Just find what you love and figure out how to make money doing it,’ followed by ‘Don’t you know a lot of bands?’”

The festival began as a fundraising effort, but soon became an opportunity to host more live shows in a neighborhood that craved a music scene, Capri said.

The Hideout’s manager agreed. According to Schofield, The Hideout is more than just a venue in Oakland.

“For the local bands, we’re one of the larger venues that these bands can come without charging them too much,” Schofield said. “I’m not looking to get rich off these bands. A lot of times I’ll work with them to bring out the music scene here.”

Schofield says he sees “unlimited” potential for the music coming out of Oakland.

“There are so many kids out here who, if they just played in front of the right people, they would blow up like that,” Schofield said.

One such band is White Like Fire, made up of Oakland-based indie rockers. The group, composed of brothers Tyler and Blake Clawson and Joe Killian, has been performing around Oakland for a little more than a year.

The band was one of four featured at South Oakland Fest. According to Clawson, the event was a success, in part, because of the venue.

“The Hideout is great because you can have all-ages shows,” Blake Clawson said. “Also, it reminds me of The Strokes’ ‘Hard to Explain’ music video.”

Clawson also pointed to the Pitt community as a major reason for the success of South Oakland Fest and music in the Oakland area. According to Clawson, the band’s growth, like many other bands’ in Oakland, is owed in large part to the music scene at Pitt.

“I think the student body at Pitt is phenomenal for artistic collaboration,” Clawson said. “I think Oakland could grow into an interesting music scene.”

SleepyV, another local act that played at South Oakland Fest, also believes South Oakland is an ideal place for a music scene. Gene Vercammen, an acoustic guitarist for the band, believed that South Oakland Fest would increase the number of local shows in Oakland.

For Vercammen, South Oakland Fest essentially strove “to test the waters of the 2012 South Oakland neighborhood and make known its potential for fostering an indie music scene,” he said.

He associated the decline of the music scene with three key elements.

“Lack of organization, presence of faction and [difficulty] getting the attention of the students,” he said.

Now, with a successful start through South Oakland Fest, bands such as White Like Fire, SleepyV and many more have more of an opportunity to perform at local venues and redevelop the music scene in Oakland.