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Bars & Clubs Redux

In the rapture that was the Metro Santa Cruz Bars & Clubs issue last week, we left out a few of our town's faithful alcohol providers. BAROSSA GRILL, MICHAEL'S ON MAIN and MARGARITAVILLE ain't just restaurants, people--all three have full bars worthy of copious worship. Barossa Grill is at 515 Cedar St. in downtown Santa Cruz; they have a happy hour from 5pm to 7pm. Michael's on Main is located at 2591 Main St. in Soquel, with a happy hour Tuesday through Friday from 4pm to 6pm, karaoke on Wednesdays and live music just about every other night of the week. Margaritaville is on the Esplanade in Capitola and features live music several nights each week.

The Lowest Common Denominator

On one side of town last Sunday night, over at the Catalyst, was one of the most influential rap artists of all time, KRS-ONE, known for his powerful politically and socially conscious lyrics. On the other side of town, over at the Aptos Club, was another one of the most influential rap artists of all time, FRESH KID ICE of the infamous 2 LIVE CREW, known for some of the raunchiest lyrics ever recorded. It's been said that a man is nothing more or less than the lot of his decisions. Last Sunday night, I chose the guys who promised to be AS NASTY AS THEY WANNA BE.

How could I not? It might have been my only chance to relive my junior high school days when I first heard the thundering bass intro of "We Want Some Pussy" on my brother's stereo, which I promptly recorded and passed around to my friends like a dirty secret. The strange thing is, I could never have imagined then what I would see last Sunday night when the 2 Live Crew hit the Aptos Club stage. Fresh Kid Ice brought his tour dancers with him--two booty-licious women in tiny tank-tops and short shorts, jiggling like two bowls of Jello in an earthquake. The crowd of about 30 people gathered around the stage to ogle the women and listen to perennial 2 Live Crew favorites, including "C'mon Babe," "Me So Horny," and "The Fuck Shop." The few women in the house were invited onstage to join the crew and dancers, and this was when things got weird.

One of the audience members was wearing a dress so short it didn't even cover her butt completely. When she got up onstage, bent over and started shaking her ass, it was clear she wasn't wearing underwear. If you missed it the first time around, she got back up onstage, lay down on her back and spread her legs wide open. But the kicker was during "We Want Some Pussy," when everyone onstage was eating whipped cream off of each other, that the crotch queen stood up on chairs in the back of the stage, pulled her dress up and ... well, let's just say that in the Metro Santa Cruz preview, when Todd Inoue described shows in the past including "nearly-nekkid dancers, lap dances and oral sex onstage," he somehow predicted the future.

Strike a Key, There's Nothing to It: Moog

It's time to meet the inventor of the synthesizer--the man who brought electronic music to the masses--not only in the new documentary about him, but in person, at the Rio Theatre on Oct. 28, when ROBERT MOOG (rhymes with "vogue") will appear to chat about the groundbreaking equipment he invented that forever changed the face of popular music. While the film suffers a bit from an overemphasis on the man rather than the machine, Moog--who comes across as a cute and cuddly inventor with a taste for scientific spirituality--manages to carry the film by sheer force of personality, personally chatting with Moog enthusiasts like KEITH EMERSON (of EMERSON, LAKE and PALMER) and MONEY MARK (better known as BEASTIE BOYS collaborator DJ Money Mark). The soundtrack features a more impressive roster, including not only the aforementioned, but also NEW ORDER, THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, YES, DEVO, TORTOISE, MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO, STEREOLAB and a bunch more. Visit www.elsaproductions.com or www.roitheatre.com for more information.

Mike Connor

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From the October 27-November 3, 2004 issue of Metro Santa Cruz.

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