Reggae Regulars

Yeah, mon, like the Hyatt needs money. Well, now it has more, with the biggest party in the Conejo Valley resuming Friday at the very reasonable hour of 6:30 p.m. outdoors near the pool at the Hyatt Westlake. As Reggae Fest ’99 unfolds, hundreds of well-dressed locals will dance about the patio and pool area of the swanky hotel. Imagine urban bread (the clientele) meeting Urban Dread (the band).

Promoter Dave Hewitt of DMH Enterprises is to blame for all this again this year and he knows what to expect from this summer-long reggae rager, which continues every Friday through Aug. 27.

“Since there are not that many venues for live music, plus this event has been going on for several years, it has a built-in fan club. It’s really a great thing because there’s really nothing to do out here. Absolutely zero. Also, the outside vibe is important. The first thing you do here is build a patio, and they will flock to it, especially when we get some summer weather. While eight bucks seems to be a serious cover charge, people pay it, gladly even. Also, Urban Dread is the band, and all the Conejo Valley locals know them.”

There will be plenty of signs to facilitate all that flocking, directing the dancers-to-be to the pool and party area of the venue. Get off the freeway. There’s the sign. There it is. If this thing were any more convenient, they’d hold it in your living room. Since the venue doesn’t want a bunch of people clogging up the hotel lobby, the event has its own entrance in the parking lot.

The patio area of the Hyatt is quite spacious and screened from the parking lot by a lush backdrop consisting of a row of pine trees, a bunch of giant oleanders, plus a few philodendrons drooping into the waterfalls cascading behind the stage. There’s a large concrete slab in front of the stage that serves as the dance floor. Nearby are planters filled with roses and colorful annuals such as lisanthus, lobelia and a few dahlias. The pool itself, generally empty at show time, is used primarily by the hotel guests, and thus far, none of the reggae fans have jumped in.

Since the show begins long before dark and the Conejo Valley can be quite warm, most of the people wear shades and summer wear as they slurp their way toward happiness at happy hour. They sit in white lawn chairs around white lawn tables scattered all over the lawn, chatting it up. And because the gig is outdoors, smoking is allowed. Also, since it’s a hotel, this is an all-ages affair.

The patrons range in age from their 20s to 50s, with more girls than guys, and an inordinate number of blonds. Several cases of neck strain have been known to happen and an enterprising chiropractor could make some serious dough.

Much like an auto parts store, the Hyatt has it figured out so patrons can stand in line twice--once to buy drink tickets, then another for the liquid convincer itself. And for a change this year, the place actually has decent beer, with Asahi Dry available at just four bucks a bottle (served in a plastic Bud cup). That’s just $24 a six-pack, and if not for the New Sobriety and an extra 96 bucks, I’d order a case to take home.

Gone from last year is the row of Port-a-Potties, and guests actually get to return all that rented alcohol to a designated bathroom indoors. Of course, it’s great not to be a woman after 8 p.m. as that line was as stationary as it was endless.

Here it is the suburban dream, and when Urban Dread plays “Concrete Jungle,” the irony is thicker than the band’s fake Jamaican accents, mon. By the second set, the dance floor will be packed.

Around for more than a decade, Urban Dread is very good at its job. Since the band’s first gig at Sergio’s (now Yucatan Cantina) in Westlake in 1988, the band has learned hundreds of popular reggae songs, plus numerous originals and a new album, “One People.”

The band also has no “off” switch, and certainly no cable. Urban Dread, or in such other configurations as Urban Shred, plays an average of nine gigs per week, and nearly 40 shows in a month in the area.

“It’s more rock or something--it’s not just reggae,” said frontman Jason Bourne, a man seldom home at night. “We play music for people who don’t like reggae, at least until they see Urban Dread.”

BE THERE

Reggae Fest ’99 with Urban Dread at Hyatt Westlake, 880 S. Westlake Blvd., Westlake Village, Fridays through Aug. 27. 6:30 p.m. $8. (805) 497-9991.