Back in Time at the Belly Up : Music: Solana Beach nightspot’s owner says he’s confident the free birthday bash won’t be a repeat of last winter’s fiasco.

The last time patrons gathered to pay tribute to the Belly Up Tavern, they almost celebrated the club right out of existence.

In January, a “Save the Belly Up” party featuring several local bands drew more than 2,000 fans to the popular Solana Beach nightspot. Long after the venue reached its 600-person capacity, revelers formed a thick queue that extended from the mid-block entrance north to the end of South Cedros Avenue, around the corner and west to Pacific Coast Highway.

The event was occasioned by a state Alcoholic Beverage Control Department investigation into allegations by a few of the Belly Up’s neighbors that the club’s concerts were too loud and that patrons exiting in the wee hours were rowdy litterbugs. The threat of possible sanctions by the ABC--the most extreme of which would have been closure of the 16-year-old establishment--elicited an unprecedented show of support from several generations of Belly Uppers.

But the well-intentioned throng caused traffic and pedestrian congestion that further chafed the complainants, drew the ire of police and created new headaches for the Belly Up’s beleaguered owner, Dave Hodges. It was a day Hodges now understatedly characterizes as “very stressful.”

This Sunday, the club will hold its “16th Birthday Bash,” a free-admission, evening-long gig featuring many of the artists who have been associated with the Belly Up since the club began presenting live music 13 years ago. But while the program has some of the salutatory elements of January’s soiree, Hodges feels reasonably certain there won’t be a repeat of last winter’s fiasco.

“Naturally, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun and draw a number of people, but I don’t anticipate quite the same kind of turnout as we had for the Save the Belly Up party,” Hodges said. “But, just in case, we’re going to have a full staff on hand.” Hodges bases his comparatively modest expectations both on the psychological differences between the two presentations and a current detente with his neighbors.

“There was more of a sense of urgency last January,” he said. “I think some people who came thought it might be one of their last chances to hear live music at the club. But we’re still here, and I think the atmosphere at this party will be more relaxed and spontaneous.”

Hodges also feels that 10 weeks of mediation sessions this summer--which convened the Belly Up’s management, its attorneys, the angriest neighbors and representatives from the San Diego Mediation Center--have effected a mutual understanding, which in turn has cooled emotions on both sides of the issue. Accordingly, he believes, the birthday party will be less a rescue mission than a celebration.

Ironically, one of the reasons for lessening tensions between the Belly Up and its neighbors also is partially to blame for a downturn in profits during a recent six-month period. A project to widen South Cedros and redesign facades along the avenue has resulted in what Hodges claims is a “safer, better-lighted, more attractive street.” The resulting increase in on-street parking will help keep departing concert-goers away from nearby homes. But the ditches, barriers, detours and other construction obstacles that temporarily disrupted the usual flow into the Belly Up had a deleterious effect on business.

With that behind him, Hodges looks forward to an “uneventful” event that he hopes will signal the Belly Up’s return to its former glory. But his estimates of a lower crowd count would seem questionable in view of the lineup of talent secured for the bash. Hodges was able to assemble a bill that reads like a roll call of the tuneful rogues, droll scalawags and local legends that made the Belly Up a rock ‘n’ roll frontier saloon.

Emceeing the show is Jerry McCann, the singer/songwriter and former member of Show of Hands who only recently returned to live performance since recuperating from injuries suffered in a 1988 bicycle accident. McCann will be joined by hilarious song-parodist David Bradley and accomplished songwriter Jack Tempchin, an equally witty if more straightforward performer whose songs have been hits for the Eagles (“Peaceful, Easy Feeling,” “Already Gone”), Johnny Rivers (“Swayin’ to the Music (Slow Dancin’)”) and Glenn Frey (“Smuggler’s Blues,” “You Belong to the City”).

Other notables performing in what Hodges refers to as “a seven-hour jam session” include saloon-pianist extraordinaire Bob Long; Dude Groovy (a.k.a. Dirk Debonaire), the Unstrung Heroes, Ed Reed and the Riverboat Five, Tom Pearl, Tall Cotton, the Savery Brothers and members of the Mar Dels, Private Domain, the Campers, Bratz and Glory. One of the acts, the bluegrass group Squatters’ Rights, was the first live band to play the Belly Up--on New Year’s Eve of 1977.

“I’m excited about the lineup because these are the very people who gave the Belly Up its unique flavor and character over the years,” Hodges said. “Their presence will make this show reminiscent of the wild, mid- to late-’70s period of the club’s history.”

The performers returned the compliment. Even Tempchin, a well-known recluse, broke his silence on the Belly Up’s behalf. “The Belly Up is nothing less than the cultural center of North County,” he said. “It’s the only place with real music. For that matter, there’s no place like it anywhere in San Diego County, and that’s mostly because they’ve made a real commitment to the music there. Considering all that’s happened, it’s a miracle that the club’s survived. But I’m sure glad it has.”

Not surprisingly, it was the irrepressible wag Bradley who put a crooked spin on the secret of the Belly Up’s appeal. “They have a booking system that is better for us listeners than it is for the club,” he deadpanned. “You see, the Belly Up books acts only if they’re on their way up, or on their way down.”

As to the club’s future, an ABC ruling restricting the hours during which alcohol can be sold at the club is under appeal, and the appellate process could last indefinitely. But no matter what the outcome, and regardless of how far the Belly Up rebounds from its setbacks, recent changes in the nightclub market dictate that it might never again be business as usual. Hodges is ready for the next phase.

“Changes in attitudes not only about drinking and driving but also about drinking in general have forever altered the nightclub scene--business is down everywhere,” he said. “But as an enterprise, the Belly Up has never been alcohol-dependent; we’re entertainment-dependent, and we always will be. One adjustment we’re making to accommodate current trends is that we’re going to place a greater emphasis on food. But we’ll continue to showcase local and regional talent, because that’s our specialty.”

While plans for food-service expansion might be somewhat more complex, a simpler concession to the club’s new direction will be offered at Sunday’s birthday bash. “We’re going to have a big barbecue going in back of the club,” Hodges said. “Anyone who wants to can bring their own steak or fish and grill it for free right there on the premises.”