Musicians, Patrons Mourn the Sudden Demise of Bogart’s : Entertainment: Alternative rock club had featured nationally known groups and showcased local ones.

After more than six years of serving up cutting-edge alternative rock, Bogart’s abruptly closed its doors last week, eliciting a collective groan from local musicians.

“It’s a real disappointment,” said Rob Fadke, drummer with the band Cake, which had been booked to play at Bogart’s on Saturday. “We had a bunch of people coming down from L.A., and we tried desperately to reschedule somewhere else, but of course we couldn’t on such short notice.”

Though musicians and fans wonder where they will go now for local music, the club’s booking agent, Steve Zepeda, is a little more optimistic about the future.

“There is life after Bogart’s,” he said confidently.

As word got around that Long Beach had lost its one consistent outlet for both local and nationally known bands performing off-beat rock, Zepeda has been juggling calls. Most people want to know if he will open a club, or if anyone else plans to step forward and fill Bogart’s shoes.

“It’s something people have been talking to me about already, and it’s on my mind,” Zepeda said. “But it’s not an easy thing to open a club.”

Zepeda and Bogart’s owner, Richard Greco, have had front-row seats for the past few years at a demonstration of the financial pitfalls of running a music club.

Many factors led to Bogart’s demise, Zepeda said. The recession certainly took a bite out of revenue, he said. And though the club, which held 300, was full for the most popular shows, people weren’t buying drinks, Zepeda said, explaining that clubs depend on bar revenues to stay afloat.

Location was a problem, too, Zepeda said. “As an entity, the Marina Pacifica Mall has been a ghost town for years.”

Since switching from a Top-40 format to original alternative rock in 1987, the 8,000-square-foot venue was a home to national touring attractions and a nurturing ground where young, local bands could gain experience and win a following.

“It’s a real bummer,” said Dan Root, singer-guitarist of the Long Beach/Orange County band One Hit Wonder. “I hope Steve moves on to another location in the area. He’s a real stand-up guy who has always treated the bands really fair, and I always trusted him.

“Rich (Greco) and the other guys at the club were always cool,” Root said. “I guess it’s devastating to the Long Beach music scene. When we needed people (from record labels) to come see us, that’s where we went, because we knew that we could set up a show there, and it would sound good. It’s hard for us to get into the Roxy or Whiskey’s or one of the better-sounding L.A. clubs. But if we told Steve we needed to do a show, he’d take care of us.”

In the past year, Bogart’s featured alternative-rock favorites such as Jim Carroll, Jonathan Richman, Beat Farmers and The Blasters. Ticket prices ranged from $3 for lesser-known locals to $13.50 for bigger names.

The club’s final concert was a Nov. 27 show by Firehose, the San Pedro band that had been a regular Bogart’s headliner.

Zepeda, who has booked Bogart’s since 1988, said Greco informed him Wednesday that the club’s December schedule was canceled and that it would not reopen.

Greco, a Fullerton resident whose family has owned the club since 1980, said earlier this year that several factors were pointing toward Bogart’s closing.

The club’s location in the Marina Pacifica Mall was in jeopardy because the owner, Bank of America, was trying to sell the mall for redevelopment. A group called Trident Development has agreed to buy it and expects to close escrow Dec. 31, Greco said. He was told there probably wouldn’t be room for Bogart’s in the new development.

“We’ve been talking about closing down here for several months,” Greco said. “We were hoping to stay through the month of December, but B of A wants me out by noon, Dec. 6.

“I would’ve liked doing it differently,” he said.

Both Greco and Zepeda had hoped for one last party to close the club down, he said, but that was not to be.

David Hayes, president of Doctor Dream Records, said the closing of Bogart’s will “be a mighty blow” against alternative rock. The record company, based in Orange County, signed many bands that used Bogart’s as a launching pad and home club. “It’s sad, considering we have such a sparse club scene as it is, for national acts,” Hayes said.

He said he hopes somebody will open a similar club. “We have such a community of music-lovers here, and you either have to drive to San Juan Capistrano (home to the Coach House) or to L.A. There are no rooms here doing touring national acts and alternative music.”

Sam Lanni, who was co-owner of Safari Sam’s, a fabled Huntington Beach club that closed down in the mid-1980s, said Bogart’s closing has hit him harder than the closing of his own club.

“At least when Safari Sam’s closed, there were other places where I could go see shows,” said Lanni, who manages local rock bands.

Drummer Fadke said the closing of Bogart’s could galvanize local musicians into creating new venues. Or, he said, the Long Beach music scene could fizzle out entirely.

“Either nobody will play here again. . . . or somebody will think of something,” Fadke said. “It’s going to boom or die. One or the other.”