Valley Wolf, Philthy Dronez, El Pecado de Juana, and DJ Lizzy al Toque
Thee Stork Club
2330 Telegraph Ave, Oakland
June 12, 2026
It wasn’t billed as a World Cup party, but that’s kinda what Friday night was at Thee Stork Club. Soccer jerseys were abundant on this joyous night featuring Latin-flavored rock bands.
The Telegraph Ave nightclub has a long history of being a venue that any band could play at. In fact, many of the bands that played here over the years couldn’t play anywhere else. Obviously, a place like that needs to exist in any music scene, and oftentimes it’s actually the coolest spot in the scene.
Colloquially, I guess the genre is known as “garage rock.”
I myself performed at The Stork Club at least twice, but that was a long time ago; so long ago that most of the audience on this night hadn’t been born yet. I remember the place as a kitschy, brightly colored dive with glittery plastic strips as the stage backdrop and vintage mint-condition Barbie dolls behind the bar.
Open since 1918, The Stork Club closed in 2020 due to high rent, the Barbie doll collection apparently stolen after being boxed up.
The venue was reopened in 2022 by a joint venture consisting of Marc Ribak and Amy Carver of Mosswood Meltdown, and Billy Joe Agan and Matt Patane of Eli’s Mile High Club.
In addition to removing much of the lighting and making the walls darker, the new owners added an extra e to the word “the,” which is consistent with the long-running garage rock tradition of pretending to be different without actually being different.
Upon our arrival, El Pecado De Juana was already on stage playing psychedelic cumbia. Consisting of surf guitar, groovy bass, a conguero, and a kit drummer, they were giving chill smoothness while showcasing quality musicianship. This was definitely not garage rock.
The concert room, which is separated from the bar area by sound baffles and a thick theater curtain, was already densely populated and warm. I realized that I would not be needing my hoodie.
Also notable was the fact that the stage lighting and sound have drastically improved. Overall, the live performance section of the venue has been significantly upgraded, as has the quality of the entertainers themselves.
The airflow however, is a downgrade.
Wanting to get some fresh air, we headed for the “backyard”, actually to the side of the building.
Traversing through the bright red pool table room, I couldn’t help but wonder if the decor in there was new kitschy, or the same old kitschy as before. I want to say the latter.
The side yard has some limited seating and we were able to get one of the highly coveted tables under a graffiti-covered canvas half-dome thingy.
Back inside, vocalist/accordionist/keyboardist/electronica-ist Philthy Dronez was up next, and he had a whole band with him: drums, congas, guiro, saxophone, guitar, bass. They even had a rapper. They played a variety of pan-Mexican genres, all of it undeniably danceable. The growing crowd even got into a conga line at one point, and there was spontaneous acts of indigenous dancing as well.
Like the opening act, this was not garage rock.
One more trip out the side yard for fresh air, and then it was back into an even more densely populated concert space.
In between the live bands, DJ Lizzy al Toque kept the room from dehumidifying, and the walls were moist by the time the headliner took the stage.
Valley Wolf drove out from Modesto to bless the stage on this night. Their lineup consisted of guitarists Jairo Lomeli and Andrew Mendoza, trumpeter Kevin Martin, bassist Fernando Barocio, and drummer Victor Alvarado.
Musically and cosmically, I liked them. They played danceable, soulful rock en espanol with passionate vocals that were closer to screaming than crooning.
Like Philthy, they played a variety of pan-Mexican styles, with healthy doses of cumbia and quebradita. All of it was upbeat and joyful. The guitar effects and keyboard sounds gave the music a vintage flavor, and the songwriting felt therapeutic, evoking times when life is wonderful even if the world isn’t.
Valley Wolf played like a band that started out playing garage rock, but has been performing live together for a decade. They exceeded the expectations set by their recorded discography, projecting high energy without threatening my unprotected eardrums.
The inclusive, multi-cultural crowd was really into them. Complete strangers got a nice cardio workout together while respecting each others' personal space, and no one had dry clothes by the time it was all said and done.
All in all, it was a very fun night, and exactly what the live music experience should be: a surreal moment that felt almost religious.
