It’s Freaky Thursday as Bands Rock Halloween

Raging Arb & the Redheads aren’t playing and the Ventura Theatre will be dark tonight. Otherwise, it’s Halloween as usual: the one day of the year when people can dress as funny as they dance.

While little candy munchers flop around in bed with a sugar rush, Halloween parties abound--a few worth special mention. In Simi Valley, local rockers Redfish will play the place with the killer brewskis, Joe-Joe’s Brewing Company. Urban Dread will host a Halloween reggae party at the Stage in Camarillo. And Blimp will play its brand of harmonious folk rock for the jangled at the Ash Street Coffee House in Ventura.

Three venues, within close proximity in downtown Ventura, will be raging. Bombay will be going off with two of the area’s most popular bands--the Ska Daddyz in the back of the house and Spencer the Gardener in the front. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, a band that dresses as if it’s Halloween every day, will do its swing thing at Nicholby’s. And finally, the Guy Martin Group does smoking blues three blocks away at Joe Daddy’s.

The best reasons to head north include a couple of crazy guitarists, Brad Nack and Eric Eisenberg, at Roy in Santa Barbara. Eisenberg, you may recall, is the guitarist for Cocktails From Hell, known for the twisted song “My Girlfriend Can Kick Your Girlfriend’s Ass.” The best show will probably be at Emerald City, formerly the Underground, featuring the moody gothic sounds of This Ascension, plus roots rock with an attitude from Extract.

At Victoria Hall, those rascals at Reset Records are hosting an epic three-night extravaganza featuring 16 of Santa Barbara’s best bands. The opening Halloween gig will also feature, among others, Ventura’s Fearless Vampire Killers, Creature Feature and Nerf Herder. The Nerf Herder CD features one of the more insane songs to come along this year, “Sorry.” (Can’t say more; this is a family newspaper.) Reportedly, the band recently did a showcase gig in New York for Clive Davis, owner of Arista Records.

Anyway, Victoria Hall is at 33 W. Victoria Street. A fiver will get you in the door. Call Reset at 566-3375 and talk to owner Dennis Dragon, the drummer who once inflicted the Surf Punks on an unsuspecting world 15 years ago.

Finally, want to save a hundred bucks? Marcia Clark will be appearing at the Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks in mid-November to talk about you-know-what for a C-note. You can probably see her for a lot less than that by checking out her favorite band, the Pontiax, at SOhO in Santa Barbara. She’s usually there gazing at her favorite blues singer, Mitch Kashmar.

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So how did you like the Eels show last week? Me either. The show was canceled on short notice because the headliner, Poe, had to go into the studio. Gee, why don’t they book shows between studio commitments? A makeup date is pending, according to Ventura Theatre publicist Betty Elder. Yet the same lineup played the Roxy for three days. Wassup with that?

Speaking of the Ventura Theatre, it has two new managers, Dave Stone and Steve Schoenberger, replacing Richard O’Hollaren. It also has no shows on Halloween. Weird. Raging Arb at an all-ages show for 5 bucks worked out well in the past. I remember a few of those. More than a thousand people showed up.

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William Clarke plays a harmonica almost as big as a Chrysler. See for yourself when he stops by Joe Daddy’s in Ventura on Saturday night to show off some tunes from his ninth and latest effort, “The Hard Way.” He’ll be the guy with the slicked-back hair and dark glasses.

The 45-year-old Clarke discovered the blues by listening to all those British blues rock bands in the ‘60s while his pals were trying to harmonize with the Beach Boys. Gigging with the local luminaries by night and working as a machinist by day, Clarke gained national attention in 1990 with his Alligator Records debut. “Must Be Jelly,” a song off the album, won a W.C. Handy Award as best blues song of the year in 1991. Now Clarke is one of those 250-gigs-a-year guys.

Joe Daddy’s, during its short existence, has become a viable venue for touring blues acts. Enjoy it while you can. It will no longer offer entertainment after the party ender on Nov. 23 featuring the Pontiax. In addition to all that blues, the place even has real root-beer barrels by the front door. It will continue as a restaurant, considerably quieter on weekends.

* Joe Daddy’s is at 211 E. Santa Clara St. Call them at 643-3264 to find out more about this 9:30 p.m. show. It costs 5 bucks.