by phil a. on I give this place five stars because there's no other jazz venue in the bay area in the same caliber as Yoshi's Jazz. Having said that Yoshi's Jazz strikes me as a couples scene though there's a bar and lounge area where you can come with friends and mingle with others. I've never been to the Oakland one so I can't comment on comparisons.
by Arnab M. on We played some drunken pool here, I think. This was the last stop of the night, so I was pretty gone by then. But I remember it being long, not that sketchy but with some older sketchy folks. I suppose it would be categorized as dive. A couple of guys were talking to me and one of my friends but boy, even the drunkenness didn't help in conjuring up any interest. Ha-Ha! Strong drinks, not bad. I love their rainbow-colored "TRUNKS" sign outside. You can see it from a mile.
by Laure Holway on I went to 1984 on Thursday night about a month ago for a friend's bachelorette party, and it is the right club for that kind of event. I was shocked to see how many people were there - the club was packed at 11:00 PM - so many more folks then when I used to go to the Cat Club back in my Goth days. However, the crowd wasn't quite as interesting as the Goth kids, way more Marina types and guys on the prowl. We did have a fun time though - after several drinks (in addition to the copious pre-drinking we did before getting to the club) everything was one happy cheesy 80's blur. I liked the more dance/goth/new wave room in back better, and overall the music was good but predictable. But, what can you expect, there's only a limited amount of 80's hits to play. I can't claim to give a very detailed or accurate review - like I said, things got hazy real fast - but the sound system and lights have improved a lot since I was there years ago, the two tiny bathrooms still suck, and the narrow outdoor smoking area behind the bar in the main room was too funny - I felt like I was in some Amsterdam back alley with a bunch of drunk Americans. It was easy enough to get a breath of fresh air out on the street, and all the door men/women and bartenders were professional and nice. I would go again if I needed a place to go on a Thursday with my less adventurous friends, but personally I'd still rather be at the End-Up any day.
