Nightclub’s Backers Bring the Beat to City Hall

Nearly 150 people marched, chanted and sang outside the Huntington Beach City Council chambers Wednesday night, seeking to persuade the council to reinstate live entertainment at Safari Sam’s nightclub.

Police described the demonstrators, including local musicians, fans and some parents, as “very well behaved” as they marched in a circle carrying placards with such slogans as “Culture Must Survive” and “Host Readings, Not Riots.”

Club owner Sam Lanni, however, was not allowed to address the council, which had convened for a special meeting of the Redevelopment Agency and made no provision for an open forum. Lanni said he plans to return and address the council on Monday.

Club concerts were halted last weekend after city officials informed Lanni that his application for a new entertainment permit had been denied and that he would be arrested or cited if he continued staging live entertainment. The Police Department recommended the denial and cited complaints from some of the club’s neighbors about noise and vandalism.

Formal Notice

Lanni’s attorney, Gene E. Dorney, said he received formal notice of the denial Wednesday evening and planned to file an appeal today, with the hope of an early hearing.

Lanni and his partner, Gil Fuhrer said Wednesday’s event was called to demonstrate public support for the club’s bookings of local rock bands, poets and theatrical groups.

“Our son is in a band that plays frequently at Safari Sam’s,” said Isaac Gurzon, 45, of Los Alamitos, who attended the demonstration with his wife, Ana. “We have been to Safari Sam’s several times, and we find it to be a very legitimate place of business. It is not, as some people have suggested, a den of degenerates and prostitution.”

Musician Jeff Fairbanks, 22, said:”A lot of people, fellow artists, will have no forum to do what we do if Sam’s is gone. Even in school there is no outlet for the kind of music composition and experimental theater we do there. I’ve been to most of the clubs in L.A., and none has the open atmosphere that Sam’s has.”

Financially Unfeasible

Lanni said the 90-minute demonstration persuaded him not to abandon his fight to remain open, which he said would be financially unfeasible without live entertainment.

“Gil and I had discussed selling everything and just going on a trip somewhere, but this has changed my mind. I wanted to see what kind of support we had, and this is just great,” Lanni said.

One band, the Swamp Zombies, set up acoustic instruments and performed on the steps outside the council chambers. Afterward, a police officer commented, “That wasn’t too bad. They did a Jimi Hendrix song, ‘Purple Haze.’ It sounded pretty good.”

The officer said the demonstrators gave police “no problems at all. Lanni was very hospitable.”

Attorney Dorney said, “This is the best we could have hoped for, considering we weren’t on the agenda and this was called on 24 hours’ notice.”