Paint the Town Red, but Make the City Blues

Live blues can claim another ally with the weekly presentation of local and touring acts at Music City in Fountain Valley on Thursday nights. And devotees won’t even have to sing the, uh, blues the morning after, as the live entertainment finishes in time for them to get home and catch the tail end of the 11 o’clock news.

The 3-week-old jam fits this self-proclaimed “home of classic rock ‘n’ roll,” which four nights a week rolls out the rock from every generation since Elvis. Reels of vintage rockers and pre-MTV music variety shows (remember “Hullabaloo”?) run on TVs and large video screens throughout the club, which is decorated with stills and posters of the genre’s legends. There’s even plenty of memorabilia from Bill Medley, who owned the club when it was the Hop, among other names, and now is a buddy of the current owners.

Posters and platinum discs from the movies “Ghost” and “Dirty Dancing,” for which Medley recorded the theme tracks, line the walls, and Medley continues to appear occasionally, as he did last week, when he performed the blues for a packed house.

The James Harman Band, a local favorite, played recently too. Future performances will also include such cover acts as the Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute band Texas Flood, which performs tonight. The entertainment might not always please the hard-core blues fan, but it beats having to hear the disco or country formats most clubs cling to.

Blues-night shows run from 7:30 to sometimes as late as 11:30, with recorded blues numbers filling the time in between sets and until closing. The deejay spins everything from Big Joe Turner to ZZ Top.

Many of the mostly 30ish and 40ish crowd take to the dance floor, maneuvering East and West Coast swing steps or simply making up a hodgepodge of moves as inspiration (or the imbibing) hits. The harder, more contemporary stuff might lighten the floor, but there’s always some couple out there to watch.

The booths are filled with diners chomping on salads, pasta, burgers or full dinners of jumbo shrimp, pork or steak ($2.95 to $7.95). Some just nibble on appetizers, such as black-bean chili and hot wings ($1.25 to $3.50). On nights other than Thursday, the eating gets very cheap. Wednesdays find tacos, mini-burgers and hot dogs for $1 (the price goes up to $2 next month). On Fridays, there’s a complimentary dinner buffet, and on Saturdays, dinner entrees are 50% off.

Just like the menu, Music City’s musical format varies. On Wednesdays, DJ Magic Michael goes contemporary with Tropisphere II, a party previously at the local Black Angus. On Fridays, the format spans the ‘60s to the ‘80s with Kevin R. The live entertainment returns Saturdays with classic rock ‘n’ roll bands doing originals and covers (this weekend is the Escape); that night the show runs from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

* MUSIC CITY

* 18774 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley.

* (714) 963-2366.

* Opens Wednesday at 8 p.m., Thursday and Saturday at 6 p.m. and Friday at 5 p.m. Closes nightly around 2 a.m.

* No cover Wednesday; $5 cover after 7 p.m. Thursday, after 8 p.m. Friday and when doors open on Saturday.