Meadowlark Offers Grungy Alternative : Cypress Banquet Hall Joins Short List of County Venues Booking Alternative-Rock Bands

Alternative-rock fans who like their surroundings as grungy as today’s prevailing noise-guitar styles might feel a bit out of place at the Meadowlark Restaurant.

But the county’s newest original-rock club had a promising--and raucous--debut Saturday.

L7, Olivelawn and Wulfpact gave the Cypress venue its first taste of alternative original bands, drawing a full house of more than 300 fans during the course of the evening, according to promoter Chris Martin.

Some of the decor might have been incongruous for the sweat-and-burn approach of L7, a decidedly unfastidious all-female band from Los Angeles. The Meadowlark’s potted plants, paper flowers, and floral carpeting were more appropriate to a banquet hall--which in fact the hall is when not hosting live bands. The painted backdrop behind the stage depicted a California mission skyline, with two doves cavorting above the church roof. That peaceful image didn’t exactly jibe with the scene in front of the stage, where bodies bobbed and a few punches were thrown (“Two guys got in a fight over a girl, and that was about it” as far as crowd problems, Martin said).

More casual listeners could drop back to the bar and tables at the rear of the long, high-ceilinged room and still hear and see (well, at least see the performers’ heads). Those who didn’t care for the music could retreat to a second room with dim lighting and a separate bar.

For Martin, the L7 show was “a test run, and it went well.” He said he will start booking Orange County and Los Angeles bands there every Saturday night starting Feb. 1, dubbing his weekly club “Martinis”--and perhaps bringing in some of his own decor.

With Orange County starved, as always, for original-rock venues, other promoters are looking to the Meadowlark. The restaurant is run by Yoshi Horio, formerly the proprietor of the Meadowlark Country Club in Huntington Beach.

A series of alcohol-free, all-ages shows begins tonight at 8 with Visual Discrimination, Course of Disapproval, Hayters Alley and Black Spot. Promoter James Hernandez says he plans to book a variety of abrasive rock styles for the weekly, Thursday night shows--”everything from Gothic and industrial to semi-punk, straight edge, death metal and grind.”

Hard rock and heavy metal will be the Meadowlark’s fare on Friday nights. Promoter Dorian May launched the series last Friday. “It was slow, but that’s because it was our first week,” he said. The bands this Friday are Synapse, A.U.S. and Friendly Indians.

Promoters at other clubs say the Meadowlark should fill a void in Orange County’s rock-oriented night life, rather than threatening their own business.

“I’m sure it took away some people, but it didn’t kill us in any way,” said Craig McGahey, whose New Klub on the Block brings alternative-rock bands to the Newport Roadhouse in Costa Mesa every Friday and Saturday. “There’s enough room for two things to go on.”

Linda Mello, co-owner of the Doll Hut in Anaheim, said her club’s draw wasn’t hurt by the new venue. “I think there’s enough people to go around,” she said.

If the Meadowlark can establish itself--and somehow survive the pressure from municipal authorities that traditionally has stifled the Orange County club scene--local rockers could find themselves with a worthwhile circuit of clubs to play: The Meadowlark, the Doll Hut, NKOTB, Bogart’s in Long Beach, and, occasionally, the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, which deserves credit for working more local band nights into its schedule recently. The more bands can play, the better they will become--and the more exciting and productive the local rock scene figures to be.

It’s important to remember, though, that once-a-week clubs run by outside promoters who don’t own the venues they use are a fragile structure on which to base a music scene. The county still needs more clubs like Bogart’s, the Coach House and the Doll Hut, where the folks who run the building promote the music, too.

* The Meadowlark Restaurant and Lounge is at 6197 Ball Road in Cypress. Information: (714) 846-3391.

FOCUS ON FULLERTON: Along with Huntington Beach, Fullerton was the cradle of today’s alternative-rock scene in Orange County, spawning important bands including Social Distortion, the Adolescents and Agent Orange during the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.

Today, neither city has an alternative-rock venue. But some young Fullerton musicians are trying to create an alternative-rock presence in their city--something you’d think would be a natural in a college town like Fullerton.

On Feb. 2, six Fullerton bands will play a benefit show at the Fullerton Hofbrau, 323 N. State College Blvd. Appearing are What’s Shakin,’ Moes’art, The Ex-Ghost Poets, Plato’s Stepchildren, Moonwash Symphony and Trip the Spring. It runs from 2 p.m. until midnight; tickets are $4. Proceeds will go to the Fullerton Children’s Handicap Program.

According to the show’s organizer, Steven Lamprinos, raising money for charity is a sidelight to the day’s main purpose, which is to prove that alternative rock can draw a good (and civilized) audience in Fullerton.

“If the people of Fullerton and Orange County can behave themselves and show they can support original music, it can be there (regularly),” said Lamprinos, who sings in Plato’s Stepchildren and works as a waiter at Fullerton Hofbrau.

“I’d like to see how things go with this, to see if it’s successful, and to take a look at the crowd,” said Russell Brent, general partner of the Hofbrau, which in the past has mainly featured rock oldies bands and jazz. A few alternative shows over the past three months have drawn well, he added.

If the benefit succeeds and goes smoothly, he said, alternative rock could become a staple on Friday and Saturday nights. Brent said alternative music makes sense for the restaurant, because Cal State Fullerton is less than a mile away.