Riding Into the Sunset

We wish a fond farewell to the White Horse Inn on Western in Hollywood, a rising star in the L.A. garage rock scene until it was condemned after the Northridge earthquake.

Another adieu goes out to venerable rocker dude hangout Hollywood Billiards (and the landmark building that housed it at Hollywood Boulevard and Western).

But rumors of the demise of Raji’s at Hollywood Boulevard and Gower are, as Mark Twain would say, grossly exaggerated. Operating on and off since quake day, this capitol of the L.A. underground rock scene has finished all the necessary renovations, says Raji’s promoter, Larry Mann, and has been “green-tagged and up and running” since Feb. 25.

Also back on the map that day, after weeks of round-the-clock repairs, was Santa Monica’s upscale billiard mecca, Gotham Hall, a landmark structure built in 1890, which suffered heavy internal damage from the quake. A grand reopening party is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday.

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Still Brewing: One dot on the L.A. entertainment landscape left unscathed by January’s turbulence may instead be crushed by municipal red tape. John Leech, owner of the Onyx Echo Coffeehouse in Echo Park, says he will have to close his cafe because of a switch by the city. Denied a police permit for entertainment because of zoning regulations, Leech says he was originally told that live entertainment--necessary for the cafe to be economically viable--would be allowed.

Other cafe owners have also complained of municipal hostility to espresso emporiums. But at a recent neighborhood rally to “Save the Echo,” representatives from Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg’s office agreed that the zoning laws “don’t take into consideration the unique nature of coffeehouses” and, to keep L.A.’s java joints jumping, Goldberg is considering a proposal to create “zones that are amenable to coffeehouses.”

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Now This Is Relief: You have to hand it to the American Red Cross to want to have a party on Academy Award night, when almost every celebrity known to humankind is committed to at least one event. But the relief agency is throwing a party--and at the L.A. nightclub Roxbury, no less.

Of course, anyone who has been in Southern California for five minutes knows that the Red Cross has been working overtime because of the earthquake and fires, to name just two disasters. Since they’re strapped for cash, they figured they would catch Oscar fever and do a benefit.

Co-hosting the event are Sunset Entertainment (which is producing Tia Carrere’s new film “Tears From Heaven”) and Movieline magazine.

On the guest list are such young hipsters as Charlie Sheen, Michael Madsen, Gabrielle Carteris, Justine Bateman, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Carrere.

For $75 per person, guests can watch the awards on TV monitors, see live entertainment (members of the China Club Pro Jam with Jack Mack and the Heart Attack and the Tower of Power Horns), chow down on food from local restaurants and dance the rest of the night away.

A $40 ticket adds a post-awards party. And for those behind the Orange Curtain, Roxbury South in Santa Ana will also host a party to benefit the Orange County chapter of the Red Cross. For information on both, call (213) 358-1844.