Issaquah Comes Alive At Babalouie's, Jokers

Music preview

Babalouie's, 3000 Issaquah Pine Lake Rd. Live entertainment Fridays and Saturdays. Tonight and tomorrow, Luv Crunch, 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Cover $4. 392-8949. Joker's Bar & Grill, 5614 E. Lake Sammamish Pkwy. S.E. Live entertainment Friday and Saturday. Tonight and tomorrow, the King Pins. 392-1225. Cover $4. -------------------------------------------------------------------

ISSAQUAH - What's going on in Issaquah? That quiet little community to the farther east has never been much of a club town, night life has been mostly restricted to a few taverns, an occasional grange dance and watching the workers at Darigold take a smoke break in their little white sanitary shower caps. Now within a couple of weeks of one another, not one but two Issaquah eat-and-drinkeries have introduced live music to the region. One is actually in the tony upper reaches of Pine Lake.

For Joker's down in the bottom land, entertainment isn't a new concept. For a few years it was a regular comedy spot, its Saturday comedy conclaves were well-attended. But the comedy fever eventually faded and it was discontinued.

More recently, though, Joker's began hosting Dead Night on Wednesday evenings, a concept that originally began at the downtown Issaquah Reunion Tavern. It's a new location, but the idea remains the same: Bring in your Dead tapes, bootlegs and other works, play them all night, drink beer. It's the kind of occasion that takes care of itself.

The live music nights essentially run the same way: Bring in the band, have it play all night, drink beer. It's the kind of occasion that can also take care of itself, provided the band shows up. Tonight and tomorrow the King Pins, who do basic across-the-boards rock 'n' roll, will be shaking it down at the Joker.

Up on the hill, it's a slightly more elaborate story. The recently opened Babalouies Grill & Sports Bar is owned by Lahaina Louie's in Redmond (Lahaina's, by the way, is now featuring comedy on Sunday night. This week the luau house features John Kennar and Stu Stewart at 8 p.m.) There's also another Babalouie's in the Juanita area. It doesn't have entertainment, but it does serve buffalo burgers.

The Pine Lake Babalouie's is an ambitious affair and one that's already receiving a lot of attention from the on-the-hill suburban community. It's a big facility, with a sizable restaurant, a full service, full liquor bar, big and small screen televisions everywhere with a continuous satellite sports feed, a separate room with pool tables and a row of electronic dart machines, outdoor seating - very popular when the nights stay even remotely warm - and private party facilities. The decor is bright and lively, the staff young, bright and lively and the overall ambiance is bright and lively. The bartenders are likely to be wearing Hawaiian shirts.

Tonight Babalouie's inaugurates its live entertainment policy with Luv Crunch. Luv Crunch works all over the greater Seattle area, playing new and old rock 'n' roll favorites and putting on a bright and lively, high-energy show.

Considering that things on the East Side have gotten a little thin in the entertainment department over the last couple of years, Joker's and Babalouie's move to live entertainment couldn't have come sooner. Not only will sleepy little Issaquah get to wake up and shake on the weekends, now the folks in Bellevue will have another place to go as well. What a blessing.