POP MUSIC : Rio’s Not Even Singing ‘How Dry I Am’ Anymore

The Rio’s story is finally over. The Loma Portal nightclub, which for the last three years has been one of the few places in town to regularly showcase local bands that play original music, shut its doors for good Sept. 21 after a protracted and bitter battle with the state Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) department.

“Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of clubs in San Diego that feature original music, so the closing of Rio’s is particularly hard to take,” bassist Michael Davis said. His former band, Secret Society, played Rio’s at least once a month.

“Sometimes, I wonder if the ABC has it out for the clubs in this town,” said Steve Saint, singer-songwriter with Club of Rome and the editor of San Diego Music magazine. “It seems a lot of clubs are having trouble with either their noise limits or alcohol or some other technicality. And is it my imagination, or do they tend to pick the original-music clubs to hassle?”

The closure of the 400-capacity nightclub came less than four months after the ABC effectively revoked club owner Cameron Moshtaghi’s liquor license because Rio’s wasn’t doing enough food business to meet the Type 47 license requirements.

Since then, Rio’s has been operating as a booze-less 18-and-over club, but the resultant dip in revenues eventually proved too much to bear.

“All summer long, we tried very hard to go without alcohol,” Moshtaghi said, “but we just can’t make it with soft drinks alone any longer.”

The battle lines were first drawn in 1987 when Moshtaghi bought the former Halcyon, a combination restaurant/Top 40 nightclub, and acquired a Type 47 liquor license from the old owner.

After an extensive remodel, in which kitchen operations were reduced and some restaurant space was merged into the nightclub area, Rio’s was born.

The ABC issued a series of warnings to Moshtaghi that he wasn’t complying with the license, said Pete Case, district administrator of the ABC’s San Diego office. In June, 1988, the ABC found Moshtaghi in violation of his license, fined him $800 and ordered him to operate what Case terms “a bona fide public eating place,” just like the Halcyon had been.

Moshtaghi subsequently reopened the kitchen and hired a full-time cook. “But then nobody wanted to eat,” he said. “We kept throwing out all that food, but because of the stupid ABC rule, we had to have it.”

That fall, Moshtaghi was found in violation a second time. “This time, my attorney said they’re wrong and we’re going to fight it,” he said. “We had everything they told us to have--food, a cook on duty--and if the people weren’t eating, it wasn’t our fault.”

Oh yes it was, Case maintains. “How could he expect people to eat with all that din?” Case said. “He’s supposed to be primarily a restaurant, not a hard-rock club. And if you look at that thing he’s running, it’s a far cry from a restaurant. No wonder people wouldn’t eat.”

The ensuing fight between Moshtaghi and the ABC involved various hearings and lasted nearly two years. Finally, on June 7, the ABC suspended Moshtaghi’s liquor license for an indefinite period. He could no longer sell booze until he exchanged his Type 47 license for a Type 48, which doesn’t require serving food.

Moshtaghi did as he was told. But what he hoped would be a quick transfer was delayed due to protests from police and residents of a neighboring apartment complex.

“At that point we called the ABC and said, ‘You guys dictated to us we had to change, but now this thing is dragging on and on and we’re having trouble surviving,’ ” Moshtaghi said. “So we asked to get our Type 47 license back, and they said no; then we asked for help in getting a Type 48, and they said well, you’ve got problems; you have a right to a public hearing, but that may take six months.”

In late July, after operating Rio’s, in the red, for nearly two dry months, Moshtaghi--or, rather, the corporation he set up to run the place, Javad Inc.--filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code.

“We couldn’t afford to pay the rent,” Moshtaghi said, “and that would hold everyone off.”

At the same time, Rio’s hours of operations were cut back from seven nights a week to as few as two or three.

Then it became a question of how long Moshtaghi could hold out. The answer came Sept. 20, when trustee appointed by the bankruptcy court forced Javad Inc. into Chapter 7, which is a complete dissolution. The next night was Rio’s last.

“At this point, I’m pretty much out of it,” Moshtaghi said. “The trustee told me to shut it down, and I did.”

Still, Moshtaghi said, he’s hoping to open a new nightclub somewhere else.

“I’m looking for a new location where I can do local showcases and have some national acts, just like Rio’s, but it isn’t easy,” he said. “But I’m going to pursue it until I do.

“I’ve been getting so many phone calls from all these local bands, asking me, ‘where are we going to play now that Rio’s is gone?’ ”

“From a musician’s standpoint, I’m really sorry to see it go, mainly because I don’t see anything else popping up to replace it in the near future,” Secret Society’s Davis said. “We’re really lacking places that size to play.”

“If club owners depend on alcohol to stay in business,” added Saint, “maybe it would be nice to see a new paradigm emerge where clubs can find another way to stay in business and still showcase music.”

LINER NOTES: Linda Ronstadt must have graduated from the Sean Penn school of charm. At her concert Sunday night at San Diego State University’s Open Air Theater, the fortysomething singer went into a snit when some fan aimed a camera at her. Stop flashing that camera, she snapped, or a security guard might come and take it away from you. . . .

Honk, the eclectic Orange County rock band of “Five Summer Stories” fame, will headline Sunday night’s Surfrider Foundation benefit at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach. Also appearing at the fund-raiser for the nonprofit coastal environmental group will be local oldies band the Mar Dels. A dozen surfboard companies--including Hobie, Nectar and Shannin--have each donated a custom surfboard to be auctioned off. Honk broke up in 1976 and then got back together in 1985; ever since, they’ve been doing a handful of reunion concerts each year. . . .

Tickets go on sale Thursday at 3 p.m. for Jane’s Addiction’s concert Nov. 2 at UC San Diego Price Center Ballroom. It’s the first date on the band’s U.S. tour. UCSD students can buy tickets as early as 10 a.m., but only at the campus box office (IDs required). . . .

Peter Allen’s scheduled Oct. 17 appearance at Humphrey’s has been canceled. . . .

Best concert bets for the coming week: John McLaughlin with Steve Morse, Thursday at the Bacchanal in Kearny Mesa; Robben Ford with Lowen and Navarro, Thursday at the Belly Up Tavern; the U.K. Subs with Gorgeous George, Saturday at the Spirit in Bay Park; Carlene Carter, Sunday at the Bacchanal; and Andrew Tosh with Bob Harvey, Tuesday at the Belly Up Tavern.