Green Day Takes on Blue Hue : Rock: Jacks leader, riding the crest of triumphant Scandinavian tour, hosts buddies in St. Patrick’s Day free-for-all.

Over the years, Buddy Blue and the Jacks have cultivated a loyal following in San Diego via numerous live shows and shameless hustling that includes an R-rated newsletter sent to those on the band’s mailing list. But, recently, Blue was astonished to find that he’s got an even more rabid following in, of all places, Scandinavia.

In February, Blue and the Jacks played a nine-show mini-tour of Norway and Sweden that was arranged by Blue’s L.A.-based management. There, to the musicians’ amazement, they heard their recordings on the radio, were besieged by hordes of enthusiastic fans and were the subject of the kind of media hullabaloo one associates with major touring acts.

Still a little dazed by the experience, Blue last week related one incident in which he found it necessary to provide a reality check for an overzealous Norwegian fan.

“After one show, this guy came up and was saying things like (Blue slips into a bad Norwegian accent), ‘This is incredible. This is the greatest band I have ever heard in my life. I cannot believe a star as big as yourself has come to our country,’ ” Blue said. “And I’m going, ‘Oh, yeah, pal. You should see me in my hometown when I’m playing to 50 people at the Spirit. That’s how big a star I am.’ ”

Tonight, however, Blue should draw a much larger turnout at the Spirit, although not entirely on his own merits. Emboldened by his sub-Arctic jaunt, the guitarist has recruited musicians from some of San Diego’s best-known bands for an unamplified free-for-all he’s billing as “Buddy Blue’s St. Patrick’s Day Acoustic Nightmare.” It’s sort of a “closed open-mike” night, an experiment Blue might have postponed indefinitely if it weren’t for the bolstered confidence he brought home from the Far North.

“It was incredible,” he said. “People over there are familiar with everything I’ve ever done--not only ‘Guttersnipes ‘N’ Zealots’ (Blue’s latest album) but also the earlier Jacks and Beat Farmers stuff. Especially in the bigger cities, like Trondheim and Oslo in Norway and Stockholm and Upsala in Sweden, we were packing clubs.

“After the Oslo gig, I was mobbed by autograph seekers,” Blue continued with an incredulous laugh. “Then, as my girlfriend, Shelly, and I were trying to get away from these people, a girl tried to push her way into the taxi with us! I was even interviewed on Norway’s national radio network, NRK. And all the time I’m thinking to myself, ‘So this is what it’s like to be Rod Stewart.’ ”

Flush with that triumph, Blue chose St. Paddy’s Day to try something he’s been mulling over for years. The Jacks are known for a knotty, nasty, blues-based brand of rock ‘n’ roll, and his followers might find it difficult to imagine the bandleader as a troubadour. But, tonight, Blue will perform a solo acoustic set, and it will not be an altogether new experience for him.

“I played a fund-raiser for a Chula Vista councilman around 1986, and a few years ago, I opened for Country Joe McDonald at McDick’s (now Winston’s) in Ocean Beach,” Blue said. “I also used to open shows at the Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach. I’ve been thinking about doing this sort of thing for a long time, but the thought makes me kind of nervous, because it’s been so long. So, I decided to drag a bunch of other people into this thing and make them do it, too.”

At press time, those confirmed to perform either solo or in small groups included Steve Saint (of the band, Club of Rome); Darryl Monroe (Meatwagon); Kyle Ince and Brian Sharkey (Usual Suspects); John Gire (Dark Globe); Sven-Erik Seaholm (the Wild Truth); Dave Britton, Dale Patterson, and Brian Maffi (Secret Society); August Scalzitti, Mike Parianos, Steve Thurston, and James Hurley (Vamp); Carlos Olmeda (Ryebabies), and Jose Sinatra (accompanied by a portable tape recorder). In addition to the music, black-and-white Popeye cartoons will be running continuously on a giant-screen television.

Blue allowed that Saint, Seaholm and Olmeda are accustomed to this sort of thing, and thus will probably play relatively longer sets. Others, however, had to be “strong-armed” into participating, and any prognosis thereof can only be speculative.

“Some of these people might have entertained the notion of playing acoustically, but have never done it, and others you couldn’t imagine in your wildest dreams--metal guys, thrash guys,” Blue said. “It could be kind of a good, bad and ugly idea, but it definitely will be interesting.”

Songwriter-vocalist Seaholm, of the Wild Truth, agreed.

“I learned a long time ago that when you’re dealing with Buddy you just sit back and prepare to be surprised,” Seaholm said with a laugh. “I’m not sure how long I’ll play, but I’ll do mostly originals, plus a couple of covers--maybe a Crowded House song--that I wouldn’t normally get to perform with the band. I imagine it’ll be pretty funny because this type of show tends to take on a life of its own.”

That last principle can apply to the acts themselves. The members of Vamp had never played acoustically, and so, initially, they planned to perform only a couple of rockabilly standards. But Scalzitti and Parianos took to the acoustic format so readily that bassist Steve Thurston and drummer James Hurley (who will play the equivalent of a washboard for the occasion) climbed aboard the ad hoc bandwagon. Now, Scalzitti says, the quartet is prepared to play several songs, including some they learned just for this show.

“This is all new to us, and at first I didn’t know if it would work, but once we started practicing acoustically, it sounded kind of neat,” Scalzitti said. “Buddy suggested we use a stand-up bass, which Steve had never played before. After working hard at it for a couple of days, he sounded good, and we started really getting into it. Now, I’m excited about the whole idea, and I think we’ll probably work this stuff into our regular show.”

Likewise, Secret Society’s Britton, Patterson, and Maffi are looking forward to a change of weight from their usual heavy- metal thunder.

“We’re going to do some little ‘fun’ songs that Dale (Patterson) has written, things that we would never play as Secret Society,” Britton said. “We figured we might as well play them in front of Buddy’s audience! It’ll be different, something we’ve never tried before.”

For at least one of the participants, however, the “nightmare” part of the billing is especially apt. Darryl Monroe admitted that Blue had to coerce him into committing to the event, and the bassist of the thrash band Meatwagon sounded on the verge of mild panic.

“To be honest, I’m rather terrified!” Monroe exclaimed. “I just started learning to play electric guitar; I’ve played an acoustic guitar maybe twice in my life. I might do acoustic versions of (material by) Meatwagon, or G.G. Allen or Charles Manson. Or I might do ‘Night in Tunisia.’ All I know is, if I can get through this, I’ll be a better person.”

As for Blue, he never took his acoustic exploits very seriously, and he hasn’t amended his attitude for this show.

“I’m just gonna do a few traditional American songs like ‘Fishin’ Blues,’ maybe some Blind Boy Fuller, and some originals,” he said. “I’ve learned a few finger-picking tricks over the years, and this is my chance to show off and have some fun.”