A few months ago, chatter began circulating online about the closure of The New Parish, the intimate music venue in Uptown Oakland that captured the hearts of music fans with its eclectic bookings.

The building on San Pablo Avenue, which opened its doors as The New Parish in October 2009 with a show headlined by singer songwriter Alex Cuba and DJ Bobbito, already had deep ties to Oakland’s music and nightlife landscape. In 1982, the venue opened as Jimmie’s Entertainment Complex, or Sweet Jimmie’s, after its owner, Jimmie Ward. That club closed in 2006, after Ward grew tired of dealing with the Oakland Police Department and city officials.

Michael O’Connor, an experienced music industry mogul from San Francisco, stepped in. It wasn’t O’Connor’s first time opening a club. In 1993, at age 25, he opened Mr. Fives, a small music venue on Rose and Market streets in San Francisco that was only in business for about a year. In 1997, he opened the Justice League on San Francisco’s Divisadero Street, which was open through 2004, then bought by Allen Scott of Another Planet Entertainment and reopened as The Independent. Now, O’Connor was on a quest to open a live music venue in Oakland.

READ ON AT OAKLANDSIDE