New Club’s Ready to Rumble in Camarillo

In Camarillo, one inevitably ends up in a parking lot, since the major crop here turns out to be the mini-mall. On Pickwick Drive just off Arneill Road is a mall with it all, where you can find a florist, a Japanese restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, a pet hospital, the Fire Department and, in the middle, The Stage, the only rock ‘n’ roll venue in Camarillo.

The venue, which under a previous management was called Gold Street, definitely has the technology to be a happening hangout. Owner Dave Cotner spent almost a year remodeling, and he’s still not done. After knocking out a bunch of inside walls, raising the roof a foot and moving the bar to one side, the place is one huge room with a very high ceiling. The tall stage should prohibit stage-diving by all but the most brain-dead. There’s a large dance floor and plenty of tables, and even couches. There’s a giant TV, a jukebox, pool tables and, of course, a giant flaming guitar painted on the wall.

“My dream is for this to be a special place, sort of like the House of Blues, with national acts playing here,” said Cotner, a Kansas native who moved to Camarillo five years ago.

One thing’s for sure: Cotner’s favorite band, Sequoia, will always have a place to play. Cotner is the lead guitar player for the band, which fills The Stage with the sound of classic rock Sunday and Wednesday nights.

Tonight, Floppy Hat performs and, after that, it’ll be Sequoia on Thursdays. This Friday, Beats & Blunts--a seven-piece Fishbone-like band that is scheduled to play Lollapalooza this summer--will headline the venue. Opening will be Whatever, a Camarillo band with a new CD for sale. The venue is located at 2258 Pickwick Drive. Call Cotner for directions or bookings at 383-0286.

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About the closest the Giants are going to get to winning anything this year is to have Joe Louis Walker, a three-time W.C. Handy award winner, sing the National Anthem at Candlestick Park. You can save yourself a trip, and also hear some better songs, when Walker headlines Nicholby’s in Ventura on Friday night.

Walker, 46, has been playing since he was 12 years old and, like most blues men, is on the road for six to eight months every year. The Bay Area guitarist has a new one out on Verve, “Blues of the Month Club.”

In a recent interview, Walker noted that “blues came out of an oppressive situation, and the real gist of the blues is to make the best of a bad situation. I have one foot in contemporary blues and one foot in traditional blues.”

While Walker may be a world-class blues guy no matter where his feet are, that’s no reason to show up late. The openers, Tombo Combo out of Santa Barbara, are also definitely worth checking out. Led by Tom Murray on slide guitar and Spider Murphy on banjo, the band, which has a new CD, plays “jumpin’ juke joint music,” which incorporates blues, bluegrass, country and zydeco influences. The two stars are both music teachers in Santa Barbara, so blame the new generation of noisemakers on them.

Nicholby’s is at 404 E. Main St. in Ventura. The $6 show starts at 9 p.m. Call Nicholby’s at 653-2320 to find out more.

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Remember Ariel, that alternative rock band that was forever on the verge of being signed? Well, forget them and welcome Enok, that’s Erik LeMaire’s newest band. Basically, Enok is Ariel with a new drummer. Jason Loree, formerly of Pinching Judy, is the one on drums, with LeMaire still on guitars and A.J. Burke still on bass. Enok, LeMaire’s nickname when he was a kid, will make its debut Friday night at Johnny Dingo’s in Ventura.

“I just wanted to start another band,” LeMaire said. “This one is a little bit harder, but funner.”

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St. Patrick’s Day, a nationally recognized excuse to wear green and drink to excess, falls on Sunday this year. Expect productivity to suffer accordingly at work on Monday.

Blue Stew does their usual weekend afternoon dance gig at HiCees in the Ventura Harbor. But probably the best deal is at Johnny Dingo’s in Ventura, where there’s a Six Bands-Five Bucks extravaganza beginning at 1:30 p.m. On the bill are Euphoria, Punctual Russ, Lowlife, Stabone, Southern Cross and Shellfish.

The Conscious Souls will do their rockin’ reggae thing at Joe-Joe’s Brewing Company in Simi Valley. McGinty’s Sports Bar in Ventura will have traditional Irish music in the afternoon and classic rock with Crosscut at 6 p.m. Sequoia is at The Stage, and three of the Bombay’s most popular bands, Papa Nata, the Ska Daddyz and Custom Made, will incite widespread dancing at that Ventura venue.

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Talk about a serious road trip just to hear Raging Arb & the Redheads! Try La Sierra’s in Mammoth Lakes, a cool 340 miles from Ventura. The place is an old restaurant and downstairs bar with a nonexistent air-conditioning system. There were so many people smoking cigarettes in the bar that by the second set it was like the inside of Mt. Vesuvius on a good day. For once, the Redheads actually had to work (4 1/2 sets) and start on time at 9 p.m.

Ventura County bands play there a lot. The Ska Daddyz will be there this weekend, and the Upbeat were there earlier this month.