Get caught with Trout

In this aged of “canned” entertainment, where even megastars lip-sync during “live” performances, the chance to see a music legend in person in a small venue is a rare treat.

Huntington Beach will be presented with just such an opportunity Friday and Saturday, when guitar virtuoso Walter Trout plays at Perqs nightclub, perhaps for the last time.

“Playing at Perqs used to be like playing for friends, and sometimes I would know everyone there by their first name,” said Trout, who has been a mainstay at the venue for more than three decades.

Perqs was managed since 1974 by Gary Mulligan, who died in 2008. His ownership share was left to his wife, who no longer is interested in managing the club, according to current Manager Jim O’Donnell. Mulligan had silent partners for years, and as of Oct. 1, they will be taking over management of Perqs.

The upcoming gigs are being billed on local cable television and on posters in the club as “Trout and Mulligan’s Last Stand.” The performances are dedicated to Mulligan, and a memorial plaque will be unveiled Friday.

The way the shows are being billed, the change in ownership, and the fact that the new management is completely unknown to him all lead Trout to wonder if he will ever enter Perqs again as a performer.

“There is the real possibility the new owners will sell the property and it will become just another downtown pink boutique,” said Trout, who noted that his two performances at Perqs will be his band’s only Orange County appearances in all of 2009.

Formerly named the Capri, the nightclub was renamed the Main Street Saloon by Mulligan. With a small, 6-foot-high stage, leather booths and pool tables, the bar soon became known for hosting live music, usually rock or blues. Trout, then in his early 20s, arrived in California looking for steady gigs at almost the exact time the new bar opened in 1974

Trout eventually fronted the house band and rented a room above the bar for several years. As his worldwide fame and popularity grew, he would always come back to Perqs whenever he wasn’t touring.

Born in 1951, Trout was raised by a music-loving family in Ocean City, N.J. A turning point occurred on his 10th birthday when his mother introduced him to Duke Ellington, who, along with members of his band, gave Trout impromptu music lessons and showed him a career in music was possible.

Trout’s interest turned to guitar in the early 1960s as folk music became popular, and seeing the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” ignited his love of the electric guitar. In 1973, Trout came to California on vacation and found a thriving club scene. He soon moved here and built a reputation playing with many notable artists, including John Lee Hooker, Big Mama Thornton and Joe Tex, and eventually joined Canned Heat. In 1984, Trout was asked to be a guitarist in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers.

Trout, who embarked on a solo career in 1989, tours about eight months per year, splitting his time between the U.S. and Europe. These days, his family tours with him all summer and his sons’ band, Sibling Rivalry, opens for him. Trout lives in Huntington Beach, which he says reminds him of his childhood stamping grounds.

When Trout first starting playing at the Main Street Saloon, downtown was a much rougher place. At that time, the club was frequented by Marines, sailors and bikers. Trout’s bass player was also the bartender and between songs would rush back to the bar to pour beer. Trout said Mulligan, his friend and landlord, could always provide regular gigs.

“[He was] the strongest, most determined Irishman I have ever known,” Trout said.

Mulligan waged many wars with Huntington Beach, which, at various times, tried to condemn the building or seize it to make way for redevelopment.

According to Trout, Mulligan fought cancer with the same tenacity, but eventually succumbed.

Trout, who laments how the city has changed over the years, said he hopes some of the old crowd will show up at this weekend’s gigs.

“I’ve had calls from all over the country asking me to reserve tables,” O’Donnell said, adding that Trout’s fears of never playing at Perqs again may be unfounded, because the club plans to continue with live music.

Nevertheless, if Friday and Saturday turn out to be his last nights at Perqs, Trout has a simple goal: “go out in style.”

IF YOU GO

Who: Walter Trout

When: 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Where: Perqs, 117 Main St., Huntington Beach

Cost: $20

Information: (714) 960-9996