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Rocking St. Pat's Bennigan's Bar & Grill in Santa Clara host's an Irish blowout this Friday By Sarah Quelland CELEBRATE ST. PATRICK'S DAY with a blow-out rock & roll party and plenty of brew at Bennigan's Bar & Grill (4150 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara) this Friday (March 17). Powercordes Entertainment presents "Just Rock Me Bennigan's: St. Patrick's Day 2000" with live performances by Bay Area rockers Swarm, Venus Bleeding and Salmon. Last year's event with the Chums was wall-to-wall people, so this year the party has been extended into the parking lot, where a canopy tent will be set up to accommodate the high turnout. Dean Markley Strings is sponsoring the event, and door prizes will be awarded. Tickets to this all-ages show are $10. Doors open at 4pm; bands go on around 7pm. The Grand Fanali Presents third-annual battle of the bands, the Phatty Patty Fish Fest, will be held at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale on Saturday (March 18). This year's lineup includes Firmé, Corrosive Eight, Anti-45, Spishak, Super Funk and Home Skillet. Members of Ten in the Swear Jar will judge the friendly event. Kiss--with the original lineup of Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss--blows into the Oakland Arena on its epic farewell tour next Thursday (March 23). The band members swear this really is it; they are putting away the makeup and hanging up the heels for good. But who knows what the future holds? In the meantime, fans can look forward to this historic tour with Ted Nugent serving as main support and Skid Row opening. Skid Row was tapped for the honor after first choice Cheap Trick turned down the gig. Although details are scarce on the current Skid Row lineup, I can confirm that vocalist Sebastian Bach and drummer Rob Affuso are not participating. (Bach will be performing at Maritime Hall on March 31 with American Heartbreak.) Kiss has a new live album coming out to go along with the tour. Alive IV (with the whopping track list of "Psycho Circus," "Shout It Out Loud," "Deuce," "Heaven's on Fire," "Into the Void," "Firehouse," "Do You Love Me," "Let Me Go Rock & Roll," "I Love It Loud," "Lick It Up," "100,000 Years," "Love Gun," "Black Diamond," "Beth" and "Rock and Roll All Nite"), initially due on shelves March 28, has been pushed back to an April 18 release. As for the band members? After a role in a production of The Phantom of the Opera (that's different than 1978's campy KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park) in Toronto, Stanley may turn his sights toward more stage work. Simmons is working on a new film titled Wish You Were Dead and is co-producing a CBS made-for-TV movie called Rock and Roll All Night. For more info, visit www.kissonline.com. Paramount's Great America kicks off its season of headline entertainment with Sugar Ray and the Fingers on April 2 at 6pm in the park's 10,400-seat Redwood Amphitheater. Tickets are on sale now and prices (which start at $14.99 for season pass holders and top out at $44.99 for Gold Circle seats) include admission to all rides, shows and attractions. San Francisco's Maritime Hall sent out a cry for help last week in a press release asking for letters of support. The press release stated, "We are being harassed because we do hip-hop concerts and raves, as well as other forms of music. We are the sixth club in the South of Market Area to be either closed or threatened with closure. ... We have a nearly perfect record with only 18 police reports over five years with no major crimes associated with the venue. This is politically motivated and unjust." Have something to say? Send letters to Maritime Hall, c/o Save Maritime, 450 Harrison St, #303, San Francisco, 94105 or email [email protected]. PLAN AHEAD: Flogging Molly and Hayride to Hell, March 19 at the Usual; George Clinton, March 19 at the Warfield in San Francisco; Methods of Mayhem, March 20 at the Fillmore in San Francisco; Fiona Apple, March 22 at the Warfield; Mr. T Experience, Groovie Ghoulies, Not Hot and Moodfrye, March 24 at the Cactus; Lonely Kings, March 24 at the Catalyst; Krenshaw and Stitch, March 25 at Gaslighter's Music Hall in Gilroy; Incubus, March 28 at the Fillmore; No Doubt, April 15 at the Warfield; Patti Smith, April 15-16 at the Fillmore; Beck, May 2 at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco; the Cure, June 2 at Shoreline Amphitheatre; Ricky Martin, July 24 at the Oakland Arena. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]