Safari Sam's ~ 5214 Sunset Blvd. ~ 323-666-7267 ~ Hollywood
Strip mall parking lots breed our city's best sushi and Armenian chicken restaurants, so it makes sense that getting faded aside a 99-Cent store at Sam Lanni's Safari Sam's is such a kick. Sometimes it takes a while to get get your shit together and even though the dark, sparse cave and live stage has been open for a few weeks, last Thursday found its official opening party kicking out the proverbial jams, I think with the sponsorship of the super-fine LA Weekly.
The crowd was heavy with hotties in ironic tees and thrift store gear. A sampling of Harajuku-esque Victorian Goths was in attendance making me wonder if powdered wigs were going to be the new trucker hats. A very social vibe ran through conversations and massive movements of dancefloor headbanging. But as randy as the crowd was making me, it's all about the music, mang......
The stage was dominated by the Hell-twisted demons of rock known as S.W.E.A.T. Karaoke (So We Eat All Toddlers?). Lest the soft-core "couples in nature" videos and Spandau Ballet covers of ordinary Karaoke turn you off, Sweat shoves a red hot poker in the bum of the genre, providing the breakneck riffs and crystal-meth addled drumming needed to blow up a fucking goddamned amplifier (which the badasses went and did).
H-word after H-word hit the stage with intimidatingly good range and natural rage. The pop n' metal melee peaked in a version of 'War Pigs' that made Bloodstock look like a Duff sisters concert. Alright, it wasn't that 'core, but the kids really went nuts, bombarding the Gogol Bordello stashed Freddy Mercury look-a-like singer with beers and cheers.
Safari Sam's books eclectic musical and performing acts, has two bars, a seductive dance floor, and lots of shaking booties. It's guaranteed to see a majority share of shattered eardrums, bleeding brains, and possibly some good high-speed chases on Sunset.
