Iguana

The owners of Iguana Cantina, a popular downtown Baltimore nightclub, told the city liquor board yesterday that they will stop hosting "college nights," alcohol-fueled events that are open to those 18 and older, because it became too difficult to police crowds for illegal alcohol consumption. The club's owners appeared before the board to respond to accusations that two underage patrons were served alcohol there. Despite the owners' promise to end college night "forever," the board fined them $1,000 for serving beer to a 20-year-old Westminster man in January.

Opening acts always complain about how hard it is to get an audience's attention. Talk to any musician who has spent time at the bottom of the bill, and sooner or later he or she will end up griping about having to play "while half the audience is still out in the parking lot.Fortunately, that's not something the Iguanas have to worry about: When they open for Jimmy Buffett this summer, they'll be where the crowd can't miss 'em -- on a flatbed truck in...

Chickens are in. Roosters, ducks and other such fair-feathered fowl - out. One beehive is OK, as are 50 pigeons and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs, albeit no more than 22 inches and 150 pounds. But say goodbye to caiman and snakes and lizards over 5 feet long. And that favorite of urban city pets, green iguanas? Fine, so long as they are between 30 inches and 5 feet long. And don't even think about getting a bear. Such are the proposed regulations handed down from the city's Health Department on exotic and farm animals, a long-nebulous area in the city code.

The Baltimore City Board of Liquor License Commissioners fined a popular downtown nightclub $2,500 yesterday for permitting underage patrons to consume alcoholic beverages on its premises on two occasions in recent months. Liquor board members said that even though staff members at Iguana Cantina had taken measures to ensure that underage patrons did not drink - including checking identification cards and making them use different colored cups - there was evidence that some had managed to drink at the club, a popular hangout for college-age people.

Iguana Cantina Iguana Cantina (and its celebrated weekly College and Ladies Nights) is a lively place to party. Now two years old, this Inner Harbor hot spot has assumed privileged status on the city's nightlife circuit among wild local co-eds. Where --124 Market Place Web site --iguanabalti more.com Call --410-244-0200 Notable --Weekly specials are famous among the local co-ed crowd. Thursday night is College Night, when those 18 and older are welcome. Friday night is Ladies Night, when $5 buys women all they can drink, all night long.

The tip came from a Towson student almost finished her sophomore year. A former sorority member who decided Greek Life wasn't for her, the student said Towson could be boring because parties seemed like they were filled with "all of the same people. " But recently, her friends were raving about Voltage Nightclub, the 12,000-square-foot club peculiarly located next to the Baltimore Travel Plaza right outside of Canton. It didn't matter to these students that Voltage, which opened in October, was once a Greyhound terminal or that it's located away from the city's hopping nightlife scenes.

A young man who was severely beaten on a dance floor packed with drunken patrons at a now-closed Baltimore nightclub can sue the owners and allege negligence, the state's second highest court has ruled. The court unanimously overturned a decision by a city Circuit Court judge who threw out the suit against the Iguana Cantina before it got to trial. The judge had ruled that the club's owners could not have predicted the fight that occurred in September 2008 and could not have "controlled this dangerous condition or situation.

This week's bar review is on Baltimore Soundstage, the music venue that replaces Mist (formerly Iguana Cantina) in the Inner Harbor. From the review : "Service is one of Soundstage's best qualities. The crowds have so far been uneven, and the bar and kitchen still haven't become fully operational. Meanwhile, the best thing that can be said about the room is that it'd be a great place to throw a homecoming dance. " Agree or disagree with the review? How was the City Paper party?

College nights have quietly returned to the Inner Harbor. Bourbon Street moved its college nights to the new Baltimore Soundstage earlier this month, the first time college nights have been held at the Inner Harbor since 2006, when they were banned over outcry from city and public officials about underage drinking. College nights at Bourbon Street were moved because the club is getting ready to close September 30. The last party was held September 1. General manager Sam Chaney said the parties will be held once a month instead of weekly, like at Bourbon Street.

Power Plant Live banned College Night three months ago, but two nearby bars are still promoting the drinking and dance parties, which continue to draw hundreds of young people to downtown Baltimore on Thursday nights. In mid-March, Power Plant Live officials dropped College Night after the city liquor board found credible evidence of underage drinking at two of the venue's bars. But the "18 to Party, 21 to Drink" festivities continue at two nearby clubs that are not part of Power Plant Live - Baja Beach Club, at 55 Market Place, and Iguana Cantina, at 124 Market Place.