The Belly Up Doesn't Like Punk Rockers

“The Belly Up gave me back my tape. They said we don’t like punk rockers. They didn’t even listen to it. They just gave it back to me.”

Singer Brad Kavonius has mixed reactions as he tries to get a gig for his transplanted Oregon band Losing Balance. The Belly Up, he says, wouldn’t even consider him for the local music night. And their show at a bar in Oceanside was not what he was looking for.

“Oceanside sucks.… When I saw the Stunt Doubles play with the Plug Uglies and Labor League, this guy [a patron] was trying to beat up this old man. He was probably in his ’70s.…They were breaking bottles on the floor. It’s not the bands [in Oceanside], it’s the scene itself.”

But Losing Balance, known for Kavonius’s hyperkinetic live show (Kavonius hangs from rafters, jumps on pool tables), had a better set at their new hometown bar the Boardroom. Two weeks ago they became the first band to play the small Leucadia bar in months. Live music was discontinued three months earlier following an episode with sheriff’s deputies.

“The bands were too loud and the neighbors had had enough,” said John Finkbinder, who used to promote weekend shows at the Boardroom. “Six cop cars and a canine were there…. They threatened to take our stuff.”

But owner Mike Hinkley said he now feels better about letting live bands back in his club. This time there won’t be an outside promoter or a cover charge. He said bands will get paid in free beer. Hinkley said a new air-conditioning system allows him to keep the front door closed and cut down on neighborhood noise.

Hinkley said sheriff’s deputies didn’t show up at the Losing Balance show two weeks ago.

Said Kavonius about their Leucadia show, “It’s a challenge here to get people pumped up. It’s like 90210…Ken and Barbie.”

Losing Balance appears 9 p.m. Friday at the Boardroom, 107 Diana St., Leucadia.