Tuesday’s Tonic

In the bar business, Tuesday night is generally the night of the living dead--few living customers on a dead, dead night. This is not the case, however, at the Golden China in Ventura where, on Tuesday nights, Maximum Bob hosts Open Mike Night.

One side of the large building is a Chinese restaurant, complete with a waterfall and several aquariums full of exotic fish, while the lounge side is your basic bar with plenty of tables, comfy red chairs, a big-screen television and a stage.

Maximum Bob has been hosting the gig in the lounge for two years.

The musical maestro and ringmaster is none other than Bob Horback, manager of Ventura County’s computer department by day. He loves Tuesday nights.

“My day job is total insanity--we run the computer system for the entire county of Ventura, from the hospitals to the emergency services to the sheriff-- everything,” Horback said.

“I mean, some of my customers have guns--that’s why I have to play music at night.”

Now, where did that moniker come from?

“My 16-year-old daughter named me Maximum Bob because she said I needed a stage name. . . . Also, there’s a little guy named Bob who comes in here sometimes and calls himself Minimum Bob.”

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The Golden China has a long musical history, including a notorious gig about a decade ago featuring the punk band Fear that played so loudly they killed many of the fish in the aquarium.

It’s a quieter, gentler Golden China these days as karaoke rules from Wednesday through Sunday nights, and that ubiquitous one-woman band, Teresa Russell, will start doing Monday nights.

As to Open Mike Night, it’s pretty basic.

“Anybody who shows up, signs on the list. We take them in order and everyone gets three songs, then usually in the wee hours, everyone jams together.

“At first, we had a lot of acoustic guitar players, but now we have a house bass and a house drum set that the owner [Gary Cheng] bought for us. We used to have people haul in their drum sets, but when they’d leave, everyone else would, too.”

Since it is, after all, Tuesday night, most of the area musicians don’t have gigs that night. Although there can be several spectators, most of those in the audience are players.

“We get mostly musician types. But I’m amazed at how many working professional musicians, who actually get paid to play on other nights, show up to play just because they love playing. We have a couple of doctors that show up and play sometimes--you never know. Every Tuesday night is different. Sometimes it’s slow, but other times, so many sign up that they don’t all get to play.”

Besides being the affable host in charge of quality control and continuity, Maximum Bob is also the chief talent scout with an eye toward life on the other nights of the week. “I used to be a drummer, but I’m a guitar player now, and I do gigs around town with musicians I’ve found at Open Mike Night. For example, I’ll be playing at Wine Lovers in Ventura soon, and I’ve taken 24 different musicians to that place so far. Some great local musicians have met and formed bands at these Open Mike Night gigs such as the Stan’ Dup Guys, Rich Geddes & the Mystery Band and this reggae band, Simple Gifts.”

Solo acts, duos or full bands are all welcome (except perhaps Fear).

The sound at Golden China is good, the volume on the big TV set behind the stage is turned down, and appetizers are free. Not bad for Tuesday night.

BE THERE

Open Mike Night at Golden China, 760 Seaward Ave., Ventura, Tuesdays at 7 p.m. Free. Call 652-0688.

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Smooth acoustic guitar player Alan Thornhill will furnish the soundtrack for mellow March Saturday and Wednesday nights at Mattie’s, the lounge in the historic Pierpont Inn in Ventura. On Saturdays, multi-instrumentalist Tim Buley will share the bill doing jazz and popular standards.

One of the front men for the area group the Rincon Ramblers, Thornhill is mostly known for his solo acts. He definitely has the restaurant scenario figured out after playing for years at the Ranch House in Meiners Oaks and Lorenzoni’s in the Ventura Harbor. Thornhill, a Ventura County local, is now married with children in Ojai, and a finish carpenter by day. Thus, two gigs a week is a lot for Thornhill.

A self-taught guitarist, Thornhill has been performing locally since he graduated from Hueneme High School in 1968. In addition to having a fine, clear voice, Thornhill’s fingers also know what to do. In fact, he won the 1995 Telluride Music Festival Finger Picking Competition.

“I’ve been playing music all my life--my parents were very supportive,” he said. “From time to time, I’ve played all over the county, plus I’ve toured. I know a lot of songs. I could play a whole night of originals or a whole week of covers. I love the music part of all this, but it’s hard to make a living at it. I’m a carpenter, so sometimes it’s hard to find the time, so I just do what I do.”

BE THERE

Alan Thornhill at the Pierpont Inn, 550 Sanjon Road, Ventura, Wednesdays and Saturdays in March, 8 to 11 p.m. Saturdays and 6 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays. Free. Call 643-6144.

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In the Deadhead Scheme of the Universe (which no longer features the Grateful Dead), three bands now provide the basic soundtrack for all that swirling: Phish, Blues Traveler and the Dave Matthews Band. The latter, without his band but with buddy Tim Reynolds, will play an acoustic set Sunday night at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara.

Before he was the leader of that touring money-making operation, Matthews was a bartender at Miller’s, a bar in Charlottesville, Va., where he met Reynolds, who had a regular Monday night solo gig there. Matthews went on to become a rock star, releasing a number of hit albums and touring relentlessly. While not part of the touring band, Reynolds has appeared as the second guitarist on Matthews’ albums. Together, Matthews and Reynolds recently released a two-CD epic, “Live at Luther College.” Concert-goers can expect plenty of the duo’s subtle guitar interplay from the album, plus many of Matthews’ more familiar songs. This show, however, is a bit more pricey than Grateful Dead shows of yore.

BE THERE

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds at the Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St., Santa Barbara, Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $36.50. Call 583-8700.

Bill Locey can be reached by e-mail at blocey@pacbell.net.