Bacchanal Expansion Plans May at Last Become Reality

To those who have attended concerts at the Bacchanal over the past year, it must seem as though the club has been intermittently expanding and contracting.

Next month, however, the venue could finally realize its frustrated expansion plans.

In an effort to increase the Clairemont Mesa Boulevard club’s seating capacity in 1990, the then-owners knocked down a wall of the commercial space next door and added sections of folding chairs. This set in motion a series of run-ins with the city over building permits, fire codes and whatnot. New ownership-management inherited the problems late in the year.

“The city came down hard on us right before New Year’s,” said current manager George Lugo. “They threatened to cut our capacity to 49. I had shows lined up, and I told the (city code enforcement officer) that we couldn’t operate at so small a capacity.”

Lugo paid daily visits to the city office to plead the Bacchanal’s case, but was told that the club would be closed if he didn’t remove some exposed electrical extension cords being used to operate the stage lights. Lugo complied, and performers at the next several shows played under minimal stage lighting.

The Bacchanal closed its doors for the first three weeks of this year to make necessary changes in the existing space. When it reopened, a large partition closed off the annexed room and posted notices encouraged patrons’ forbearance pending completion of “remodeling.” Lugo now looks forward to seeing The Wall come down.

“We improved the sprinkler system on the ceiling, installed handrails at all step-downs, added new lights and even changed the overhang above the bar area,” he said. The club is now fire-coded and city-approved to accommodate 500. “We’ve done everything we can to comply with the city’s requirements,” Lugo said. “Now, we’re hoping to apply sometime in June for a permit to re-expand into the adjoining room, which would boost our total capacity to 750.”

On the heels of its recent victory in the MiraCosta College songwriters competition, and on the ankles of making the finals of last year’s international “Best Unsigned Band” competition sponsored by Musician magazine, the North County band Bordertown has released a video of the song responsible for both successes.

“Someday,” a folk-rock, minor-mode ode to a peaceful future, was produced and directed by television screenwriter Rogers Turrentine, whose credits include episodes of “Simon and Simon,” “Magnum P.I.,” “Hunter,” “Lou Grant” and “The Rockford Files.”

The quintet held a video-release party Saturday night at the Oceanside Jolly Roger, where they will perform tonight through Saturday. Copies of the video will be sold at all upcoming Bordertown shows, which include gigs at Patrick’s II in downtown San Diego (June 4), at Metaphor Coffeehouse in Escondido (June 16) and at the Pannikin/Bookworks in Del Mar (July 12).

Moments into the video, which intersperses footage of the group lip-syncing in the great outdoors with beauteous scenery and images of war, the camera focuses on the peace-symbol earring worn by singer-guitarist CiCi Porter. In the life-is-more-violent-than-fiction department, Porter returned to her car one day recently to discover that someone in freedom-loving Oceanside had smashed her car window. The one displaying a peace symbol.

Local singer-songwriters Peggy Watson and Deborah Liv Johnson will perform June 29 in Baja California in a benefit for Pro Esteros (For the Estuaries) a nonprofit, U.S-Mexican organization dedicated to preserving the Baja coast. The Palissandre Group, a Baroque ensemble from the University of Baja California in Ensenada, will join the singers for the 5 p.m. concert.

The event, which will also include a panel of speakers and an interpreter, will be presented at the Estero Beach Hotel Resort, 6 miles south of Ensenada off Highway 1. Admission is $5.

Johnson, meanwhile, will perform two fund-raisers for a very special cause: herself. Specifically, she is trying to collect enough money to underwrite a long-overdue follow-up to her excellent 1983 album, “Mahogany Whispers.” To that end, she will perform private-home concerts at 7:30 p.m. June 8 and at 5 p.m. June 9, 2921 Laurel St. A $10 minimum donation is requested. Because of limited seating capacity, interested parties are strongly recommended to make reservations by calling 563-8045.

GRACE NOTES: Because the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine shows at Elario’s have been canceled, Floyd Dixon’s gig at the La Jolla venue has been extended. The man who gave us “Hey Bartender” will perform two shows a night, June 13 through 16. . . .

The Liverpool band the La’s will perform June 17 at SDSU’s Backdoor, with Straitjacket Fits opening (on sale May 31). . . .

Delta-blues singer John Hammond has signed for a three-night stint at Elario’s, June 21 through 23. Singer-songwriter Susan J. Paul will open. Tickets can be purchased at the door of the 21-and-up venue. . . .

Hard rockin’ Don Dokken will be at Iguanas on June 29 (on sale May 31). . . .

Indigo Girls perform June 30 at SDSU’s Open Air Theatre, with the Ellen James Society opening (on sale June 1). . . .

Just added to the Del Mar Fair Grandstand Stage series (starting time: 7:30 p.m.), Melissa Manchester, July 4; Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers, July 5. . . .

Styx appears at Symphony Hall July 14 (on sale May 31). . . .

George Strait and Kathy Mattea will appear at the Lakeside Rodeo Arena on Aug. 10. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show go on sale July 8 at all TicketMaster locations. . . .

“The Club MTV Tour” swings through the Sports Arena on Aug. 19, with a lineup of Bell Biv Devoe, C & C Music Factory, Tony! Toni! Tone!, Gerardo, and Terra Kemp (on sale June 1); the following night, Aug. 20, gospel-pop diva Amy Grant plays the Arena (on sale June 2).

CRITIC’S CHOICE: VERSATILE ROCKER NILS LOFGREN AT THE BACCHANAL

Nils Lofgren’s work--as a bandleader (Grin), as a sort-of member of Crazy Horse, as a hired guitar in both Neil Young’s and Bruce Springfield’s bands, and as a solo artist--has been alternately deadly cool and just plain dead. Cherry-picking through his many recordings, however, one could assemble a quite substantial and invigorating anthology of ‘70s-style music--from Stones-ish hard rock to melodic pop to white R&B.; It’s the highlights of his 20-odd years of rocking that make Lofgren’s gig at 8:30 tonight at the Bacchanal to the pre-”alternative” rock fan.