Crayons Tries an Offbeat Twist With ‘Playground’

A playground is coming to West Los Angeles, and it has nothing to do with swings and sandboxes.

Beginning Aug. 9, Crayons Bar & Grille will inaugurate a new weekly event, entitled “The Playground.” The brainchild of promoter Matthew Jackson, it is an attempt to go beyond the routine night at West Side clubs.

Jackson said each Tuesday night will feature a disc jockey instead of the nightly live bands. Furthermore, Jackson will bring in old black-and-white movies and avant-garde slide shows designed solely to display “the kinds of things you look at and say ‘that’s weird.’ ”

Jackson said he hopes to attract those who view the club scene as an integral part of their social lives. He referred to this crowd as a combination of college students and upscale business types.

“We’re talking about the crowd that thinks they’re on the cutting edge,” Jackson said. “We’ll be just one stop on their search for the next place to be.”

He complains West Side clubs have become too uniform and predictable.

“To go to happening places, you have to go downtown,” Jackson said.

Jackson, who introduced playground nights at former downtown clubs Aftermath and Voodoo, said the evening will feature a blend of music including contemporary rock, 1970s funk, and Motown.

WAITING FOR LHASALAND: Hollywood’s Lhasaland club will be closed through late August, according to owner Jean-Pierre Boccara.

Boccara said the suspension is necessary to prepare a full concert schedule through the rest of the year. He hopes to stage a concert at least every Saturday night, and on Friday nights as frequently as possible.

Boccara operated the Lhasa Club until last January, and said he assumed much of that club’s clientele would automatically gravitate toward Lhasaland when it opened in May.

“I thought they’d come just for the atmosphere,” Boccara said, “but now I realize I have to put on good shows.”

Lhasaland seats 600. Boccara said the club’s smaller downstairs room, which seats about 100, would hold performance art such as modern dance, poetry, and cabaret. The larger upstairs room will be used for more mainstream concerts. The separate shows will not coincide, Boccara said.

SOLO DOE: John Doe, lead singer of X, will perform at McCabe’s in Santa Monica on Aug. 13. Doe, who also is the group’s bass player and co-songwriter, presents a solo show very different from what X fans might expect.

The group is known for its loud and intense performances. But, at McCabe’s, Doe will play some of X’s most popular tunes in a softer, more acoustic format. Also included will be some country, and a few previously unrecorded original compositions.

The shows begin at 8 and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $12.50 for each.

SUMMER SONGS: The special summer series, “Grand Summer Nights at Santa Monica College” continues Aug. 13 with the Albert McNeil Jubille Singers.

Best known for its spirituals, the group has a wide repertory that includes gospel, secular folk songs, jazz, calypso and other Afro-Caribbean and African vocal forms. They have toured the world for two decades, and were selected three times for U.S. State Department and U.S. Information Service cultural exchange programs.

The concert begins at 8:30 p.m. at the college’s amphitheater.

PALOMINO’S THE PLACE: KCSN’s decision to move Tuesday night “Barn Dance” concerts from the Little Nashville Club to the Palomino Club in North Hollywood is now definite, said Ronnie Mack, the show’s frequent host.

Mack said final arrangements have been cleared for the first show from the Palomino, scheduled for Aug. 30. Mack, who has been host of the concerts every other week since January, said he will become the permanent host.