BUZZ CLUBS

Partying like a house afire

All I can say about the Damned is bow down when they come to your town. The veteran punk band served up such hot goth lava at the Hollywood Athletic Club’s Halloween Masquerade Ball on Oct. 26, they lit the house on fire. Wait, that was opening act the Toilet Boys, whose fierce brand of glam rock is highlighted by pyrotechnics, which always leave the crowd smoldering.... And what a crowd: In 10 years of slogging these streets, I’ve never seen mo’ better costumes. The parade of Heaven’s Gaters was weird, creepy weird. I asked the guy in the Hamburglar costume, “What gives?” And he said, “What could be more evil than McDonald’s?” And I thought clowns were scary.... So I heard Jack Grisham’s mom did an in-store. The legendary T.S.O.L. frontman who put the P in punk gives away all his memorabilia to fans so his mom went shopping in the L.B.C. to stock up on his old albums. Word got out and she was signing autographs for hours. T.S.O.L. pillages the House of Blues on the Strip on Nov. 23 and 24.... Walk this way: Star Shoes plans to celebrate its birthday on Sunday. Be there or be square.... Steve Dimon’s backward “Hi-five” came in handy this week. The Joya promoter, who’s known for saying hello to folks with a knuckle-to-knuckle version of everyone’s favorite geek greeting, taught me the ol’ slap shake a few years back. And I ran into so many scene vets at Glen E. Friedman’s photo exhibit at Sixspace in downtown L.A. on Saturday, I had to pull the backslap out of my arsenal. From Adolescents to Z Boys, the underground art, rap and punk world came out to pay their respects to the legendary photographer. The exhibit runs through Nov. 30.

Tossed in the Brig

Good news for Venice: Sugar owner David Reiss tells me his latest club, the Brig, is booming. We hear the hot night to check it out is Tuesdays. And nightlife guru Brad Johnson (Roxbury/Georgia/Sunset Room) debuted his new sweet spot, Menemsha, a Venice bar and restaurant named after an East Coast fishing village. With multiple fireplaces and Johnson’s food rep, should be a hot spot for late-night lobster luvas.... And speaking of the finer things in life, Greg Morris is moving on up. A former partner in such rock ‘n’ roll spots as the Martini Lounge, the Garage and the Joint, Morris has two new gems, the Spanish Kitchen and the Belmont, classing things up on La Cienega. Bravo....

Coming and going

Thug life lives! The new Transplants album is gangsta punk at its finest and we hear bad boys of rock Motochrist are writing a new album. I feel so dirty.... Gonna see the Toledo Show tonight at the Sunset Room. The master choreographer-dancer-jazz singer’s causing quite a stir. We even hear the Forty Deuce girls have been hanging out there. Probably copping his moves....This just in: On Saturday, Cherry promoter and DJ Mike Messex is partnering up with his old pal Bruce Perdew (Blue) on Sucker, a sexy new Saturday at WeHo’s Ultra Suede (see “Openings” in Night Life list for more info).... We also hear the wild burlesque revue the Velvet Hammer comes to the Mayan Theatre on Nov. 14 and 21. So sexy it’s almost evil.

-- Heidi Siegmund Cuda