Crash Mansion celebrates with Bravery, Switches

The early buzz on the new venue Crash Mansion has been mixed. The downtown venue has been up and running for a while, playing host to some lively club nights and the occasional live show and, recently, trying to overcome the black eye it received when a patron was gunned down in a nearby parking lot in early January.

On Saturday night, the 1,200-capacity club -- the kid sister of the hot NYC venue Crash Mansion -- will put on its best face for its grand opening, featuring the Bravery and U.K. newcomers Switches. The headliner is a known commodity here, having played plenty of L.A. shows since "The Sun and the Moon" invaded the airwaves. Switches' debut "Lay Down the Law" comes out March 18 (Interscope). If you're looking for swagger and energy, it could be your party-starter; if you're looking for originality, move on. Switches borrow heavily from the likes of Queen and ELO (is it just me, or is "Drama Queen" [on their MySpace] just a reworked "Don't Bring Me Down"?) and seem to delight in it. Is there such a thing as background glam?

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what Crash Mansion (being booked by ex-Key Club talent buyer Roger LeBlanc) can bring to the table. Judging from the faux-historical murals inside and the doorman who seem to enjoy having a line (even when the music has started and the club is less than a quarter full, as I experienced in December), it could be a slice of Sunset Strip coming downtown. If you like that sort of thing.

Highlights for the weekend, Feb. 1-2-3

For those who remember "Reality Bites" fondly -- and those who rightfully used "Stay (I Missed You)" as an entree to her music -- Lisa Loeb is playing two in-store performances this weekend to support the release of "The Purple Tape," her 1992 recording that is coming out on CD (with expanded packaging) for the first time. She'll play acoustic at 7 tonight at the Barnes and Noble in the Grove and at 7 p.m. Saturday at Borders in Torrance (3700 Torrance Blvd.)

Also tonight: Autolux and Heath bring the noise at the El Rey, while Matt Costa (with the Delta Spirit in tow) plays the first of two sold-out nights at the Troubadour. ... A-Trak and Kid Sister party among the artifacts at the Natural History Museum. ... Bodies of Water and Castanets perform at Club Underground at the Echo.

Saturday: The Aquabats perform at the benefit for cancer-stricken Tony Carbone of Bikeride. It's at the Glass House. ... Sherwood and the Matches play a MySpace Records show at the Knitting Factory. ... Mere Mortals and the Black Kites play Spaceland, while the Deadly Syndrome (explosive as usual on Thursday at Spaceland) plays the Scene in Glendale.

Sunday: Hungarian rockers the Moog play Safari Sam's, and the Tartans achnor the bill at the Scene.

-- Kevin Bronson