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Daily News of Los Angeles (CA)
March 14, 1987
ROCKIN' AND ROLLIN' IN THE BACK ROOM
Author: CRAIG ROSEN, Daily News Staff Writer

Some of the best nightclub concerts in town aren't staged in nightclubs. Guitar shops, record stores, art galleries and literary centers, most of which don't serve alcohol, are giving music lovers an alternative to club-hopping.

Leading the way is McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. The music store has been offering live entertainment in its back room since 1969, but it wasn't until late 1983 that McCabe's started branching out from booking mainly folk and bluegrass artists in favor of "the sort of punky acts," said John Chelew, producer of McCabe's concerts.

It was then that the guitar shop opened its doors to artists from the local underground rock scene. Former Plimsoul Peter Case, with Joe Nolte of the Last, and the Minutemen were among the first of the new wave of performers to be showcased.

Since then, some of rock's most acclaimed up-and-comers have performed in the back room, including Billy Bragg, the Meat Puppets, Timbuk 3, and Syd Straw of the Golden Palominos, as well as such locals as John Doe, the Divine Horsemen and Firehose.

Legendary blues, bluegrass, folk and country performers like John Lee Hooker and Bill Munroe remain the "meat and potatoes" of McCabe's concert schedule, Chelew said. "But I don't see them as being very much different from John Doe and the Meat Puppets, except age."

McCabe's differs noticeably from the clubs where performers like Doe and the Meat Puppets usually play.

Strong java, no booze

"Alcohol isn't looking you in the face, like at the Music Machine (which is just down the street from McCabe's) where there are three bars," Chelew explained. "The strongest thing we serve is coffee. We make it real strong so people can get a buzz. You drink a cup and eat a chocolate chip cookie, and you can get an incredible sugar and caffeine rush."

The no-alcohol policy hasn't been much of a problem. "At first, people were kind of inhibited because we didn't allow smoking and don't serve alcohol, but now people think it's kind of nice. They can concentrate on the music because there is no drinking."

It's apparent by how quiet the audience is between numbers. "There's no alcohol in this room. You can tell. There're no hecklers," said Dream Syndicate singer-guitarist Steve Wynn from the McCabe's stage at a recent performance.

"I've had people tell me that they are more nervous here than at the Universal Amphitheatre, because here you take a risk -- you go under the microscope," Chelew said.

With its walls lined with acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and other string instruments, McCabe's intimate 150-seat capacity makes it a favorite with fans, and musicians who like to perform in intimate settings.

"The people here are more real," said Tammy Poljak, 17, a student at South High in Torrance. "There's not as much attitude."

Also in Santa Monica is Texas Records. Opened four years ago by Michael Meister and Susan Farrell, the small shop specializes in independent and import releases, which usually are hard to find in the bigger chain outlets. But when Meister and Farrell decided to open up their own store, they also had in-store performances in mind, he said.

Boston's Del Fuegos, who have since gained recognition from their videolike commercials for Miller beer, played at the store's grand opening.

Texas underground

Since its opening, Texas has hosted performances by underground favorites, including New York's 10,000 Maniacs, Minneapolis' Soul Asylum and Santa Cruz's Camper Van Beethoven, as well as English rockers such as the Fall, the Jazz Butcher and the Lucy Show. Recently, Meister and company started Texas Hotel, a record label.

The Texas shows are memorable for fans and performers. "Those things are incredible, some of the greatest in L.A.," McCabe's Chelew said. The members of 10,000 Maniacs told Meister that their Texas performance was the most memorable of their local dates, he said.

"A lot of time we don't even sell records, but it's giving performers a different opportunity to play," Meister said.

Despite the often legendary performances, Meister said that in the future, live performances at Texas are going to be limited to acoustic sets by "bands we really love."

"There's no money to be made in it," he explained. "Bands can't always play for free. It's a special kind of thing."

Bebop Records in Reseda is the closest thing to Texas in the Valley. The store, which is called a combination record store, art gallery and performance space by owner Rich Bruland, has been open for about four years.

The acts that play Bebop are quite different from the usual spandex or leather-clad, heavy-metal bands that perform on stage at Bebop's down-the- street neighbor, the Country Club.

Critical and underground favorites Los Lobos, the Pandoras, Firehose and Jane's Addiction have performed at the store, and rockers such as Exene Cervenka and Henry Rollins have done poetry readings along with established poets such as Wanda Coleman.

Nonetheless, Bruland insisted his main concern is to draw talent from the area immediately surrounding the store, rather than bringing in talent from over the hill.

"Bebop is a place where people in the community can have an outlet for their creative interests," Bruland explained. "Most of the bands, most of the poets and most of the artists are from the area.

"There's no question that (performances) help records sell, but that's not the primary reason. The primary reason is to support the arts. I try to make it an alternative space to bands that have trouble playing other areas," he added.

So far, the store hasn't really taken any business away from the Country Club, even though Bruland said he opened Bebop with hopes of sharing audiences with the bigger club.

On the edge

"The acts I book are more on the edge, certainly more daring. They are not commercially oriented groups."

Beyond Baroque Literary-Arts Center, housed in what was once the Venice City Hall, is best known for its poetry readings, but the center also has a significant place in the history of the local rock scene.

John Doe and Excene Cervenka of X, arguably this city's most significant rock act of the '80s, met there at a poetry workshop. X repaid its debt to Beyond Baroque when it played a benefit for the center a few years ago. Besides raising funds, new music and art-rock have been raising the attendance at the center, said Emily Hay, Beyond Baroque's music director.

"When we were doing chamber and classical music, we didn't have that big of crowds," Hay said.

As a result of rowdy behavior at concerts by such underground rock acts as Animal Dance and the Minutemen, Beyond Baroque doesn't have those crowds at all anymore.

Now, when the center has a music act, its an art-rock combo such as Freshly Wrapped Candies or What Makes Donna Twirl? or new-music groups such as the Lo-Cal Composers Ensemble.

"We don't want to make it heavy rock 'n' roll because it's a city-owned building. We're going to keep it fairly low key," Hay explained. "We're trying to draw a responsible audience."

Hay said recent musical events have been successful. "It's an alternative to the bar scene. Here it's more casual and you can talk to the performers. It's not like being in a club, it's like a party. It's really intimate and it's a good place to meet people."

The musical performances at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE), like Beyond Baroque, are mostly by art-rock bands and new-music ensembles. On occasion, however, rock 'n' rollers find their way into the performance space, which is run in conjunction with art and video galleries and a bookstore.

On March 12, the "Industrial Zone Surf Stomp," part of the "New Music LA" series, stormed LACE with such rock instrumental groups as the Insect Surfers, Lawndale and Davie Allan and the Arrows.

Rock acts are a rarity though. "We're really interested in presenting something that wouldn't be presented at the Whisky," explained Weba Garretson, LACE's performance coordinator.

Like the representatives from the other venues, Garretson said LACE tries to serve as an outlet from artists who don't have a place to perform.

But Garretson acknowledges the advantages of showcasing acts that draw a rock crowd in a room next to an art gallery.

"Rock 'n' roll people, who normally wouldn't be into art, are getting exposed to art."