The Beach and Reggae Crowd

What’s better than beach music in a surf bar? Reggae and ska, say the operators of Toes Tavern in Canoga Park.

The nightspot is part of a three-club chain with a decided beach motif. Surfboards hang from the ceiling. Pictures of waves and surfers cover the walls. The DJ booth is a lifeguard stand.

And at a pre-Fourth of July party Tuesday night, the ocean theme will crest with the giveaway of a $500 long board.

But the music that night won’t be from Beach Boys or Jan and Dean.

The group Jah Bone will play songs by Bob Marley, the English Beat and UB40.

“It’s fun music, party music,” said Jah Bone drummer Ken Kobel. “It’s more danceable than beach music because you get more of a back beat that people can pick up.”

Tuesday night’s performance will be Jah Bone’s debut at the 55,000-square-foot Toes Tavern in Canoga Park, which opened in January. But the six-member group is a veteran of the sister clubs in Redondo Beach and Pasadena.

“In Redondo we get the beach crowd,” Kobel said, “and in Pasadena it’s more of a college crowd. They seem to enjoy the music the most. From what I hear, the Valley crowd is like the one in Pasadena, so I expect we’ll have a good time.”

Bar manager Dave Radanovich said Toes Tavern draws a young clientele.

“They’re 22 to 30 or 35,” he said. “It’s the white-bread crowd.”

The Jah Bone instrumental lineup consists of guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, saxophone and trombone.

“Some of us were in a group called the Generals for three or four years,” Kobel said. “We played all around Redondo--the Lighthouse, beach parties, the Toes club there.”

Toes Tavern owner John Stafford said the nightclub chain is named after Toes Beach in Playa del Rey, which in turn was named for the long-boarding expression “toes over.”

He said reggae music in a surf club “really gets the people moving.”

That’s gnarly, Marley.

Jah Bone will play at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday at Toes Tavern, 7230 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Canoga Park. No cover or drink minimum. Information: (818) 347-7668.