Surfers in Spotlight at Ventura Theatre

Friday night at the Ventura Theatre there will be a surfer stomp of sorts as three bands play and the surfing movie “Drifting” is screened. The stomp portion of the program may carry over into the mosh pit when Pierpont finheads reacquaint themselves with Silver Strand finheads. There’s no love lost between the two groups of surfers.

The chief drifter in the movie is Souther shredder Rob Machado, who is featured so prominently in the film that it’s almost a vanity piece. Hey, “Endless Summer” it ain’t, but what is?

Of the three punk bands playing loud and fast, one of them is, not surprisingly, Machado’s band, Sack Lunch. I wonder if he’ll man the T-shirt booth as well. Also on the bill are Blink 182 and Unwritten Law. All of the bands have new CDs, which will be easier to obtain than a parking place at the beach, much less an uncrowded wave.

The 8 p.m. show will set you back a dozen big ones. Call the venue at 648-1888 to find out more.

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Despite good reviews, the recent film “Swingers” crashed about as completely as a “What’s your sign?” pickup line.

Nevertheless the soundtrack on Hollywood Records, a suave slice of lounge lizard laissez faire, prominently features those local kings of swing, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. How prominently? Well, Dean Martin, Louis Jordan and George Jones only have one song each on the 16-song CD, while BBVD has three songs, all of which originally appeared on the band’s 1995 release, “Whatcha Want for Christmas?”

Though they play frequently in L.A., BBVD usually shows up locally only once or twice a month. Your window of opportunity to dress up and do some swing dancing comes Friday night at Nicholby’s, a place the band routinely packs. Mangy Ed will open with Big Bad taking the stage around 11 p.m.

Get there by 9 or expect to stand up or, worse yet, stand in line in the hallway waiting to get in. By the way, Nicholby’s offers swing dancing courses Wednesdays beginning at 7:15 p.m. The venue is upstairs at 404 E. Main St., Ventura. Call them at 653-2320 to find out more about this $7 show.

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Fearless Vampire Killers will unleash its brand of heavy rock at the Victoria Pub on Saturday night. FVK, which has drawn up to 600 fans to the Ventura Theatre in the past, should have no trouble packing this place.

The restaurant part of the venue is closing, but the pub will remain open, and the owners plan to have bands performing at least every Saturday night. The pub is in a shopping center at 1413 S. Victoria Ave. Call 650-0060 to find out more about this show, which will start around 9 p.m.

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The usual rock music venues in Ventura--Nicholby’s, Bombay, Metro Nite Club, Cafe Voltaire and Joe Daddy’s--are pretty much locked into a familiar roster of bands. Each band does well at its respective venue, but opportunities are limited elsewhere. Thus the usual complaint of too many bands and not enough places to play is a recurring theme.

Enter the Rendezvous Room, one of the oldest bars in Ventura. Current owner Janie Robinson has owned the place for the last 31 years. Before that, the bar at the corner of Palm and Main streets in Ventura was a hardware store, part of the red light district and a City Council meeting site way back when.

Open from 8 a.m. until 2 a.m. 365 days a year, the Rendezvous is a hard-core watering hole, but now Robinson hopes for more. It’s the ‘90s and she wants to rock, and hopes to have bands perhaps twice a month. They’ve already hosted live bands four or five times, usually featuring Still More Later, local rocker Paul Miller’s latest group. The bands have been on the hard-core side so far--so where else are they going to play? For more information, call Robinson at the bar in the afternoon at 643-5966.