Can't imagine club nights without a DJed house soundtrack, klatches of mod leather loungers, votive-rich interiors, fashionably beautiful twentysomethings and $9 designer martinis to go with your $15 cover charge?

Stay the heck away from Tsunami's.

The kids grooving between live music sets at Tsunami's appreciate the kind of rich visual poetry imbued in Kid Rock's "Cowboy" and Kanye West's "Gold Digger," often not immediately palatable to many house heads. They chase their Jagermeister shots with beer, smoke, curse, dance and air guitar. They dress for comfort, not to impress. They apologize when their head banging gets in your personal space.

A half-hour into my post-midnight Tsunami's visit last Friday, I was singing lyrics as diametrically opposed as "I can smell a pig from a mile away" and "If you ain't no punk holla, 'We want pre-nup!' " with as much passion as anyone else.

Tsunami's isn't all that pretty to look at. Its jumbled interior design accents — a thatch-framed bar, large saltwater fish tank, bamboo, surfboards, surf photos and promo beer banners — are reminiscent of a South Pacific-themed frat house party. And packed with enough warm bodies and smokers, the place can get hot and congested. Furniture? Grab a spare barstool, lean on something or be content to stand around.

Still, Tsunami's won me over with good service, an unpretentious and energetic crowd, diverse DJ spins, and a sweet 1 a.m. live set from Missing Dave.

Playing floor-level in a back room to an in-its-face three-dozen-strong crowd of friends and grazers, the always-appealing Honolulu rock band was amped and obviously having fun. Charismatic, strong-voiced lead Noelle Poole had a quintet of ballcapped boys up-front and all but in her Chuck Taylor All-Stars as she took on gritty Missing Dave originals and Drowning Pool, AC/DC and Papa Roach covers.

Cigarette smoke in the back room provided so much atmospheric texture, a couple of moving spots gave the illusion of large roaming searchlights. The room's black lighting all but screamed for velvet Jimi Hendrix posters.

A guy with a skull-and-crossbones headband, Harley-Davidson tee and jeans cocked an eye at me for male agreement when a girl walked by sporting a tank top and skirt combo that left less to the imagination than a Chris Columbus-directed Harry Potter film. I cocked my right eyebrow right back. Ah, the joys of wordless male bonding!

Long live live rock in clubs with low ceilings!

NIGHTSPOTTING

NextDoor film/music lounge and Cinema Paradise indie-film festival co-founder Sergio Goes is leaving both projects immediately to pursue his own work in the arts.

"It was really fun to put both together and watch them come to life," Goes said of the six-month-old downtown lounge and four-year-old film festival. "But I decided it was a good time to concentrate on my film and photography work again."

Helping start up and then run day-to-day operations of NextDoor took away time from his artwork and his 4-year-old son.

"I really began to feel I was beginning to neglect much of my focus of the last 15 years," he said. "Change is good. And I'm excited to go back to what I enjoy doing most."

Goes said NextDoor and Cinema Paradise will continue under the guidance of his co-partners Chris Kahunahana and Miguel Innis.

NextDoor will temporarily close after events this weekend. Permanent air conditioning will be installed, and a V.I.P. lounge and a second-floor catwalk built. NextDoor will reopen for a New Year's Eve party.

The venue will be home to Cinema Paradise for a second time next year.

Goes' immediate plans include lots of traveling, and directing a couple of sidelined feature film projects in Hawai'i and Brazil. He will continue to live and work here.

"There are maybe things that mean more to me than running a nightclub or a film festival," said Goes. "But I'm confident that both are in good hands."

Check out www.whoisnextdoor.com for DJ events today and Saturday at NextDoor.

Reach Derek Paiva at dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.