The Past Checks In at Punk Hotel
Orange County’s latest round of successful punk bands (such as the Offspring) has meant a new wave of punk fans, some too young to have known the genre’s first wave in the late ‘70s. But club-goers can recall the way things used to be by checking into the Punk Rock Hotel every Wednesday at Costa Mesa’s Tiki Bar.
It’s not just a Leisure World for old punks. The club attracts punk fans as young as 21 and as seasoned as those in their mid-30s.
And the past is revived here in more ways than spinning 15-year-old vinyl or wearing a beat-up leather jacket scratched with an A for anarchy.
Promoters David Salinger of Downey and David James of Long Beach provide an evening in the spirit of indie rock and the do-it-yourself punk ethic that returns meaning to the now-tired term alternative.
Punk is more an approach to life than a musical category to Salinger and James, both 27, who are first-time club promoters. James is also host of “Divide and Conquer,” an indie music video show airing on a local access cable network in Los Angeles.
The Tiki Bar is next door to what was once the Cuckoo’s Nest bar (and later, the Concert Factory), in a corner of the world that seems to hold some mystic energy source when it comes to punk rock. The Punk Rock Hotel stage features veterans who once frequented those old clubs, as well as fledgling acts. Lineups in the next months include an oldie-but-goodie, the Crowd; the club is also trying to secure bookings for the Vandals and Circle Jerks.
But most weeks, patrons are treated to the new stuff, local and just traveling through, for better or worse. Next week catch Still Dreadful, Tribal Lust & Horney Natives, Sick Sense and Killjoy. On July 26, it’s a mix of the old and revived vintage with the Crowd, the Stitches and Das Klown.
Man Size Rooster (a.k.a. David James) hits the deejay booth between bands, spinning Lo Fi, old school American, English punk, New Wave, and obscure and known indie groups from the last four decades. On the playlist: the Buzzcocks, Jazz Butcher, Pavement, Joyride, Supergrass and T.S.O.L.
Two months old, the Punk Rock Hotel isn’t yet packing them in consistently, but there’s always enough of a showing to fill the Polynesian-themed club with a pleasant vibe. Anything goes in the dance department from a crouched wiggle to a mellow mosh that never really gets out of control.
* PUNK ROCK HOTEL
* At the Tiki Bar, 1700 Placentia Blvd., Costa Mesa.
* (714) 548-3533.
* Wednesdays only, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.
* Cover: generally $4.