{"id":332720,"date":"2026-05-26T11:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T11:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332720\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T11:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T11:28:10","slug":"left-for-dead-oakland-arena-has-become-a-pop-music-mecca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332720\/","title":{"rendered":"Left for dead, Oakland Arena has become a pop music mecca"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Ariana Grande takes the stage on June 6, now with two \u201cWicked<\/a>\u201d films under her belt, it will mark the Grammy winner\u2019s first stadium show since 2019. Grande\u2019s \u201cEternal Sunshine\u201d tour is gearing up to be the defining musical event of the summer, with an entire cottage industry<\/a> dedicated to predicting the set list. A spectacle worthy of legendary settings like LA\u2019s Staples Center (aka the Crypto.com Arena),\u00a0 and London\u2019s the O2.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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But her debut performance won\u2019t be at any of those storied venues. Instead, Grande chose to make her long-awaited return with three shows at the 19,200-capacity Oakland Arena, a stadium some considered abandoned and left for dead, but which has found new life as a pop music\u00a0mecca.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite taking place in an aging stadium spurned by both the Warriors and the Valkyries<\/a>, Grande\u2019s three shows sold out instantaneously<\/a>, with tickets currently fetching well over $1,000 on\u00a0secondary markets<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Grande isn\u2019t the only Disney-star-turned-pop-sensation booked for the arena. Olivia Rodrigo, the singer-songwriter who\u00a0tied a Grande chart record<\/a> in April, recently announced a stadium tour with dates in New York, Paris, Milan and … Oakland. The \u201cDriver\u2019s License\u201d singer is booked for two sold-out Oakland Arena shows in mid-December.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Ariana<\/p>\n

Ariana Grande attends the 83rd Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton on Jan. 11, 2026, in Beverly Hills, Calif.<\/p>\n

Monica Schipper\/Getty Images\"Olivia<\/p>\n

Olivia Rodrigo at the Disney Advertising Upfront, a showcase event that brings together all the content corners of the Walt Disney Co. on one stage. On Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at North Javits in New York City.<\/p>\n

Michael Le Brecht\/Disney\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cDemand for both of them has been through the roof,\u201d said the vice president of booking at Oakland Arena, Gretchen Claffey.<\/p>\n

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And it\u2019s not just pop stars who will be making the pilgrimage to East Oakland. Throughout 2026, Oakland Arena expects to play host to some of the bigger names in country (Kacey Musgraves<\/a> and Billy Strings<\/a>), Latin music (Rosalia<\/a>), Rap (J. Cole<\/a>) and K-pop (Aespa<\/a> and Katseye<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The stellar lineup comes after Oakland Arena and neighboring Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum were abandoned by three different major league teams in five years. Oracle<\/a> dropped its naming rights deal when the Warriors left, depriving the stadium of its \u201cRoaracle\u201d nickname. Many thought these departures would be a death blow for the complex. The neighborhood around the arena has seen<\/a> one of the\u00a0steepest economic declines<\/a> of any ZIP code in the Bay Area. It was assumed the area would be razed and turned into condos<\/a> by now.\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Francisco\u2019s Chase Center, where the Warriors fled to in 2019, has a strong lineup for the rest of 2026 as well. The state-of-the-art 18,000-seat stadium expects to feature shows by Florence and the Machine, Doja Cat, Weezer and Daniel Caesar. But it\u2019s hard to argue any of those names is as big as Grande or Rodrigo.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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So how did Oakland Arena go from life support to outpacing its replacement?<\/p>\n

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Oracle Arena, home of the 2015 NBA champion Golden State Warriors in Oakland, Calif.<\/p>\n

Steve Proehl\/Getty Images\"A<\/p>\n

A \u201cStrength in Numbers\u201d banner is unveiled late in the fourth quarter, before the Golden State Warriors go on to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 123-101 in Game 1 of the second-round playoffs of the Western Conference finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., on April 28, 2018.<\/p>\n

S.F Chronicle\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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The fact that no major league team currently plays at Oakland Arena is actually a boon when it comes to booking artists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps to not have a tenant for concert scheduling purposes. We have more dates to work with. We can sometimes do load-in or rehearsal days, which can be helpful to artists\u2019 teams,\u201d said Claffey.<\/p>\n

Oakland Arena has also made renovations with musical artists in mind.\u00a0Claffey said it\u2019s updated the backstage area for performers and touring personnel and added murals in the front of house to highlight historic performances at the venue.<\/p>\n

Along with playing host to multiple Warriors championship seasons, the venue has featured shows by the likes of the Rolling Stones (five times), Elvis Presley (just once in 1970), Tina Turner (twice) and the Grateful Dead \u2014 who played a record 66 shows between the Oakland Arena and Coliseum.<\/p>\n

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New Year\u2019s atmosphere as the Grateful Dead perform at Oakland Coliseum Arena on Dec. 31, 1991, in Oakland, Calif.<\/p>\n

Tim Mosenfelder\/Getty Images\"Mick<\/p>\n

Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and the Rolling Stones brought their \u201cNo Security\u201d tour to the Oakland Arena Jan. 25, 1999.<\/p>\n

MediaNews Group\/Getty Images\"Parking<\/p>\n

Parking lot atmosphere as the Grateful Dead perform at Oakland Coliseum Arena on Dec. 17, 1993, in Oakland, Calif.<\/p>\n

Tim Mosenfelder\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The arena also offers a relatively convenient experience for fans, something artists need to take into account amid \u201cblue dot fever<\/a>\u201d\u2014- the epidemic of concert cancellations due to poor ticket sales.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re so centrally located. We have the BART station. There\u2019s the Amtrak station. We\u2019re connected to the Oakland airport. We have tons of parking spaces. It\u2019s just an extremely easy venue for people to access, which I think really helps a lot in people\u2019s decision making process about buying tickets,\u201d said Claffey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This stands in stark contrast to many of the Bay Area\u2019s other biggest concert venues. Chase Center and Oracle Park (capacity 42,300) are not close to BART and have limited parking, Levi\u2019s Stadium is notoriously difficult to get to, and hell hath no fury like the Shoreline Amphitheatre parking lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When A-list performers come to Oakland, the entire city benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Keyshia<\/p>\n

Keyshia Cole performs at Oakland Arena on July 31, 2025, in Oakland, Calif.<\/p>\n

Steve Jennings\/Getty Images\"Burna<\/p>\n

Burna Boy performs onstage at Oakland Arena on Nov. 18, 2025, in Oakland, Calif.<\/p>\n

Dana Jacobs\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving assets like the Oakland Arena & Coliseum in The Town, is very important to bringing visitors to Oakland,\u201d wrote the president and CEO of\u00a0Visit Oakland<\/a>, Peter\u00a0Gamez, in an email to SFGATE.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn the past when global artists and events come to Oakland, we see an increase in hotel occupancy and our local businesses benefit from those visitors enjoying our Oakland experiences,\u201d Gamez continued.<\/p>\n

For the\u00a0Ariana Grande shows, Visit Oakland is running a promotional giveaway<\/a> in which the winner could take home two free concert tickets, airfare and a two-night stay at the Claremont Resort.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As stacked as the Arena\u2019s lineup already is, Claffey teased that more was still to come.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019ve got a few still left to announce in 2026 that are pretty big that we\u2019re very excited about,\u201d Claffey said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cNothing confirmed that or that we can share yet, but a lot of great conversations,\u201d\u00a0Claffey said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re expecting 2027 to be just as big as 2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n