Full Steam Ahead

There must be more bands than drummers because the reason often given for groups’ not working is “Need a drummer, man.” Although Night Train is certainly involved in an endless search for a drummer--they’ve already had seven this year--the classic-rock band has thus far managed to avoid derailment.

Night Train will seek to incite widespread dancing this week when they play Season Ticket in Simi Valley on Saturday night. The band features Junior Vega on guitar, Frank Hammer on bass and--the new drummer of the week--Chris Jensen, a man of vast local experience who is also the drummer for Hyperplush.

While drummers come and go, Vega and Hammer just keep on going. The percussion problem is solved when the duo forgoes a drummer and plays as the Fat Cats, which will appear weekly in August at the Crown & Anchor in Thousand Oaks.

Vega has seen a lot of drummers over the years.

“I joined seven years ago, and Frank was in the band before that,” Vega said. “The group used to be called Blue Tiger, and it was a country band. Little by little, we got away from that stuff and started doing stuff we liked more, and little by little, we whittled it down from a five-piece band to a three-piece.”

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Clubs these days, when they book live music at all, tend to book cover bands. The reasoning is as understandable as a $4 glass of beer: Alcohol plus familiar songs equals more dancing plus better bar sales. Thus, not surprisingly, Night Train and other local cover bands play a lot because they know a lot of songs.

“It’s pretty cool,” Vega said. “We play a couple of times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less--everywhere from Mojo’s [in Oak View] and the Deer Lodge [in Meiners Oaks] to Simi Valley. We must know a couple of hundred songs. Once, we played at O’Leary’s [in Ventura] for their anniversary and played six hours. “

In addition to playing music and making people want to dance, bar survival for musicians sooner or later entails learning to deal with the drunks--the guys that would yell to hear “Free Bird” at an Ani DiFranco concert. But Vega and company are veterans and they know how things work.

“Cut ‘em off quick, otherwise they’ll be in your face all night and try to grab a mike or some of your equipment,” Vega said. “Then, if they break something, guess who has to pay for it? The best thing to do is to cut them off quick.”

Vega, out of Fillmore, has been playing long enough to have been in seven or eight bands since he became inspired by music he heard as a kid.

“I’ve been playing about 22 years,” he said. “I’ve always loved music and my dad played. When I started getting into music, the legends were still playing--Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. I thought, ‘Hey, I can do that too.’ I can also play bass and drums, too, but in this band, I’m the guitar player.”

In addition to Night Train and the Fat Cats, Vega plays Tuesday nights at Latte 101 in Ventura doing acoustic blues with harmonica player Bob Holt. But as Night Train, Vega plays songs like “Walking the Dog,” and “The Dock of the Bay.”

“The best thing about this is the creative outlet,” Vega said. “We pretty much do the same songs, but sometimes, we’ll do them a little differently. We’re just old married guys and the worst thing is the time away from the family. Sometimes when they want to do something for the weekend, I can’t, because I have to play.”

DETAILS

Night Train at Season Ticket, 5835 Los Angeles Ave., Simi Valley, at 9 p.m. Saturday; free; 520-1166.

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If you’re of a mind to check out the surf at the end of Seaward Avenue in Ventura on Saturday you’ll have to do it on foot, because the block between Pierpont and the beach will be closed due to the third annual Street Fair & Surf Rodeo.

The event is a surf contest and a mini street fair. There will be plenty of music all day long, lots of food and a beer garden.

The all-day Surf Rodeo, the brainstorm of Beach Hut owner John Drury, will feature finhead contestants wearing colorful cowboy hats and riding unfamiliar long boards with no leashes in an ocean that in years past failed to deliver waves for the rodeo. Oh well, at least the water is warming up.

The daylong soundtrack will include art rock from Hyperplush and rockabilly from Radio Outlaw, formerly known as Johnny Oxnard & the Ranch Hands. Local legends Raging Arb & the Redheads, sufficiently rested for their third gig of 1999, will finish off the party when they play about 6 p.m.

DETAILS

Third annual Seaward Avenue Street Fair & Surf Rodeo at Seaward Avenue and the Pacific, Ventura, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday; Sass-prilla (10 a.m.), Hyperplush (11:30 a.m.), Radio Outlaw (1 p.m.), Middle Class Disaster (3:30 p.m.) and Raging Arb & the Redheads (6 p.m.); free; 643-4888.

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Reggae musician Jimmy Cliff is coming to the Ventura Theatre on Saturday night. The Jamaican-born singer entered American pop consciousness way back in 1971 with the definitive reggae movie “The Harder They Come.” Cliff hasn’t exactly been resting on his laurels since then. The brand new “Humanitarian” is Cliff’s 22nd album and his first new one in five years.

Most of Cliff’s memorable songs over the years have been remakes of pop hits. Given the reggae treatment were such tunes as “I Can See Clearly Now” and “Wild World.” On the new album, Cliff covers “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and “You’ve Got A Friend.”

Opening for Cliff will be the Upbeat, a band from Carpinteria with 14 years experience and a brand new album, “Backyard Knowledge.” High energy ska is their thing with eight members, including a happening horn section. The band should have the dancers warmed up before Cliff takes the big stage. Also on the bill is Bonsai Tribe.

DETAILS

Jimmy Cliff, Bonsai Tribe and the Upbeat at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., 8 p.m. Saturday; $25; 653-0721.