Plus: Another PG&E outage left thousands in San Francisco without power Saturday for over six hours.
With queer watering holes and venues hanging on by a bedazzled thong, any gay bar’s opening (or in this case: reopening) is worth a headline. In San Francisco, few performance spaces, queer-centric or otherwise, hold as much importance and cultural cache as the drag cabaret bar, Oasis.
Nestled inside SoMa and coiled by a sidewalk-to-ceiling mural, the beloved queer hub announced its planned shuttering in July of last year; a blog post by the business noted “rising cost of operations, paired with declining attendance and sales” ultimately served as the final nail in the coffin. But in an almost conspiracy-inspiring series of events — as if its preemptive closing served as a cloy marketing scheme — a “last-minute” donor funneled massive amounts of cash into the then-floundering venue, allowing not only for its continued survival, but enough funds to refresh and rehaul its interior and outdoor spaces.
“This is what queer joy looks like!” exclaimed co-owner D’Arcy Drollinger during the venue’s grand reopening Friday. The event was a local who’s-who of queer notables and die-hard supporters alike, all of whom got an early peek into the bar’s new digs.
The club’s rooftop deck, interior lounge, and stage all feature updated lighting, flooring, seating arrangements, and, in some spaces, new, sprawling murals — “we’re putting lipstick on her, but not giving her a full facelift until we do the fundraising,” Drollinger told the Chronicle last month. And while she (read: Oasis) hasn’t gone fully under the knife just yet, it’s clear she (again: Oasis) got a fair amount of well-done non-invasive treatments to make her appear at least a decade younger.
Oasis’s grand reopening comes just in time to host its annual Dore Alley day party and quasi-new Saturday shows at Outside Lands (and drag-heavy afterparty back at space after Outside Lands wraps up … which last year featured Doja Cat dropping unreleased tracks from her yet-released album, Vie). Staple shows like Princess and Reparations are already in full swing, with new regular shows being announced later this summer.
What else transpired over the weekend? Let’s take a look.
Nancy Pelosi’s husband is now facing charges for his alleged hit-and-run earlier this summer. Napa County police have charged Paul Pelosi with a misdemeanor in his alleged hit-and-run earlier this summer involving a parked car; the case also references his earlier 2023 DUI incident that totaled his very expensive Porsche 911. More info.
Remember that literally no one wants your AI slop. Grind & Unwind, a new restaurant on Haight Street, was graffitied and lambasted online for having AI-generated images sprawling its window menu … and they’ve now removed that menu amid the backlash; Grind & Unwind currently sits with 2.9 stars on Google reviews. More info.
Thousands of homes in San Francisco lost power during yet another localized PG&E blackout. Residents inside the Richmond District and around Golden Gate Park were left without power for more than six hours Saturday due to an unplanned PG&E outage; the incident highlights the utility’s woefully antiquated equipment and fans the flames of having the City create its own utility provider. More info.
A very wayward pooch was rescued … in the San Francisco Bay. Menlo Park firefighters successfully captured the swimming good fur baby after paddling well into the San Francisco Bay; the doggo was reunited with its parents, who had been searching for the dog since the 4th of July, after it was taken and assessed at the SPCA. More info.
Feature image: Screenshot via Instagram
