POP MUSIC / THOMAS K. ARNOLD : S.D. Security Firm Tells Iguanas, ‘No Pay, No Work’

A walkout last week by its American security force could jeopardize a popular Tijuana concert nightclub’s success in attracting young U.S. pop fans.

When Iguanas opened last May in the Pueblo Amigo shopping center, underage San Diegans were ecstatic. Because the drinking age in Mexico is 18, they could finally see the same caliber of big-name pop acts that played such north-of-the-border, 21-and-up concert clubs as the Bacchanal in Kearny Mesa and the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach.

Yet at the same time, many of these would-be Iguanas patrons were concerned about safety. They had heard some horror stories of the Tijuana bar scene and were reluctant to venture across the border at night.

Seeking to allay these concerns, the owners of Iguanas promised that an all-American security force would patrol both the club and its parking lot. They contracted with Staffpro Security, a San Diego company that provides bouncers for concerts at the San Diego Sports Arena, Humphrey’s, Symphony Hall and the California Theater.

The agreement called for “anywhere from four to 18 guards per event, depending on the act and the estimated attendance,” said Staffpro general manager Gus Kontopuls.

Last Wednesday, however, Kontopuls withdrew his men after failing to settle a protracted payment dispute that began a month after Iguanas opened.

“The checks started bouncing as early as June,” Kontopuls said. “The first bounced check, they made good right away, but after that it got harder and harder to get money out of them.

“The final straw was when they bounced two checks in a row, one in late August and the other, the one they replaced it with, in early September.”

Since then, he added, “they’ve avoided me at all costs, writing no further checks and not returning any of my phone calls.”

In mid-October, Kontopuls issued an ultimatum: Unless he received a cashier’s check or money order for “a substantial amount” of what he was owed by last Wednesday, he would pull out. By then, he said, the outstanding balance would be $10,000.

The deadline came and went without any payment, and Kontopuls promptly notified Robert Noble, the principle owner of Iguanas, that he was, indeed, pulling out--leaving Iguanas with in-house security only.

“Last weekend was the first weekend we weren’t at Iguanas,” he said, “and at this point, I’m ready to pursue legal action to get my money.

“Obviously, I’d like to work it out because it’s a good contract to have. But, if I’m not getting paid, no contract is that good.”

Kontopuls said he has yet to hear from Noble. Several attempts by The Times to contact Noble were also unsuccessful. And minority owner Jeff Gaulton said he was in the dark.

“I can’t shed too much light on it because I really only buy the talent,” Gaulton said. “But, to the best of my knowledge, Mr. Noble isn’t doing business with Staffpro any differently than he’s doing business with anyone else. He fully intends to pay them all off.”

Last Wednesday, there was a reception at the Hard Rock Cafe in

La Jolla for Vladimir Kuzmin and Dinamik, the Soviet rock band whose six-night stand at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art began the next night.

It was a chaotic affair. In the afternoon, Hard Rock staffers were belatedly told that Kuzmin didn’t have an extra guitar for the obligatory instrument-signing ceremony. So they rushed out and scoured the town for a blue Fender Stratocaster identical to the one he played, which was to be left on display at the restaurant after signing.

Then, shortly before Kuzmin’s scheduled arrival time of 10 p.m., promoter Scott Pedersen received a frantic phone call from the band. They had landed in Los Angeles and were all set to board a shuttle flight to San Diego when they discovered their luggage had been sent, by mistake, to the baggage claim area.

And, by the time they retrieved their luggage, their plane--the last San Diego-bound flight that night--had left, leaving them stranded at the airport.

Pedersen promptly hired a pair of vans to drive Kuzmin and his band to San Diego and then informed the anxious crowd of well-wishers at the Hard Rock Cafe of the estimated two-hour delay.

Three hours later, the first van pulled up--with band, with luggage, but without Kuzmin. He was in the second van, which had gotten lost and didn’t arrive until nearly a half hour after the first.

The night of chaos ended with some comic relief. While making his way through the crowd, Kuzmin suddenly froze, mid-step. He did a double take and then burst into laughter. The man sitting at a corner table wasn’t really Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, but an impersonator, Huntington Beach realtor Ronald Knapp.

For a second or two, however, Kuzmin wasn’t so sure. Quipped his interpreter, Elena Primakova: “It was frightening. Imagine flying 24 hours to get away from the Soviet Union, and then to see Gorbachev in San Diego.”

LINER NOTES: Two San Diego musicians have joined the other side by moonlighting as pop critics. Mike Keneally of Drop Control, back in town after a stint with Frank Zappa’s road band, writes concert previews and record reviews in the Reader. And the Jacks’ Buddy Blue (nee Seigal) reviews concerts for the Tribune. . . . Tickets go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. for Jethro Tull’s Dec. 8 concert at the Sports Arena. . . .

Best concert bets for the coming week: a resurrected Iron Butterfly, tonight at Winston’s in Ocean Beach; Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, Thursday at the Belly Up Tavern; the Biff Baby All- Stars, featuring Albert Lee, Friday at the Belly Up Tavern; local blue-eyed soulsters the Jacks, Saturday at Rio’s in Loma Portal; and Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, Sunday at the Belly Up Tavern.