POP MUSIC / THOMAS K. ARNOLD : Savvy Promoter Just Picks Up the Pieces, Starts Again

A year ago, things were going great for Park Place. Promoter Rick Tupper had just begun booking nationally known rock ‘n’ roll acts into the El Cajon nightclub on a regular basis. And the club’s weekly “KGB Night,” emceed by deejays from San Diego’s leading rock radio station, was entering its fourth year of attracting turn-away crowds every Thursday night.

But after producing nearly a dozen concerts at Park Place by the likes of the Bus Boys and the Outlaws, Tupper bowed out in early May, in the wake of an April 30 show by Black Oak Arkansas.

“Basically, (Park Place) told me I could no longer do concerts there,” Tupper said. “They were having budget problems, and, without the right budget, you simply can’t adequately promote big-name concerts.”

Last month, KGB, too, bowed out--for the same reason. “After four years, we reached an impasse regarding their budgetary commitments to our station,” said KGB account executive Terry Ash. “So we decided to end our involvement with them.”

Ash refused to elaborate, but a KGB source who asked to remain nameless said Park Place was “way behind” in its advertising payments. (Club manager Susan Hatch did not return several phone calls).

Since his exodus from Park Place last May, promoter Tupper has been quite the busy guy.

“It took me a couple of months to find some alternative venues,” he said, “and the first one was Mick’s P.B.”

Tupper’s inaugural production at the Pacific Beach nightclub, a July 8 concert by the Bus Boys, was a sellout. He has since found two other spots.

One is the Surfside Nightclub in Solana Beach, where he’s producing shows by the Bus Boys, tonight, and the Greg Kihn Band, Aug. 31. The other is the newly opened Diego’s El Cajon, into which Tupper has tentatively booked Foghat Sept. 10 and the Outlaws Sept. 24.

Tupper is also promoting concerts at nightclubs farther up the coast, including Joker’s in Huntington Beach and Kokomo’s and Mick’s in Irvine.

“If you’ve been in this business long enough, as I have, you not only come to expect setbacks, you learn how to deal with them,” he said.

“So, if you’re kicked out of one place, you immediately start looking for some place else.”

LINER NOTES: The Casbah nightclub in Middletown will play host to a four-day music festival tonight through Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Woodstock. Like the original, said Casbah co-owner Tim Mays, “our version of the Woodstock festival will include a wild assortment of rock, folk, rhythm-and-blues, blues, swing and psychedelic bands.” The first three nights will feature performances by 15 acts, all but two from San Diego. The lineup: The Unknowns, Candye Kane, Whei Whei T’Nango, Larry Brown, and the Purple Hand of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (featuring Jim Call, formerly of the Penetrators), tonight; Romy Kaye and Swingin’ Gates, the Trebels, the Towne Criers, Carnivorous Lunar Activity, and Scott Harrington, Thursday; and the Babylonian Tiles (from Orange County), the Bedbreakers, Happily Ever After (from San Francisco), the Healing Arts, and the Soul Brothers, Friday. The festival will end Saturday with deejays spinning dance records from the Woodstock era right up to the present. . . .

It has become standard practice in the concert business for promoters to sell corporate sponsorships to help defray expenses. In return, these sponsors get prominent mentions in all ads. Locally, Coca-Cola is presenting this summer’s concert series at San Diego State University’s Open Air Theater, and Security Pacific Bank is presenting the eighth annual Concerts by the Bay series at Humphrey’s on Shelter Island. The big guys, however, aren’t the only ones playing the game. The recent Tubes show at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach was presented by the nearby Roberto’s taco stand. . . .

Was (Not Was) lived up to their name when they appeared last Wednesday night at the Belly Up Tavern. One of the Was brothers who fronts the funky Detroit rock band, composer-bassist Don Was, was there. The other Was, lyricist-flutist David Was, was not. No word on where the missing Was was. . . . Carole King’s Saturday night concert at the Civic Theater will be filmed for an upcoming episode of the Disney Channel’s “Going Home” series. . . . Today marks the 12th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. . . .

Best concert bets for the coming week: San Diego cowgal-made-good Rosie Flores tonight at the Belly Up Tavern, 10,000 Maniacs on Saturday at the Open Air Theater, Gene Pitney on Sunday at Humphrey’s, the Who on Aug. 22 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium and bluegrass progenitor Bill Monroe, also Aug. 22, at Pomerado Club in Poway.