Leslie's, Leslie's Too Cater To Two Crowds

Leslie's, 9522 Bridgeport Way S.W., Newsboys through Sunday; Leslie's Too, 11521 Bridgeport Way S.W., Kar2nz tonight and tomorrow.

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-- TACOMA

Last Friday night, because of its proximity to McChord Air Force Base and the Army's Fort Lewis, a good deal of the clientele at Leslie's were military personnel. The television monitors were tuned to CNN's war coverage, including the first Iraqi missile strikes on Israel, but Leslie's reputation as a fun, crowded gathering spot was undaunted by even the war.

The disc jockey, wrapping up a set that included AC/DC's ``You Shook Me All Night Long'' and Lynryd Skynryd's ``Sweet Home Alabama,'' boomed out to the crowd, ``If you plan to get naked tonight, let me hear you scream!'' The crowd exuberantly screamed, and then rhythm-and-blues band Tacoma Vice took the stage and launched into several songs from the M.C. Hammer hit catalog.

Times like this have garnered a reputation for Leslie's, a combination nightspot and restaurant that has prospered during its first 10 years in South Tacoma. Last month, owner Leslie Skelly decided it was time for expansion, yet he did it in a somewhat unconventional way - into a second building.

``We had to turn away people on the weekends, it was that full,'' said Nelson Ishii, manager of both Leslie's and the new Leslie's Too. ``And when we had the opportunity to open another club, we decided to go for it.''

The new club, a mile east of the old club on Bridgeport Way in Tacoma's Lakewood neighborhood, opened Dec. 17, and although it doesn't have the established reputation of its well-known counterpart, it is beginning to find its own niche as a more modern, well-heeled club.

``It's a bit more nightclubbish,'' Ishii says of Leslie's Too, ``while the other club is a bit more rock 'n' roll.'' Both clubs are covered by one cover charge, with 40 percent of the clientele shuttling back and forth between the two. Both clubs feature Top-40, rock, and rhythm-and-blues bands. But the similarities end there.

Leslie's Too has kept one corner a rustic game area, with a collection of pool tables and an electronic dart board, but the club is dominated by a glossy-looking checkerboard dance floor surrounded by state-of-the-art light and sound systems. Leslie's, on the other hand, has a louder but less acoustically perfect sound system and time-tested wood floors.

``Leslie's Too seems to be catering to more affluent, yuppie types,'' Ishii said, ``while Leslie's has a little more of what you'd call the average guy. A lot of GIs come here after their tour of duty is over.''

Both Leslie's, which carries live bands Tuesdays through Sundays, and Leslie's Too, which has live bands Mondays through Saturdays, rely on a formula of alternating live and recorded music. Although many of the groups featured are from the Tacoma area, some of the most-established Seattle Top-40 groups, like Aurora and Boy Toy, have played at Leslie's.

Fire will be playing from Tuesday through Feb. 3 at Leslie's; Geneva at Leslie's Too Monday through Feb. 2.

Phil West is a freelance writer who lives in Renton.