Little Rockin’ at Dry Country Club : Nightspot’s No-Alcohol, No-Dance Era Kicks Off on Sour Note

The Country Club’s first night without permits to serve alcohol and hold dances was as tame as the black cherry-flavored soda on a shelf where the best whiskey was once kept.

The Los Angeles City Council revoked the permits Tuesday after years of complaints by neighbors about noise and unruly customers.

About 100 people showed up Thursday to see a San Francisco hard-rock band perform at the 982-seat Reseda club, which for years has been the San Fernando Valley’s premier rock-music night spot.

But many said the place wasn’t the same without dancing and drinking.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this except for evangelical religion,” Lesa MacEwan, 24, of West Los Angeles, said of the City Council action that stripped the club of the right to serve liquor and allow dancing.

“It’s dead,” Michelle McCord, 18, of Canoga Park, said of the club’s atmosphere.

‘Can’t Have Fun Just Sitting’

Although the guitars of the band Vicious Rumors were screaming in the background, she said: “You can’t have fun just sitting here.”

Most of the crowd sat near the stage or milled about in front of it, where dancing used to be. Some longed for a beer or a cocktail.

“I like to sit and have a beer . . . when I come to a place like this,” said Robert Sanchez, 35, of East Los Angeles. “Now I’ve got to go over to Sav-On and have a couple of quick beers before I come in.”

It was bartender Ron McAdams’ job to tell customer after customer that he couldn’t sell alcoholic beverages. On this night, the chain securing his tip jar protected only two shiny quarters.

“I guess I’ll have to give up the yacht,” McAdams said.

For Tim Landis, whose family is part owner of the 10-year-old club, loss of the conditional-use permits didn’t sink in until Thursday afternoon when he saw his reflection in the mirror behind the bar instead of rows of liquor bottles.

“It’s depressing,” he said. “When all the liquor was up there, it was like we still had a chance. I was embarrassed to even come down to the bar tonight.”

Neighborhood complaints about drunk customers, which got the attention of area Councilwoman Joy Picus, were the club’s undoing.

The neighbors complained that drunk patrons left spent beer containers, urinated and engaged in lewd acts outside the establishment. Picus said the neighborhood had suffered too long and persuaded the full council to not renew the club’s permits.

Landis is circumspect about the complaints. He acknowledged there have been problems but said: “We’re not as big a problem as everybody else makes us out to be.”

The owners want to keep the club open as long as possible, he said.

But some doubt that the Country Club can survive without alcoholic beverages and dancing.

“It’s going to make it very difficult to have bands,” said Bob Pfeifer, a music industry talent scout who was at the club Thursday night.

“It’s empty,” he said. “If this is what happens during the next 2 weeks, it’s over.”