An iconic live music venue in North County is celebrating its golden jubilee. KPBS dives into the history and festivities in store for the Belly Up.
BB King, Willie Nelson, Erykah Badu, John Mayer, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and even the Rolling Stones — those are just a few of the artists who’ve graced the stage of Solana Beach’s Belly Up Tavern since it opened in 1974.“In 1979 I got called up to the big leagues with the Padres, and I was across the street staying with a friend. And I just went for a walk one evening and opened the door and I heard music.
Former Padres player and musician Tim Flannery talks about music inside of the Belly Up, June 28, 2024.“Look, I'm a preacher's kid. This is one of the best churches I've ever been to in my life, spiritually,” Flannery said.“We have 150,000 people that come through the doors every year and so we were originally thinking about some big event, and then we realized only 600 people could come because that's our capacity,” said Belly Up President Chris Goldsmith.
Crowds form around the Belly Up stage while Charley Crockett plays on stage in this undated photo from 2023.Goldsmith said the space feels like home to a lot of people and each anniversary act has a previous connection to the club. “In the early years there were a lot of blues bands and a lot of rock bands,” he said. “In the 80s there got to be a lot of reggae, a lot of soul music — George Clinton, Curtis Mayfield, Etta James. It kind of started to create a legendary history for the venue.”Jerry McCann has lived in North County since the early 1970s and has played the Belly Up over a hundred times.
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