And that’s just opening night. The next day is Derby Day at
The Vine, the new downtown Santa Rosa
nightclub replacing Seven Ultralounge. Look for a big fat hat party, bourbon
tastings and mint juleps galore.

When new manager Aaron Buhrz finally gets to the part about
the country band, I realize he’s not kidding.

“I think on Memorial Day we’re gonna have a ‘kick off the
summer party’ with a country band and good barbecue.”

A twang fest at the old Seven? Wow, what a difference a new club owner makes.

On the outside of the building, he’s added a fresh coat of
white paint and a green-striped awning – giving it “more of an L.A. boutique feel.” Coming soon: “The Vine”
sign made out of broken-mirror mosaic. Inside, the slightly reworked
interior comes alive with plants and palm trees.

“It looked like the inside of a big machine, so the plants help
take the edge off of things,” says Burhz, who recently relocated to Santa Rosa
from San Francisco where he still runs The Beauty Bar in the Mission.

So, beyond the fauna, why The Vine?

“We like the idea that it’s the Wine Country and we also
wanted to have a kind of Hollywood feel to it, like Hollywood and Vine.”

Following in the footsteps of Seven and its two-year downward
spiral – a fatal shooting in a nearby parking garage, reported physical abuse
from bouncers, repeated cop calls, city of Santa Rosa intervention, liquor
license suspension – Buhrz says he’s definitely aware of the building’s history
and working to rebrand the venue on Seventh Street.

“I don’t believe we’re going to be throwing the same type of
parties. We’re going to be doing a lot of day parties.”

Derby Day kicks off at noon Saturday, with a live broadcast
of the Kentucky Derby, Southern food coming out of the kitchen and an area
where you can get your picture taken. Along with the Memorial Day twang party,
look for a Red Bull NASCAR themed party in June.

As for the music, he’s “importing DJs from the city for the
time being.”

“It’s just great party music. It’s not the chip-on-your-shoulder
type hip-hop that I see. It’s meant to be fun music to dance to and drink to,
not the whole attitude thing.”

DJ Omar, from SF’s Popscene, drops in for the opening night
party on Friday.

“We’re pretty much trying to eliminate that reputation (from
Seven) by having fun parties and having the security guards be friendly and
there to help, not to confront everybody who comes in.”

He’s considering bringing in a ’90s cover band. At this
point, there are no plans for themed nights, like an ’80s night, but he’s open
to ideas (”Sunday School” kids – are you listening?).

“I just want people to have fun,” Buhrz says. “It’s going to
be like a big events center. We want to have everybody come here and use it.
Every time we do a show, we’ll make little changes until we get it right and
the community knows that on this holiday we’ll be having this party. We’re just
gonna keep doing it until everybody knows.”