CLUB REVIEW : Country Fever Hits Hard at Venerable Oil Can Harry’s
Oil Can Harry’s is a senior citizen by nightclub standards--it has been on its corner in Studio City corner for some 25 years. But if you haven’t ventured into this primarily gay dance club in recent months, you’re missing out on an L.A. delight.
Oil Can Harry’s has country fever. And the club, which sports an interior that might be described as “Urban Cowboy” meets “Twin Peaks,” is novice-friendly. Harry’s, which is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, offers free country dance lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:45 p.m. until 9:15 p.m. The deejays announce the artists and the song titles before each selection to help familiarize first-timers with the music.
Favoring Patsy Cline and Hank Williams from the old school and Randy Travis, Clint Black and George Strait from country’s modern ranks, guests get to practice a variety of line dances, from the boot scootin’ boogie and the tush push to the freeze and roll-back-the-rug.
The directness of the lyrics in such numbers as Daron Norwood’s “Honky Tonk Heartache of the Year” and Tanya Tucker’s “Some Kind of Trouble” perfectly suits the uncomplicated, jig-like movements of the dancers--who by night’s end are likely to include the doorman, the bartender and even the deejay.
* Oil Can Harry’s, 11502 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 760-9749. Cover charge of $3 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.