Something you don’t see every day

If you walked into Pee-wee’s Playhouse on acid and outlaw Jesse James was belly-up to the bar playing drums with vintage wrenches, you’d kind of have an idea of what Weber’s Place looks like.

But even those images aren’t strong enough. Add a stagecoach full of people drinking beer straight out of the pitcher while rocking out to a hillbilly version of the Damned, and the picture of this far-out nightspot in Reseda gets clearer. Or blurrier, depend on where you’re sitting.

The stagecoach is real, and it’s just one of the oddities that give Weber’s its “surreality.�

“I dig all the crazy vintage tools and details,� says Fred Dickson, a musician who made the trek from Santa Barbara. “I don’t think there’s really any place like this.�

To wit: There are showgirl legs in fishnets sticking out of a huge ship’s vent cowl hanging over the dance floor. Now that’s not something you see every day. Then there are the large luscious lips that open up to the kitchen -- a window where late-night munchies pop out. Weber’s is the kind of place you expect to see barstools hanging from the ceiling and do.

The kitsch-filled bar, which has been around for three decades, was purchased four years ago by the husband-and-wife team of Steve and Annie Williams.

“Annie and I had always dreamed of owning a bar,� says Steve Williams, senior financial analyst for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge. “Weber’s was one of the most popular locales in the west San Fernando Valley when it first opened in the ‘80s.... We began to seriously promote Weber’s as a venue for original bands six months ago and it’s been a great success.�

Thanks in no small part to Williams, an avid music lover with a huge appetite for all styles.

“I get mental and intellectual excitement from hearing a new, great song,� says Williams, who shares booking duties with his sons, Ryan, 15, and Kevin, 6. “The little one’s becoming quite the headbanger.�

Such hard-edged bands as Seven40Seven, Einstein, Indofrunbah and Armored Within are among Weber’s favorites, and the club’s guests seem happy to be seeing bands at a club that’s so relaxed.

“This place is cool,� patron Carm Soto says. “I never even heard of Reseda, but the energy and vibe here is really good.�

Soto took the trip from Downey to see the Deep Eynde, a punk band whose recent Weber’s appearance brought out a pleasantly motley crew of L.A. misfits. It was perfect for a setting in which a giant barrel of monkeys swings above your head.

To round out the decor, there’s a smattering of pinball machines downstairs and a pool table upstairs, which is where the stagecoach is. It’s like getting a chance to sit in Cinderella’s coach while it’s morphing back into a tattered pumpkin, but it makes for a fine quasi-VIP booth.

“It’s like being in the country,� says Fate Fatal, the singer of the Deep Eynde. “Driving by, you wouldn’t even know it’s here. You kind of have to know somebody. That’s kind of the magic of it.�

Which isn’t to say it’s exclusive by any means. Judging by the huge diversity of the crowd -- and seriously, think big -- everything and anyone goes here.

“Our goal from the beginning was to provide an establishment that is warm and welcoming to practically anyone,� says Williams, who plans to renovate the well-worn club in coming months.

One thing for sure: Weber’s is an excellent place to break all your New Year’s resolutions. By the end of the night, the tempting smells of fried food wafting out from between those big red lips might just cause you to dive into a half-pound burger with extra onion rings.

Says Fatal: “Hollywood should be so lucky to have a place like this.�

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Heidi Siegmund Cuda can be reached at weekend@ latimes.com.

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Weber’s Place

Where: 19312 Vanowen St. (at Tampa Avenue), Reseda

When: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays; 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays

Price: No cover

Info: (818) 345-9800