Following a retrofit and COVID closure, the ageless saloon reopened its doors for a soft opening this week.
Anne Richards performs"When You Need To" at the Hotel Utah during the South of Market bar's reopening on Monday night.Back before face masks and shutdowns, the gentle crooner E.G. Phillips would begin his Monday nights at an open mic in Oakland before darting across the Bay Bridge for the Hotel Utah. There he’d write his name on a shred of paper to then drop in an empty beer pitcher.
“It’s the big daddy of open mics,” he said. “The Utah is the most eclectic; you’ll have Dr Dreame who is like Garrison Keillor on acid or Dr. Strange that is punk rock in a lab coat. There are more characters here.” The original plan was to close the Utah in January 2020 for just a few months as the building’s owner complied with city-mandated earthquake retrofitting. Midway through construction, pandemic shutdowns kept the doors closed well past expectations.
Gerard Cabarse performs"Such Great Heights" at the Hotel Utah in the South of Market District on Monday.Cochran added that the Utah is indebted to both the city’s Music and Entertainment Venue Recovery Fund and the federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program. “Without this funding, the double hit of major construction and the long pandemic closure would have been very hard to overcome,” she said.
Brendan Getzell, the open mic’s host since 2011, presided over the crowd, which he said was comprised of at least three-quarters regulars from the past several years. Ultimately, there were 41 sign-ups, which is a solid turnout for the open mic.