More Venues for More Music

Here are some developments to watch out for on the Orange County pop scene in 1996:

* The defunct Celebrity Theatre gets reincarnated as the Freedman Forum Concert Theatre. The 2,500-seat theater-in-the-round reopens Jan. 24, the start of a three-night stand by Kenny Rogers. The new operators hope to stage about 100 concerts per year (many of them in a scaled-down, half-house format without a rotating stage), a goal that will get a boost thanks to a booking and promotional alliance forged with L.A.’s leading concert club, the House of Blues.

In the best-case scenario, the Freedman Forum flourishes and brings in attractions that would otherwise bypass O.C. In the worst-case scenario, a bidding war for talent develops between the Freedman Forum and Gary Folgner’s two O.C. venues, the Coach House and the Galaxy Concert Theatre, leading to higher ticket prices.

* The ever-restless, ever-entrepreneurial Folgner doesn’t plan to sit still in this, the 10th anniversary year for the Coach House’s reign as O.C.’s leading concert club. Predicting a successful year for his three venues (the Coach House, the Galaxy and the Ventura Theatre), Folgner is seeking to expand gradually into Sacramento, Denver and Colorado Springs with a concert-dinner format identical to the Coach House formula. The expansion program depends on his ability to attract investors, with start-up costs pegged at $500,000 per venue.

* Also in the market for the money to start a rock venue is Linda Jemison, owner of Linda’s Doll Hut in Anaheim. Jemison’s existing club is the much-praised, musician-friendly hub of the Orange County grass-roots rock scene, but its tiny capacity precludes major bookings.

Jemison, a true patron of the rock ‘n’ roll arts, wants to launch a bigger O.C. club geared to new and adventurous music, a prospect worth rooting for. She says she has two suitable locations scouted but needs to find investors willing to let her operate on her terms. “I want full, complete control,” Jemison says. “Too many cooks, you know what happens.”

* Irvine Meadows and the Pond of Anaheim look to rebound from the sparse pickings of 1995. Early signs are promising at the Pond, which so far features country (Vince Gill on Jan. 21) and Christian pop (Michael W. Smith on March 15) bookings, plus a belated introduction to heavy metal when AC/DC roars through Jan. 30.

* The Offspring and Social Distortion, the two heaviest hitters in O.C. punkdom, expect to have new albums out in the spring, reports Jim Guerinot, who manages both bands. S.D.’s long-aborning effort for Epic Records will be its first album of new material in more than four years.

The Offspring, Guerinot said pointedly, will not be trying to match or otherwise react to the unprecedented success of “Smash,” the 1994 album that sold a reported 8 million copies worldwide. “Their focus is just to write a great record,” Guerinot said. “The media focus on the business of the business. They talk about SoundScan numbers. It’s not the world I deal in; you go out and tour and play in front of kids.”

* Some of the local scene’s most accomplished but least appreciated pop figures will be trying in 1996 to find audiences commensurate with their talent.

Unsung folk-rock troubadour Mark Davis will try to find an audience for his moving 1995 release “You Came Screaming.” He’ll sandwich solo acoustic touring around a day job and is preparing material for a new single in 1996.

Standard Fruit finally appears to have found a home for its vibrant, immensely catchy alterna-pop. Manager Sam Lanni says a new company in Santa Monica, called Motion City Interactive, will put out a Fruit album in the new CD-plus format--suitable for normal CD play but also carrying video and extra information when played as a CD-ROM. To go with the expected late-spring release, the fecund Fruit also has a second album ready to go, this one geared for summer release on Lanni’s Ellis Island label.

Jann Browne plans to shoot a video this month for her memorable, chiming country-rock anthem “Hearts on the Blue Train.” It will be the main promotional focus for her superb “Count Me In” album. Browne, meanwhile, has plenty of strong new stuff ready to go and anticipates another album release in 1996.

Local roots-and-country hero Chris Gaffney says he is tapped out at the moment as far as new material goes, but while waiting for his own muse to sing, he anticipates that a large chunk of the public will get to hear Freddy Fender sing for him: The veteran Tex-Mex balladeer is expected to perform “The Gardens,” Gaffney’s affecting anthem about barrio violence, on an upcoming Texas Tornados release.

Stanley Wycoff, the auteur behind Bierce in L.A., anticipates another album of his skewed, risk-taking country music this year on the local Rococo label. Blues-rocker Walter Trout is expecting the birth of his second child and the release of his seventh album.

Punkers and alternative rockers will pour out of Orange County and onto the national touring scene in unprecedented hordes. One Hit Wonder’s first full-length release, “Cluster[expletive]ofstuff,” is due from the local Lethal label, featuring the first CD versions of previously issued vinyl singles plus a cluster of stuff recorded live at Linda’s Doll Hut. Joyride, which ranks with One Hit Wonder at the creative forefront of local grass-roots punk-pop, also has a new album ready to go.

Longtime local faves No Doubt will try to expand on the toehold gained with strong airplay for its song “Just a Girl.”

The recording class of 1996 will include Mr. Mirainga, whose album (“Mr. Mirainga”) on Way Cool/MCA on Jan. 2 was the year’s first local arrival, X-Members (Priority), the Crowd (Flipside), Red 5 (Interscope), Smile (Atlantic/Cargo), Fluf (Headhunter/Cargo), Slider, with local drum hero Josh Freese (A&M;), Robbie Allen’s Thermador (Atlantic), Aunt Bettys (EastWest), Liquor Giants (Matador), Burnin’ Groove, Violet Burning (Domo), Barrelhouse and Willoughby (a CD version of the fine 1995 cassette “Be Better Soon”).

Orange-based Doctor Dream records will mark its 10th anniversary with albums by local instrumental bands the Tiki Tones (a surf-rockin’ alter ego of Doctor Dream mainstays Swamp Zombies) and the Huntington Cads, along with a possible release from the Grabbers.

Whirlpool and Sensefield are local bands that will release new music on Huntington Beach-based Revelation Records.

We can also look forward to new music from some old hands. The Chantays, part of O.C.’s original surf-rock wave, returned in ’94 with a strong effort, “Next Set,” and now have their first studio recording of all-new material since the early ‘60s in the pipeline.

As for anything not anticipated, predicted or wished for above that might come to pass in 1996, I’ll just cover it with a refrain from one of O.C.’s finest bands, the late, great Eggplant: “You’ve got to expect the unexpected, even when you’re not expecting.”

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POP MUSIC CONCERT PICKS FOR 1996

With the proviso that most of the year in pop music remains a question mark, the following are highlights among shows confirmed for 1996 so far, in chronological order:

* Merle Haggard, Crazy Horse, Jan. 8-9.

* Steve Earle, Coach House, Jan. 13.

* Randy Newman, Irvine Barclay Theatre, Jan. 20.

* Maria McKee, Galaxy Concert Theatre, Feb. 19.

* Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, Freedman Forum Concert Theatre, Feb. 27.

* Altan, Irvine Barclay Theatre, March 12.

* Ani DiFranco, Galaxy Concert Theatre, May 30.