Listen for the Sounds of the Future

Los Angeles is a natural locale for seeking out the Next Great Rock Band playing in the dim blue light of a stylish club on the Sunset Strip or a sweaty dive in Hollywood. Now there’s a new stop on the circuit, but it’s not on that old route. It’s in the Valley.

That’s right, people. The Valley. Deal with it.

The club is Salon Corona, a nondescript, decidedly unglamorous, almost seedy joint on Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood. Even though most nights it is devoted to things like Spanish-language male strippers or norteno bands, on Thursday nights the club is transformed into Al Borde en Vivo (the Edge, Live), one of this city’s most intriguing showcases for outstanding local, national and international rock acts.

Granted, the bands perform mostly in Spanish. But not exclusively. The excellent Los Angeles band Bayu sang in Portuguese and rapped in English on a recent night. That’s where we’re all headed, you know. Besides, if the band rocks, it just doesn’t matter what language it’s in.

The high caliber of performers--they really are professional level--is due to the discriminating ears of Edgardo Ochoa and Alicia Monsalve, publisher and editor of the local rock en espanol tabloid Al Borde (the Edge). The magazine has a U.S. circulation of about 20,000, according to Monsalve.

Ochoa, an accomplished journalist, is also the lead singer with the popular rock en espanol act Hijos del Sol, now signed to Fonovisa. He and Monsalve came to L.A. from Venezuela four years ago, and quickly became cornerstones of what they call “the movement,” or the rock en espanol scene. Together, they book the groups for the Salon Corona night, and organize the musical side of events, such as last weekend’s Eco Maya festival at L.A. City College.

There’s a case to be made for “the movement” being a more exciting musical realm than English-language rock these days. The bands at Salon Corona bolster that argument. Tonight’s show, for instance, features the group Arbol, the newest project for famed Argentine producer Gustavo Santaolalla.

A recent lineup included San Francisco-based Santero, whose dreadlocked lead singer sounds a lot like Jim Morrison, teamed with Venezuelan rocker Khana. Plenty of mainstream industry folks were on hand, too, probably to see Bayu, which is unsigned--but heavily courted. Not since Ozomatli has a local band displayed such original ideas and energy, or garnered such a large and loyal following. They did not disappoint.

The club itself is spiritual worlds removed from the artful, intellectual material presented onstage. It is basic: tables, chairs, a bar, a dance floor. There is no decor, per se. But the sound system is good, and the engineer doesn’t require extra cash to make bands sound their best (as is the case at some mainstream clubs with Spanish rock nights). So, it is club, hear it roar. (Bring earplugs if you’re sensitive, or if you hope to hear when you’re 75.)

Unfortunately, the countrified cocktail waitresses (and they are all waitresses) prance around in ridiculous uniforms that can only be described as French maid goes to the rodeo. Their skirts are so tight and short they’d make a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader blush. They tried jeans one night, we are told, but say they didn’t feel sexy. One even said she’d invested too much money in implants not to wear her revealing get-up. So Al Borde en Vivo ends up with a Hooters-meets-Paula Cole kind of vibe, where the servers stare like scolded dogs at liberated rock women with hairy armpits and dragon tattoos.

But that, my friends, is part of the beauty of Salon Corona on a Thursday night. It’s like watching two very distinct L.A.s--both Latino, but decades, maybe centuries, apart--rubbing up against each other.

And in the midst of it all perform the most promising acts in Spanish-language rock. If you’re tired of the same old scene, and if you’re interested in hearing some of the best rock being performed in the world, you must check out Al Borde en Vivo.

And, hey, leave the poor waitresses a good tip, will ya? There’s no way they get paid enough to be laughed at all night by a bunch of hipsters. Thanks.

BE THERE

Al Borde en Vivo, Thursday nights at Salon Corona, 11700 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. $10. (323) 467-8664 or (818) 506-8664.