Blockbuster Can Now Seat 35,000

The Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion in San Bernardino County can now seat as many as 35,000 concert-goers, more than doubling last year’s opening-season capacity.

County officials restricted the Pavilion’s capacity to 16,800 in 1993. The limit has been eased following $750,000 in traffic improvements near the amphitheater, according to Stuart A. Zanville, a Blockbuster Pavilion spokesman. The additional capacity--all of it on a vast lawn overlooking the Pavilion’s 10,500 permanent seats--is expected to come in handy for the Eagles’ show June 3. Zanville said that when further improvements to a freeway interchange are finished in 1995, the Pavilion’s capacity will rise to 65,000.

Meanwhile, local bands interested in playing outdoors to a substantial crowd might want to send a tape to the Blockbuster Pavilion. A second stage will be set up in the amphitheater’s plaza before each concert, with local acts featured there before the big guns go on inside. Pavilion officials are looking for talent in a range of styles in hopes of matching amphitheater headliners with compatible Southern California acts on the second stage.

Interested performers should send a demo cassette tape, a photo and a bio to Angie Diehl Jacobs, director of marketing, Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion, 2575 Devore Road, Devore, CA 92407.

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ROLLIN’ ROCK: Promoter John Pantle, who has previously staged all-ages rock shows in Fullerton at the 8 1/2 Club and the Ice House, hopes to make the good times roll at the Side by Side skating rink in Huntington Beach. Pantle has announced an all-ages concert series that will feature shows every Friday and Saturday night at the rink by local, regional and national acts.

Dubbed “Roll-A-Rama,” the series starts Friday with a show by local bands the Ziggens, Vitamin L, Nonsense and Zone. Tickets cost $7. An April 16 bill features King Apparatus, the Goodwin Club and Pocket Lent, with tickets at $10. Side by Side is at 16091 Gothard St. (714) 323-8683.

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HEAD-BANGING: Roxbury South in Santa Ana has launched “Skull Grind,” a weekly hard-rock concert series. Electric Love Hogs play Tuesday, with Mind Over Four staging a reunion show in the opening slot. Also booked are Spirit Tree (featuring former members of Lixx Array) and H.E.D. on April 26, and Aversion on May 3. The club is at 2 Hutton Centre Drive, Santa Ana. (714) 662-0880.

Bill Hardie, the promoter booking the “Skull Grind” series, is also continuing to promote occasional shows with former Bogart’s booker Steve Zepeda at the Foothill, an old-time dance hall at 1922 Cherry Ave. in Long Beach. Frank Black plays April 21 and the Cadillac Tramps on April 29, with tickets at $10 for both shows.

Hardie said the Tramps insisted on playing the Foothill, a former haunt for the likes of Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, after checking out a recent show there by the Reverend Horton Heat. (310) 984-8349.

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VEGETARIANS NEED NOT APPLY: Ever dream of going to bat, so to speak, for Team Ozzy? To nobody’s surprise, heavy-metal graybeard Ozzy Osbourne has decided not to retire from the stage after all, and is seeking recruits for a new band to back him on tour.

Via press release, Osbourne has put out a cattle call for guitarists, drummers and bassists. No word of wages, benefits, working conditions or experience required. If you’re interested, send a demo tape and photo to Ozzy Osbourne, 9044 Melrose Ave., Third Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90069. The deadline is April 30.

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SURF’S ORANGE: A new Rhino Records compilation of instrumental surf-rock classics acknowledges the Orange County contribution to the genre’s early-’60s heyday. Rhino devotes the fifth volume of its five-disc series, “Rock Instrumental Classics,” to surf music, and of the 16 tracks, four are by bands that hailed from Orange County. “Pipeline,” by the Chantays, leads off the album, and Dick Dale & the Del-Tones’ quasi-hits “Miserlou” and “Let’s Go Trippin’ ” are included.

More obscure is “Surf Rider,” by the Lively Ones, whose guitarist and bassist met while students at Garden Grove High School. The only track on the compilation to exceed three minutes, it holds up well in company that also includes such classic surf bands as the Bel-airs, the Ventures and the Surfaris.