Ring in ’95 With Wild Knight on the Sand

It’s not the trendy Sunset Strip, but the music rocks and the view provides the perfect backdrop to ring in 1995.

On New Year’s Eve, Maliblues will have a special dinner menu that includes choices of soup or salad, entree and dessert. Later in the evening, patrons can work off those unwanted holiday calories by dancing to the music of the rock ‘n’ roll blues band King Ernest and the Wild Knights.

The club will also serve free nonalcoholic drinks to designated drivers. For dinner and the show, admission is $40 per person. Reservations are required.

Maliblues, after many years as Carlos & Pepe’s Mexican Restaurant on Pacific Coast Highway, opened two months ago. Situated on the sand of Malibu’s Carbon Beach, the 8,500-square-foot restaurant and club was designed to provide quality music at a reasonable price--cover charges range from $5 to $10, significantly lower than most Hollywood clubs.

Using well-known performers such as James Armstrong and Jimmy Ripp, the club’s owners, longtime Malibu residents Steve and Alana Karsh, hope to get more people out to listen to blues bands.

“We’ve been able to bring national acts to a small venue,” Steve Karsh said. “We want to make (the club) a venue that gives value and entertainment.”

In addition to different blues acts each weekend, there is an open mike night on Wednesdays, a disc jockey who spins tunes on Thursdays and a Brazilian show on Sunday evenings. Partying gets started around 10 p.m.

Maliblues, 22706 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu. New Year’s Eve dinner begins at 7 p.m. Live music and dancing starts at 10 p.m. and continues until 2 a.m. Admission is $40. Information: (310) 456-1186.