Sam Lanni

In two tenures as a nightclub owner, Sam Lanni has been at the center of a lot of things -- counterculture, controversy, maybe even contretemps. On a recent Tuesday night, Lanni, 51, stood in the middle of a throng of youthful scenesters on the patio of his Safari Sam's, a 4-month-old restaurant-nightclub precariously situated at the midpoint between two Los Angeles worlds, Hollywood and Silver Lake, and somewhere between harsh financial reality and its namesake's dreams.

In two tenures as a nightclub owner, Sam Lanni has been at the center of a lot of things -- counterculture, controversy, maybe even contretemps. On a recent Tuesday night, Lanni, 51, stood in the middle of a throng of youthful scenesters on the patio of his Safari Sam's, a 4-month-old restaurant-nightclub precariously situated at the midpoint between two Los Angeles worlds, Hollywood and Silver Lake, and somewhere between harsh financial reality and its namesake's dreams.

Orange County's most adventuresome and eclectic concert club, Safari Sam's in Huntington Beach, has halted live music after police warned the club's operators on Sunday that they would be cited or arrested if they continued to stage live entertainment.

The coffin was only cardboard, constructed from empty beer cases and spray-painted black. A small band of musicians played a funeral march as four "pall bearers" hoisted the makeshift casket and led a procession of nearly 100 mourners to a fire ring on Huntington Beach, where the coffin was ceremoniously burned.

The coffin was only cardboard, constructed from empty beer cases and spray-painted black. A small band of musicians played a funeral march as four "pall bearers" hoisted the makeshift casket and led a procession of nearly 100 mourners to a fire ring on Huntington Beach, where the coffin was ceremoniously burned.

Re "Is This the End of the Party?" [Dec. 30]: In my work of producing, promoting and managing artists, I have been a strong advocate of more freedom in our society for over 25 years. I have always known that regulations, and the bureaucracies that create them, stifle commerce -- and worse, make it very difficult to compete against large corporations and chain stores. For many years now, artists have stood for socialistic management. They stand for a Trojan horse. In reality, the upsurge in art movements and entrepreneurial activity is now happening in places like Prague as well as the decayed downtowns in the U.S. For many years, it was easy to hide activities downtown because the regulators were not watching.

Scrappy little Safari Sam's nightclub has shifted operations to downtown L.A. after club owner Sam Lanni lost his lease on the Sunset Boulevard location where he's been hosting a variety of pop shows since 2006. The new 700-capacity location is at the Regent Theatre at 4th and Main streets, and shows resume Friday with 45 Grave, followed Sunday and Nov. 2 by the Emergenza Festival. The Tiger Lillies appear Nov. 6, Junkyard will play Nov. 15 and Fastball arrives on Nov. 17. It will be billed as Safari Sam's at the Regent Theatre, and the club's all-ages policy will continue in the new space.

The fifth annual Orange County Music for the Needy Christmas show will be held Dec. 17 at the Coach House, according to organizer Jim Palmer of Orange's Plaza Booking. The daylong Sunday concert by county musicians will raise money, canned goods, toys and other items to aid needy county families designated by St. Barbara's Church in Santa Ana.

A couple of Orange County-based rock acts are scheduled to have videos debut on MTV. "Gettin' Close To God" by National People's Gang debuts this weekend on the "120 Minutes" alternative-rock video program, which runs from 11:30 p.m. Sunday to 1:30 a.m. Monday. The video includes live concert footage shot at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano, plus an appearance by the band's manager, former Safari Sam's impresario Sam Lanni.

The future of Orange County original music clubs will be examined today by a panel including local government officials, club owners and musicians. The meeting, sponsored by the Orange County Entertainment Writers Assn., will be held at 4 p.m. at Domino McFly's restaurant, 4248 Martingale Way, Newport Beach.

Orange County's most adventuresome and eclectic concert club, Safari Sam's in Huntington Beach, has halted live music after police warned the club's operators on Sunday that they would be cited or arrested if they continued to stage live entertainment.

The former owner of Safari Sam's nightclub in Huntington Beach lost the first round of an effort to establish a multi-faceted contemporary cultural arts complex in Costa Mesa when the Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday night to deny a conditional use permit for the project. "It's an exciting concept," Commissioner Edward H. Glasgow said before entering a motion to deny the permit.

The catastrophic fire that razed Big John's Billiards in Anaheim on Sunday morning left Orange County's rock music community collectively stunned at the destruction of one of only two places in the county where young bands could play original music. "Oh, wow! This changes everything," said an audibly shaken Jim Palmer, the independent booking agent who had brought literally hundreds of aspiring groups into the pool hall that became a nightclub each Friday and Saturday night.