Forget the attitude

Young Chang

White is the color here.

It glows as do the neon-green lights that shoot from darkened corners

like lasers in rhythm to the house music being spun by DJ Jimmy on stage.

White buttons, white caps, white pants, white stripes -- anything from

a dot to a splatter of whites make for a play of lights on a recent

Thursday night.

And when the whiteness abounds in this otherwise black room, when it’s

the most visible form of movement next to arms and legs illuminated for

less than a second by only the neon-green beams -- that’s when the vibe

gets shared.

And the vibe is why San Fernando Valley residents drive all the way

here, why Orange County natives who discriminate against almost all

Orange County clubs oblige to their home turf at least once a week.

And why the Tiki Bar is, regulars claim, the one Costa Mesa hole

comparable to electronic-music havens in Los Angeles and San Diego.

“Everyone comes here for the music,” said Lillian Gomez, 23. “The

energy that fills this room -- everyone’s dancing and it gets you up on a

high level. And L.A. has a lot of places, but this is like the only one

spot in Orange County.”

With tiki posts as pillars, with vines seemingly growing out of walls,

the Tiki Bar is no less than the trendiest, most unlighted club -- yet no

more than an average coffee shop where everyone dives for the one and

only velvet-cloaked sofa.

Pool tables are near the entrance, video games are near the bar, the

common accessory appears to be a pack of Marlboro Lights stacked by a tin

of Altoids.

The dominant mood is -- surprisingly -- friendly.

Friendly the way student leaders are during orientation on the first

day of school, friendly the way you wouldn’t expect a bunch of punk fans

to be.

A group of smokers sits outside near a barb-wired fence on

uncomfortable stools. They invite newcomers in -- talk to them like it’s

no big deal to be new. They’re here for the music, for the established

talents, as well as the up-and-coming ones, and to dance with everyone

else who comes primarily to dance.

They drop DJ names, house group names, surnames of club promoters who

often drop in and out and, of course, drink names.

From swapping opinions about Red Bull Vodkas and a concoction called

Adios (expletive) (expletive), the conversation turns back to the music.

“When it comes to this kind of music you go into your own vibe and get

lost in it,” said Julie Blunck, 21.

Janine Presley, 22, adds: “But everyone feels the same vibe.”

Both are true. Look out on the dance floor and you’ll find dancers

moving as if in a pulsating trance to the sounds of house. With a deep

base that all but pounds through the walls, the music does the moving,

dancers say.

Heath Hernandez says he likes the stress-free aura of the Tiki Bar. No

bar-brawls, no fronts, no displays of an unspokenetiquette to distinguish

the old-timers from the new.

“It’s so cheesy, you know what I mean?” Hernandez asked of the typical

bar fights and tensions. “We’re just here for fun. Everyone’s relaxed,

everyone’s sociable.”

And no, the Tiki Bar is anything but a place to hook up, Gomez said.

“People that come here love the music and it’s more for dancing,” she

said. “It’s not like guys are here specifically to pick up a bunch of

girls.”

If it were that type of night spot, Jay Luu wouldn’t be caught dead

here. It’s the talents he’s here to watch, the unpretentious air he’s

here to absorb.

“This is the only Orange County club I’ll go to,” he said.

FYI

WHAT: The Tiki Bar

WHERE: 1700 Placentia Ave., Costa Mesa

COST: $10-$20

INFORMATION: (949) 548-3533