They’re Back, Baby: Grunge and Pop Stars

Betcha all the nightclub owners with restaurant licenses are enjoying carding Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and members of ‘N Sync, all of whom recently bought property in our fair city. Hey, if you’re 18 and over, with a picture I.D., you can slap down that dinero in a restaurant. Gimme an R-O-X-B-U-R-Y! What’s that spell? Money is baaaaaack. . . . The best thing about the sizzling L.A. scene right now is the rock star sightings. After the Godhead show at Dragonfly, Tom Morello showed up at the after-party at Beauty Bar. Marilyn Manson threw his private after-party also at Beauty Bar. (Cue up his hit “The beautiful people! The beautiful people!”). I quite like Manson--he’s smart and polite, and you can’t say that about most rock stars. Firsthand Las Palmas experience tells us, for instance, Joey Fatone’s getting a big head, but Justin and J.C. are total peaches. . . .

I tripped into Fuel on Saturday and discovered grunge is back. Thank God. I’d gotten tired of looking at Dolce & Gabbana knockoffs. I also bunny-hopped around the bend to Hotel Cafe, a new late-night coffeehouse next to the Burgundy Room. Owner Maxmillian, a new finey on the scene, is already booking jazz and poets. I immediately did my beatnik snap. . . . Normally, I’d need a gat to the dome to see white men sing the blues. But on Saturday night in the wink of an eye, I discovered I quite like Pelikan Pie. You can tell how much the Saturday house band at the Gaslite in Santa Monica digs that groove, bab-ee. . . . We also popped into the neighboring Lush, where a disco cover band was turning it out for some funky brethren of all ages, sizes and dancing capabilities. I couldn’t tell if they were dancing fools cuz the band was playing “Brick House” or cuz there’s no cover on Saturdays. . . .

Talk about a crazy fool, you shoulda seen me at the House of Blues last week at one of Social Distortion’s sold-out shows. Everyone’s got a band whose music sounds like pages torn from his own heart. Those of you who catch my drift, gimme an S-O-C-I-A-L D-I-S-T-O-R-T-I-O-N! What’s that spell? California dreaming, the hard way.