A party in the backyard

IMAGINE a Hollywood without ironclad guest lists, demeaning velvet ropes and stratospheric cover charges. An egalitarian Tinseltown where sultry girls sans implants dance in sandals with whoever asks, even if that person happens to be a nerdy white guy with horn-rimmed glasses carrying a tarnished trumpet under his arm.

Far-fetched as it may sound, this mecca exists at Crane’s Tavern on El Centro. Every Sunday from May through October the low-key hangout plays gracious host to the Do-Over. Concocted last summer as an antidote to the rabid common courtesy-eating virus that infects most Hollywood parties, the Do-Over is the brainchild of music aficionados Jamie Strong, Chris Haycock and Aloe Blacc.

Strong, the trio’s “minister of information,” who holds the same title for the hip-hop label Stones Throw Records, explains, “We wanted our party to be the anti-Hollywood party.”

This description goes a long way toward explaining the lack of cover charge and the wildly eclectic mix of revelers, many of whom are almost unnervingly amiable. Picture Mister Rogers about six beers in.

Even the roving single men who zealously hit on women by the front porch barbecue are, by Hollywood standards, articulate and humorously inept.

“Let’s talk about my sex drive,” one gregarious middle-aged doctor from Mount Washington said to a reporter. “I haven’t had sex since Van Buren was in office.”

A little while later, a man with imperfect balance and impressive dreadlocks wedged himself between two beautiful blonds at the outdoor bar, grinned and introduced himself as Bleu, “Like the cheese.”

“What are we drinking, ladies?” he asked.

The women giggled and one of them said, “I think it’s called ...”

“Alcohol!” Bleu concluded triumphantly.

THE Do-Over is also unique for its hours: 2 to 10 p.m. “We want it to have a backyard house party vibe,” Strong says. By 8 p.m., when bartenders at most Hollywood clubs are shaking the evening’s first $15 cocktail, there is a line out the door at Crane’s and the party is raging.

It is reasonable to assume that the crowd’s stamina and unusual conviviality are due in large part to the club’s lack of hard alcohol. Even the most willful party-monger would be hard-pressed to get angry-drunk on soju and lime shots -- although Strong obliquely points out that participants “find ways” to make up for the dearth of distilled spirits.

How this is accomplished remains dubious, but the results can be observed in the open-air back patio that doubles as a riotous dance floor. There, under a hot sun that melts into silvery night, smoke rises, bodies writhe and beats boom.

Along with two resident DJs, the party plays host to other guest DJs who spin a patchwork of sound as varied as reggaeton, funk, underground hip-hop and house, with the occasional dash of rock ‘n’ roll tossed in for good measure.

On a recent Sunday while DJ Jedi (from Digable Planets) ripped up the turntables with loose-wristed precision, the Do-Over’s resident MC, Stones Throw recording artist Aloe Blacc, revealed another aspect of the party’s popularity. “Lots of connections happen here,” he said. “Everybody here is somebody in the music industry.”

Glancing at the gyrating crowd -- at the Latino boy with spiky hair and old-school Reeboks; the skinny black man in Hawaiian shorts and green knee-socks; and the mellow long-haired white girl with bells on her flowing skirt -- it is easy to see that the open spirit of the place is really all about the freedom of movement and thought that music inspires.

And, as Blacc points out, it doesn’t hurt that “DJs from far and wide ask to play here because they can do any set list they want.”

An attractive woman with dark curls and a forthright smile who asked to be identified as Melissa (and seemed to have befriended everyone within a 10-yard radius) summed up the pervading sentiment of the evening.

“I just like to celebrate with people whenever I’m here,” she said before buying a round of soju shots for a group of girls she just met and letting Bleu light her American Spirit cigarette.

“I’m a music fan, and they play a lot of great music here. I came here last summer and I never forgot this place.”

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Jessica Gelt may be reached at weekend@latimes.com.

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The Do-Over

Where: Crane’s Tavern, 1611 El Centro Ave., Hollywood

When: 2 to 10 p.m. Sundays

Price: Free

Info: (323) 467-6600