BACKYARD PARTY WITH THE GOO GOO DOLLS; BAND ROCKS OXNARD HOME.

Byline: David Greenberg Staff Writer

Brian Ahara celebrated Labor Day living a rock 'n' roll fantasy with some good company.

Having been selected from 2.3 million entries in the fourth annual VH1 Big Backyard BBQ contest, the 26-year-old Oxnard resident hosted punk rockers the Goo Goo Dolls, moshing with 100 friends and selected guests before a live televised audience.

``It's real exciting that this huge band is playing in my back yard,'' Ahara said prior to the show. ``It blows me away every time I think about it or look out in my back yard and see the stage. It's definitely a good way to end the summer and by far the biggest Labor Day party I've ever been to.''

VH1's 65-member crew arrived Wednesday to transform his yard from a playground for his frequent baby-sitting chores - his sister, Camarillo resident Stacey Evans, has two small boys - into a outdoor concert hall.

Gone were the two dilapidated sheet metal sheds, one of which rusted to the point where it fell over, a wagon and scattered toys.

In their place was a makeshift stage with stacks of amplifiers on each side and an above-ground pool that served as a popular viewing area for bikini-clad women braving the overcast skies and frigid water.

Ahara, a business consultant, gets to keep the pool, as well as $3,000 in cash and a barbecue grill, as winner of the contest, which he entered via the Internet in June.

``I just entered because I thought it'd be really cool to win,'' he said. ``I've never won anything. But I thought it was worth a shot.''

Previous winners have hosted concerts in Niagara Falls, N.Y. (John Mellencamp), Myrtle Beach, S.C. (Jon Bon Jovi) and Staten Island, N.Y. (B-52s).

Ahara, however, is the first winner whose back yard was large enough to hold the concert, allowing the production crew to shirk the responsibility of finding an alternative location.

``Their space has to be accessible to set up a band, security, a catering event and you have to have room for a production truck,'' said Mark McIntire, the network's marketing vice president.

The 100 guests, including 20 that Evans invited, feasted on baby-back ribs, soda and beer before the start of the show, which was broadcast live to the East Coast and delayed three hours until 7 p.m. for the West Coast.

The Goo Goo Dolls, who hail from Buffalo, N.Y., belted out a 10-song set that included the hits ``Naked,'' and ``Name'' from its 1995 breakthrough platinum disc ``A Boy Named Goo.''

They ended the show with ``Iris,'' a smash hit from the ``City of Angels'' soundtrack that is included on the band's 1998 disc, ``Dizzy Up The Girl.''

For the band, which toiled for a decade in smoky, off-the-beaten-path clubs before hitting stardom that including warming up a leg of the Rolling Stones most recent tour, the Backyard BBQ was a pleasant return to yesteryear.

Nursing a beer on the tour bus following the show, John Rzeznik, the band's tattooed lead singer and guitarist, recalled a date on the band's previous tour where the paid attendance could be counted on two hands.

``That was the Augusta, Ga., show,'' he said with a smile. ``But it was the weekend of The Masters (golf tournament).''

Monday's concert, which coincides with the band's status as VH1's ``Artists of the Month,'' forced the group to acclimate itself to something alien to most musicians: commercial breaks every two or three songs.

But the band took it in stride, telling off-color jokes during the down time and inviting audience members to do the same.

``It breaks the rhythm,'' Rzeznik said afterward. ``It was definitely strange, but you've got to think on your feet, man.'' Concertgoer Dawn Kroskey, a 24-year-old Oxnard resident, said the entire setup had a surreal quality to it.

``It's kind of like a dream,'' she said. ``I used to suntan in this back yard. Now it doesn't even look like the same back yard.''

Although Ahara has an unlisted phone number, Evans said she was deluged with phone calls from strangers since Ahara's name went over the airwaves as the contest winner three weeks ago.

One caller even offered to spend the afternoon pouring beer in exchange for placement on the guest list.

``I told them the guest list is already full,'' Evans said. ``I can't even invite a couple of my friends. So I'm not going to invite strangers.''

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Above, the Goo Goo Dolls' lead singer, John Rzeznik, sings to enthusiastic fans Monday at a home in Oxnard. Left, party host Brian Ahara introduces the band at his house.

(3 -- color) Goo Goo Dolls lead singer John Rzeznik, left, and bassist Bobby Takac play on Monday in the back yard of an Oxnard home.

(4 -- color) Partygoers in a pool ham it up for a television camera Monday in Oxnard.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer