Yowzah — photo by Cindy Beal

By Jim Berg

A half hour before show time, Yowzah is nervously staring off into middle space, running through a mental checklist, twice. He turns to me and smiles, “It’s always like this before a show. I gotta make sure everything is right.”

Yowzah is an outside promoter for the Blue Saloon, a North Hollywood neighborhood watering hole that normally caters to the Hollywood working class people with job titles like Grip or Boom Operator — the techies who do the real work in the Industry. Before Yowzah arrives at the Blue Saloon, the music coming over the juke box is usually something like Rush, or Bad Company, or Led Zeppelin, or Jimi Hendrix. After Yowzah arrives, the music coming over the juke box is Pearl Jam, or Nirvana, or Smashing Pumpkins, or Velvet Underground.

Every Saturday night, the Blue Saloon becomes Club Dump — Yowzah’s showcase of local alternative rock talent. By dimming some lights, changing the bulbs in others, and moving a pool table, this neighborhood bar is transformed into a rock and roll night club. But the transition isn’t complete until the audience arrives. As the first band for the evening is setting up, a metamorphosis occurs in the Blue Saloon as ball caps and T-shirts are replaced by body art and leather. There are long-haired men and bald-headed women — all tattooed and pierced. These are the aficionados of the alternative scene, and they come to hear bands like Mother Tongue, Spindle, Wax, and Snare.

Club Dump started at the Central in Hollywood. Yowzah was working there, hosting a regular show, when he decided to start his own club. His primary ambition is as a musician, heading Methadone Cocktail, and promoting his own club helps further his musical career. After the Central was bought by Johnny Depp and turned into the Viper Room, Yowzah had disagreements with the new management and decided to leave. A resident of North Hollywood, Yowzah wanted to find a local venue for the club. After meeting Blue, owner of the Blue Saloon, Yowzah found him not only agreeable to bringing the club to the Saloon, but also agreeable to work with. Club Dump came to the Blue Saloon in July of 1993.

With the growing success and popularity of Club Dump on Saturday night, the club is being expanded to Thursday night, and with the improved sound equipment, the Blue Saloon is becoming a noteworthy venue for new local alternative rock. More and more, the myth that the Valley is not a worthwhile place to go for live music, either as a band or as a fan, is being put to the lie. As Yowzah puts it, “You can come here, park for free, pay a third less for drinks, hang out with people just as pierced and tattooed as anyplace in Hollywood and have a really good time with really cool people, without the posing and attitude.”

I always thought it would have been really cool to have seen the Beatles during their Hamburg days, when they were defining and shaping their music in the grueling club scene, playing for little or no money, but crafting the music that would overwhelm a generation. The fact is, if your idea of being on the cutting edge of innovative rock and roll is listening to KROQ, you’re closer to the scabbard than the blade. To be one of the few to participate in music innovation and experimentation, the clubs are the place to be, otherwise join the millions of followers who are exposed to new music when it finally gets to the radio.