Night-time chill

Dave Brooks

It’s not that easy to get away from 300,000 people.

Bars and restaurants in Huntington Beach are going to be crowded

this weekend as swarms of people descend on Huntington Beach for the

U.S. Open of Surfing finals.

Thankfully there are plenty of places to go out with your friends

and miss the legions of wave fans who plan to take over Surf City.

If punk rock and pool is your game, check out the Liquid Den, near

the corner of Bolsa Chica Street and Warner Avenue. After you get a

skull and crossbones handstamp to prove you paid your $6 at the door,

make your way into the stage area and grab a seat on the couch.

Canadian indie rockers Kids These Days will headline Saturday night’s

performance.

“When you walk into this place, you can literally see the

pretension melt at the door,” newcomer Frank Sampson, 31, said. “I

just moved to the area and I’m definitely persuaded to make this my

regular bar.”

Of course not everyone wants to spend their Saturday night

slam-dancing. If you have a few anxious greenbacks in your pocket,

head over to Martini Blues on Edinger Avenue for a cocktail and a

plate of Penne Rustico. This upscale nightclub is the place to

impress, although its tendency to book world music and jazz shows

usually attracts an older crowd. For $10 on Saturday you can see

delta bluesman Don Macleod in the club’s Celebrity Room or

traditional South African group Get Together in the Legends Room.

Is a little revolution in order? The traveling International Pop

Overthrow is hosting its own summer music festival this Sunday at

typical Irish pub Fitzgerald’s at the corner of Magnolia Street and

Yorktown Avenue. International Pop Overthrow is a traveling act of

pop bands from Europe and the U.S. hoping to sell a few T-shirts and

demo tapes wherever it does a sound check.

“Fitzgeralds is perhaps one of the best small rock venues in

Huntington Beach,” punk rocker Dax Lingenfelter said. “There’s a bit

of aggression, but overall, the place rocks.”

Its floor-level stage, backlit with red lights reflecting from a

rear brick wall, create a nice dark-room style intimacy between the

band and the audience. A Guinness-pouring bar is always just feet

away if things start to get two close.

Next is Marlin Bar, on Gothard Street between Edinger and Heil

avenues. There’s nothing particularly exciting about this

beach-themed Cabo San Lucas recreation in a rather nondescript strip

mall. Marlin’s has the typical low-end night club offerings including

a DJ spinning pop hip-hop, a smattering of sports-themed video games,

and a few well-placed televisions forever tuned into ESPN’s

“SportsCenter.”

Despite it’s blandness, one refreshing thing about Marlin Bar is

that the staff trusts their customers enough to sell huge 22 oz.

bottles of premium beer. The bar is forever crowded with

debauchery-seeking, spring-break types always willing to down shots

of Patron tequila or pound on the bar while their fraternity brothers

slam beers.

The artsy pool hall in Huntington Harbour, House of Brews, is a

respectable spot to take a date, while roadhouse wannabe Tumbleweeds

at the corner of Beach Boulevard and Adams Avenue is good place to

argue about NASCAR racing. If you decide to stop into Tumbleweeds to

catch one of the live cover bands, grab a comfy table or pool cue and

let the cocktail waitresses take care of you. You would think that

any place away from Main Street would be relatively crowd free, but

two local clubs are sponsoring U.S. Open parties. The Liquid Lounge

on Center Avenue is host to this year’s official “after party,” while

surf rats are welcome at an unofficial reggae soiree at Rastafarian

nightclub Kozmo’s at the corner of Warner Avenue and Pacific Coast

Highway.

* DAVE BROOKS covers City Hall. He can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at dave.brooks@latimes.com.