Night of the Jaguares

Labeled, among other things, “the Mexican Beatles” or “the Mexican Pearl Jam,” but fortunately not “the Mexican Lawrence Welk,” the Jaguares will play a Sunday night gig at the Ventura Theatre. Even at 40 bucks, this show may very well sell out, so act accordingly.

The band is fronted by Saul Hernandez, who writes dreamy hard-edged rock songs and whose career predates the lame dance pop offered up by this week’s moneymakers, Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin.

Originally the leader of the Caifanes, a band that fell prey to creative differences, Hernandez is the only survivor of the Caifanes besides drummer Alfonso Andre to have made it to the Jaguares.

These bands combined have sold more than 5 million albums, mostly in Latin America. The second and most recent album by the Jaguares is a 2-CD epic titled “Bajo el Azul de tu Misterio,” which translates from Spanish to “Under the Blue of Your Mystery.” One side is live, featuring seven Caifanes songs played by the Jaguares, while the studio side features 10 new tracks.

At a concert, lyrics screamed by rock singers might as well be in Mongolian, as they’re generally unintelligible anyway. That’s why CDs come with lyric sheets. Thus, a Jaguares song in Spanish should pose no problem to English-speakers in that respect, and many of the band’s Latin fans understand the words anyway.

Drummer Andre handled all the words in English on interview day as the band slowly cruised through L.A. freeway traffic en route to an in-store appearance.

How long has the band been around?

The Jaguares started in 1996--that’s why we only have two albums. Also, we had to stop for a while because our singer had problems with his throat, but he’s all right now. Our new [album] is doing great. We’re pretty happy--it’s sold around 100,000 copies.

How are the Jaguares different from your previous band, the Caifanes?

We’re pretty much in the same line of work. We had to change the name because there were problems with people in the first band who later went away. But basically, we’re trying to accomplish the same thing.

So your crowd is mostly Hispanic?

In California, we get a lot of Mexicans coming to our shows, but also a lot of Latins as well, Argentinians, everybody.

A lot of the young Hispanics in California are into hip-hop and lightweight Ricky Martin-style pop. Are these people also Jaguares fans?

We’ve never been a part of what you would call the mainstream. Our fans are the same way--they don’t listen to stuff that is popular today and forgotten next week. Our fans have been very loyal to us, and they’ve stood by us. Even when we didn’t have an album or any radio airplay, people were still there at our shows.

Is the band hoping to break into the English-speaking market?

We’re not doing anything in English yet, but we’re open. We do have some English-speaking fans in the United States. We’re definitely open to that.

How would you describe Jaguares’ music?

It’s hard for us because we don’t like to label ourselves and restrict ourselves to one particular kind of music. We try to experiment as much as possible and interpret the music we heard when we were young.

What sort of music was that?

We grew up listening to a lot of American and British bands even though we didn’t understand what they were singing about. We listened to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but we also listened to a lot of Latin music--bolero music, salsa music and all sorts of native Mexican stuff.

What’s the most enjoyable part of your job, besides doing interviews?

Making music. When we started in this business, we never thought making a living at it was possible. We do this for the music. All the traveling can be a problem, and maybe the interviews, too. Some of the band members have families now, so being away from home so much is difficult.

What advice would you give to aspiring Latino rockers?

It’s a hard living, but you have to stand by your music and stand by what you believe in. That’s what we did, and that’s all I could tell someone else.

What’s it like being on stage in front of all those screaming girls?

It’s fun, but it’s not what we do this for. Actually, it’s weird because we feel like we’re just like them, regular people. That whole thing is odd.

DETAILS

The Jaguares at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., Sun., 8 p.m.; $40; 653-0721.

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Kowabunga!

It’s time once again for the annual Beach Party weekend in Ventura with two separate-but-equal opportunities to party hearty just blocks apart.

The 14th annual California Beach & Music Festival will take place on the Promenade from the pier to Surfer’s Point. More or less a swap meet by the sea, this festival features an army of merchants in a bushel of booths hawking beach-related items--from bikinis to jet skis--as well as a surfing contest.

There will be continuous music, which in addition to the mild uproar created by all this capitalism on the beach, should create enough hubbub to scare all those cute little squirrels that live in the rocks nearby.

It originally was a free event, but the city of Ventura took over the operation of the party several years ago and began to charge admission and invite more cops. This year, the city has relinquished control of the event to a pair of promotion firms, one based in Valencia and the other in the Valley.

Highlights of the Saturday lineup include those popular locals, Chris Jay & the Army of Freshmen doing their rowdy brand of rock and ska. Also performing will be guitar player C.C. DeVille, who managed to survive a torturous tour of duty with those ‘80s glam rockers, Poison, as well as a tell-all bio featured on VH-1.

Sunday’s heroes will include the ubiquitous Ska Daddyz out of Silver Strand doing their brand of original rock, and popular country rockers Caught Red Handed should enthrall the pointy-shoe crowd. Also appearing will be the band with the best name, Lulu & the Cowtippers.

Another festival, this one involving much less merchandising, much less walking, but more concentrated drinking and dancing, will be transacted at the Bombay Bar & Grill, just two blocks away from all that inconvenient wind and sand.

Bombay’s Beach Party begins Friday night, but it really gets rolling on Saturday when as many as three bands will play in three different areas of the newly remodeled club.

The focus is on local bands, and this is the venue’s most ambitious lineup yet with the Army of Freshmen and the Ska Daddyz as the only repeat offenders appearing at both festivals. Raging Arb & the Redheads, the laziest but still popular local blues-from-the-beach band, will play for the third time this year Saturday night. Also on the bill are East County rockers Flush, and Zoes Garden.

DETAILS

1999 California Beach & Music Festival, California Street and the Pacific, Ventura, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Saturday: Chris Jay & the Army of Freshmen at 11 a.m.; Maia Sharp at noon; El Centro at 12:30 p.m.; Itch at 1:15 p.m.; C.C. DeVille at 3:50 p.m.; and the Max Field Rabbit at 5:10 p.m. Sunday: Jazz 911 at 11 a.m.; LuLu & the Cowtippers at noon; Banned From the Beach at 1:15 p.m.; Caught Red Handed at 2:30 p.m.; Ska Daddyz at 3:50 p.m.; and Sweater Girl at 5:10 p.m. $6 adults and $4 children. (323) 254-1205.

MORE DETAILS

The California Beach Party at the Bombay Bar & Grill, 143 California St., Ventura. Friday: Custom Made at 9:30 p.m.; Rhino at 9:30 p.m.; Krave at 11 p.m.; and Flush at midnight. Saturday: Cynthia Manley at 3 p.m.; Chris Jay & the Army of Freshmen at 4:30 p.m.; Sound Effect at 6:30 p.m.; Ska Daddyz at 6:30 p.m.; Loudmouth Soup at 7 p.m.; Zoes Garden at 8:30 p.m.; Custom Made at 10 p.m.; Raging Arb & the Redheads at 10 p.m.; and No Regrets at 12:30 a.m. Sunday: Custom Made at 3 p.m.; The Bomb at 4:30 p.m.; P.Y.N. at 5:30 p.m.; Area 51 at 6:30 p.m.; Smoothie Jones & the Mighty Angels at 9:30 p.m. $6 to $8. 643-4404.

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Since Japan has reggae bands and Colorado has surf bands, there should be nothing surprising when it comes to a Czechoslovakian bluegrass band. Druha Trava will play a Monday night gig at Cafe Voltaire in Ventura. You won’t need a Czech-up from the neck up to know that this whole thing is but a thinly veiled effort to sell copies of their cleverly titled new album, “Czechmate.”

Band co-founder, singer and principal writer Robert Krestan is recognized as the main man when it comes to bluegrass and country in his homeland and has recorded half a dozen albums. Singing in English and in Czech, Druha Trava, which means “second grass,” has become one of the premiere bluegrass touring bands.

Krestan credits his introduction to bluegrass to the so-called “tramp movement.” This refers to an East European affinity for Western music, which was kick-started when folk singer Pete Seeger toured the country in 1982, playing an unknown but very cool instrument, the five-string banjo. As a result of Seeger’s tour, a number of Czech players took up stringed instruments, which in turn led them to discover American folk music. Good thing Seeger wasn’t a tuba player . . .

DETAILS

Druha Trava at Cafe Voltaire, 12 N. Ash St., Ventura, Monday, 7:30 p.m.; $10; 641-1743.