It’s last call at Rocky’s Brooklyn Basin, beloved Oakland venue

In the worst of times, Rocky’s Market provided the best of times.

When clubs and theaters across the Bay Area were still shuttered during the first year of the pandemic, the food emporium transformed the newly opened Brooklyn Basin on the Oakland waterfront into a spectacular outdoor venue. But COVID’s toll keeps mounting, and at the end of August the outdoor music and dance programming is coming to an end when chef Corinne Kinczel and her Two Local Girls business partner Brady Bellis close up shop.

“The pandemic messed up the five-year plan,” Kinczel said. “There’s just not enough business down there right now.”

Rocky’s original Leimert Boulevard location in Oakland’s Oakmore neighborhood is staying open (“and we’re putting in a meat counter,” Kinczel said), but there’s no space there for performances. Music, comedy and dance weren’t part of the original plan when they opened the Brooklyn Basin market and take-out restaurant in 2020. They quickly realized that the adjacent plaza with sweeping views of Alameda and San Francisco’s downtown punctuated by passing sailboats made for an ideal concert setting.

“It is pretty magical, a really beautiful space for people to play their music and others to come and enjoy it,” Kinczel said. “There were some amazing performances. We had the Oakland Symphony last year. It’s just a beautiful space that speaks for itself.”

The space still has something to say before Rocky’s closes on Aug. 31. Dancer Melissa Cruz has been presenting monthly flamenco shows and a July 29 program features her with dancers Mizuho Sato and Carola Zertuche, artistic director of Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco, with vocalist Roberto Zamora, percussionist Marlon Aldana and guitarist David McLean. Katiana Vila, a vocalist and percussionist back in the Bay Area after many years studying at Berklee College of Music in Valencia, Spain, plays a solo opening set of Iberian music.

A key component of the Bay Area flamenco scene, Cruz has used the Rocky’s stage to showcase a cross section of talent. “It’s ideal as a performance space in that you’re outdoors, which makes a lot of people feel comfortable, pandemic-wise, but it feels like as an indoor venue because it’s covered,” said Cruz, who returns to Brooklyn Basin for a final performance on Aug. 26.

“What’s been extremely beneficial to all of the artists, what makes it unique as a venue, is that Rocky’s doesn’t take a percentage,” Cruz added. “All of the revenue goes right to the artist. That’s huge.”

While several key flamenco venues didn’t survive the pandemic, the Andalusian art form has found a niche in outdoor Bay Area settings. Cruz performs Aug. 7 at Presidio Tunnel Tops as part of the new San Francisco park’s First Sunday Afternoons series. “The producers asked me to present a style of show similar to what we do at Rocky’s,” Cruz said. She’s also a regular at Anaviv’s Table in Richmond, which presents live music and dance al fresco every Saturday night.

Is there any chance of someone else picking up the reins at Brooklyn Basin to keep the arts programing happening when Rocky’s closes?