Welcome to the areas only Hollywood-style bar. Owned by Jason and Lucinda Barnette, Lucky 13 was bought by Lucinda and Jason in December of 2004 and opened up just two weeks later. I asked Jason and Lucinda why they opened this place and they had several reasons. Initially, Jason wanted a place where he could play with his band. He was tired of lugging equipment around – not just the bands instruments, but often times whole pa systems, “It was a hassle because places were often ill-equipped.” Opening up your own place solves that - Lucky 13 has a stage and a full light, sound, pa system, and plenty of room for patrons to boogey down with the band.
Of course that wasn’t the only reason. “We wanted a place that we would like to go to ourselves” And I knew what they meant, while Fresno has a lot of great places to go there isn’t a place like Lucky 13 anywhere around here. You have your River Park north side scene which can be a lot of fun. There is the Tower scene, the whole college crowd scene (Which to me, is places like On the Rocks or Porky’s.) and there is the Old Town Clovis night life going on, (By the way I hate it when people say there’s no places to go in Fresno, there’s a million places to go – you just got to get dialed in) but before Lucky13, you didn’t have any Hollywood type bars. I mean, Lucky 13 has a very definite rock and roll vibe – totally unique.
Also what is very important to Lucinda and Jason is having a place where women feel safe. Some times when people think ‘Hollywood” or “Rock” Bar, they think “seedy dive.” Lucky 13 is nothing like that. – They have a private security staff and a great rapport with law enforcement. “We have a zero tolerance on any type of criminal activity.” They want all their patrons to be completely comfortable, and they have achieved that. The staff is courteous and professional and the place has a great atmosphere. I have been there quite a few times and always felt perfectly safe and comfortable.
The decor is pretty cool too. I mentioned to Jason and Lucinda that it reminded me of an episode of Cribs when Rob Zombie’s house was on. Jason pointed out a poster from Rob Zombie’s “House of 1000 Corpses” and Lucinda mentioned that her daughter’s boyfriend Dexter who had worked on Chris Angel’s “Mindfreak” had gotten the poster from the original release of the movie – that was neat.
On Fridays and Saturdays they have live music. “Metal Head,” Jason’s 80’s tribute band plays every Saturday and “13th Hour” a great house cover band plays every Friday. This line up has been very successful for them - both bands draw a great crowd. Also on Saturdays, New Rock 104.1 does a live feed hosted by ‘The Reverend’. On Thursdays, ‘Spotman’ from 95.7 The Fox does his “Outlaw 80’s Show”. Every other Wednesday is “Club Tyranny” a DJ Group that spins everything from rock to Goth, punk and industrial. Mondays is “Horror movie night,” which is a lot of fun - they throw up a horror film on a big screen and serve popcorn. Finally, starting October 2nd and every Sunday thereafter, Lucky 13 will have Karaoke hosted by Bryan Bradley. And the cool thing about that is you get to be on a real stage (it’s not like a lot of places where they stick you in a dark corner with a mic and a little screen to read off of), and Bradley has a very professionally done catalog with a huge selection of really good rock music to choose from, in addition to all the other classic Karaoke favorites.
They, of course, have all the bar requisites like a pool table (some Tuesdays a pool league comes in), a jukebox and a full service bar. Also they’re open seven days a week from 11 am to 2 am. Lucky 13 is a great time and a great place to party, or just max and relax, so come check it out!
Lucky 13 is located at 4113 W. Swift in Fresno (just west of the 99 overpass, off of Ashlan next to Diamond Billiards). For info call (559) 275-9900
|
