BEST BETS Friday 1/12

FOUNTAIN VALLEY

9pm

Pop Music

The sound of California country music provides the foundation for Bay Area honky-tonk band Red Meat, but the group’s musical tastes range wide enough to incorporate traces of Johnny Cash, Red Sovine and even Roger Miller. The band anticipates the release of its latest album, “Alameda County Line” (produced by Dave Alvin, who also produced its predecessor, “13”) at its show Friday at the Abilene Rose.

* Red Meat, Abilene Rose, 10830 Warner Ave., Fountain Valley. Friday, 9 p.m. Followed at 11 p.m. by Deke Dickerson. $8. (714) 963-1700.

SANTA ANA

8pm

Pop Music

Irish rock bands were a rarity when Thin Lizzy formed in 1970--even rarer were Emerald Isle rock groups fronted by black Irishmen, which is what initially attracted some attention to Thin Lizzy’s lead singer, bassist and songwriter Phil Lynott. By the mid-’70s, however, it was the group’s rhythmic attack and catchy twin-lead guitar work in such songs as “The Boys Are Back in Town” and “Jailbreak” that made the group well known in the U.S. as well as in Europe. Lynott, however, died of heart failure 15 years ago at age 36. Some of his former band mates, including guitarist Scott Gorham and John Sykes, are keeping the band’s memory alive with shows saluting Lynott. The rest of the current lineup consists of keyboardist Darren Wharton, bassist Marco Mendoza and drummer Tommy Aldridge.

* Thin Lizzy, Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana. With Knight Strike, Fetish. 8 p.m. $25 to $27. (714) 957-0600.

ANAHEIM HILLS

8pm

Theater

“The Pirates of Penzance” is Gilbert and Sullivan’s sendup of exacting Victorian notions of honor and duty, personified by Frederic, a young fellow with, shall we say, conflicted ideas about where his loyalties lie concerning the band of pirates that raised him. It all gets resolved in the end as all hands express loyalty to queen, country and matrimonial bliss. Director Kent Johnson helms his third Gilbert and Sullivan production at the Chance, having staged “The Mikado” and “HMS Pinafore” last year.

* “The Pirates of Penzance,” Chance Theater, 5576 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills. Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Feb. 18. $15 to $17.50. (714) 777-3033 or www.chancetheater.com.

SANTA ANA

8:30 pm

Theater

A man and a woman with a love-hate connection and a deeply shared secret have it out for keeps in a fleabag motel room in the California desert in Sam Shepard’s “Fool for Love.” A third character turns up as a surrealistic intrusion from the past and watches as old patterns repeat in this 1983 play.

* “Fool for Love,” The Hunger Artists Theatre Company, 204 E. 4th St., Suite I, Santa Ana. Fridays and Saturdays, 8:30 p.m.; Sundays, 7:30 p.m.; Jan. 29, 8:30 p.m. Ends Feb. 4. $10 to $12. (714) 547-9100.

HUNTINGTON BEACH

8pm

Theater

This is the 35th anniversary year for the refrain “Come to the cabaret old chum, life is a cabaret.” With a memorable score by John Kander and Fred Ebb, “Cabaret” opened on Broadway in 1966; the film version in 1972 made Liza Minnelli a star. The amours of showgirl Sally Bowles play out in a decadent Berlin cabaret under the shadow of the Nazis’ rise to power; the other key musical figure is the club’s ironical Master of Ceremonies, a role originated by Joel Grey.

* “Cabaret,” Huntington Beach Playhouse at Huntington Beach Central Library and Cultural Center, 7111 Talbert Ave. Thursdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Feb. 11. $14 to $17. (714) 375-0696.

LAGUNA BEACH

All day

Art

The densely textured cityscapes of Thai-born artist Suong Yangchareon and the telling portraits by Daphne Confar are new works on exhibit at the Peter Blake Gallery.

* Works by Daphne Confar and Suong Yangchareon, Peter Blake Gallery, 326 N. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. Daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ends Jan. 25. (949) 376-9994.