Fear & Lounging: Music and Club News

Sanctuary to shut its doors



How bad have things gotten for the local music scene? Well, have you visited Asia Palace on a Friday or Saturday night of late? Bands are now performing in the West Sahara Avenue-based restaurant's shitty-acoustics, table-lined dining room. This is not ingenuity, folks. This is desperation.



And just when it appeared the situation couldn't get any more grotesque, Sanctuary decided to shut its doors. The all-ages venue, which opened with promise in April of 1999, will host its final show (a birthday party for former general manager Tom Anderson, featuring punk act Osker) on July 21.



"I've got some other projects I want to pursue and, not being involved with the Huntridge Theatre any more, I thought I'd move forward with them," explains the building's owner Richard Lenz, who resigned as executive director of Friends of the Huntridge Theatre in early May. "I talked with [Sanctuary management] and they indicated that the building wasn't particularly profitable, so they didn't mind letting go of it. It just didn't make sense for them to keep paying all that money when it really wasn't bringing them anything in return."



Lenz plans to move a recording studio currently based in the Huntridge into the space occupied by Sanctuary and open a high-end equipment shop to complement it. The studio and shop are expected to debut in mid-September.



"I'm somewhat disappointed in the support Sanctuary received from the community," admits Lenz. "We saw spurts of interest, but never long-term support. When we opened the Huntridge [in 1992], we were hoping to create a place where kids could go and bands could develop, and, in a sense, that's what we were trying to create with Sanctuary. I figured with a 300-capacity venue the goal would be much more realistic.



"I saw spurts of promise, but it always faded fairly quickly."



As advertised, Sanctuary was a versatile venue during its inaugural year of operation. It hosted local rock acts (Mark Huff), performance artists (Dayvid Figler) and promotions ("X-treme Night"). However, it later became somewhat one-dimensional, as local and regional bands haunted the South Maryland Parkway venue on weekends.



Sanctuary was also susceptible to lawsuits. Two suits, one of which is still pending, have been filed against the club by disgruntled patrons.



"I'm not walking away feeling that we've failed in any sense," Lenz says. "This was a decision we felt we had to make and we felt it was the right time to make it. Some people are disappointed, but we have to be pragmatic. Sometimes we have to make decisions that aren't based on emotions."

—Matt O'Brien



LVPunk calls it quits



Local punk rock website LVPunk.com has apparently thrown in the towel. After six months of existence, site founder Jason Nelson has decided to cease development on the growing underground website. In its short existence, LVPunk provided an updated, thorough resource for valley punk fans, created a flier distribution team and was developing a compilation CD with another punk website, Sin City Punks (sincitypunks.iwarp.com).



LVPunks most ambitious undertaking was to be its "Punk Rock Garage Sale," a swap meet-cum-punk show scheduled for this past Saturday. The event—a fundraiser for the Riot Grrls of Las Vegas, Plea for Peace and LVPunk—would have featured local bands including 7 Foot Midget, Goldfish Dont Bounce and Barney Fyfe. In an emotionally charged e-mail sent to the sites impressive 800-strong mailing list, Nelson announced the cancellation of the "Garage Sale," citing "bad weather" as the reason. He then went on to list a number of frustrations, both personal and site-related, which led to his announcement that "LVPunk is dead." More specific reasons behind his growing frustration can be found in his

own statements. Nelsons complaint that "I dont have the backing from big corporations like PepsiCo to book huge shows at big venues" probably refers to a failed attempt to book a show at the Huntridge Theatre back in May of this year.



Nelson declined an opportunity to comment.

—Pj Perez





Going AWOL on Thursday nights



Underground dance promoter A Way of Life has not one but two weekly events debuting Thu., July 19. "Beatsworkin'"—actually a Huntridge Theatre event AWOL is collaborating on—kicks off the night, and AWOL head Chad Craig promises a vibe reminiscent of his former warehouse venue, the Candy Factory. The party will dabble in just about every progressive form of dance and hip-hop music, and the list of scheduled jocks for the premiere party is stacked with first-rate locals (Speedy, Mark-One, Rick Remixx, Michael Boyer, Revise and Lennon Franz) and visitors (Paulina Taylor from L.A., Sage from the Bay Area). Doors will open at 7 p.m. and continue past 3 a.m., though anyone under 18 will be kicked out at midnight. Admission is $10, with AWOL soon introducing a card that will get dancers in at $8. Oh yeah, the event will also be air conditioned.



"Impact" is geared toward the older set—this one's 21-and-over—but it's also AWOL's first foray into the nightclub scene. Held at Glo (at The Hop), "Impact" will also feature local and visiting talent, spinning everything from breaks and trance to jungle and house; the resident will be Speedy. For the July 19 soft opening—the grand opening party will be on Aug. 2—Speedy will be joined by fellow Vegan and Liquid 303 owner John Michael, along with L.A.'s Huggie, and San Francisco's Leo and Sage. The party will also have many of AWOL's signature visual and lighting elements. Craig is stressing the casual and friendly nature of the event, as there's no dress code, free seating and—supposedly—friendly door staff. Admission is $10, and doors open at midnight.

For more info on either event, call 392-8920.

—Mike Prevatt





Wine-and-cheese crowd?



In attempts to attract The Lakes and Summerlin residents who don't want to travel to the Strip for an upscale lounge experience, Jazzed Café is launching a new promotion. "Jazzed On Fridays," a collaboration between the trendy restaurant's owners and DJ Michael "The Funkler" Fuller, debuts July 20 and will run every Friday thereafter (until otherwise dictated).



The promo's debut is unique in that patrons will be allowed to choose the event's resident DJ. Five to six jocks, including former Baby's resident Adam Cantrell, will spin short sets and, at the end of the night, stragglers will select a rez.



"The DJ with the hippest, most intimate sound who is best able to work with other musicians probably has the best chance of winning," says Fuller, who will coordinate and spin at the event, but not be eligible for its residency. "We're not necessarily looking for the loudest person in the room. We're looking for someone who can capture a feeling or an emotion and go with it."



The event kicks off around 11 p.m. and wraps up around 3 a.m. For more information, call 233-2859.

—M.O.



Side notes



Club Utopia recently made a couple of minor renovations. It installed a handful of new go-go dancer cages—evidently, it's not all about the music—and a new DJ booth, which is framed by a steel railing and contains futuristic furniture. The side of the booth facing the dance floor glows fluorescent blue. ... The latest local jock to spin regularly at John D. Guzman's "Vamp" is DJ Hollywood. The Drai's resident and KLUC 98.5-FM DJ performs Friday and Saturday nights from roughly 10:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. at the Napoleon's Lounge

-based party. ... Popular SoCal event "Club Velvet" returns to C2K on July 21. Acts scheduled to perform include Barry Weaver, Joe Coury, Cantrell and Fuller. ... The latest tentative opening date of Seven is the second week of August. The restaurant, which will be managed by Zohar Robin and "The Dragon" promoters Andrei Briley and Wayne Jefferies, will feature upscale dining and a variety of entertainment.

—M.O.