The Stage Room's ready

A Solana Beach singer-songwriter who just wrapped up a monthlong tour with Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman will be the first local headliner at the Stage Room, the UCSD venue formerly known as Porter’s Pub.

Tyson Motsenbocker, who has packed UCSD’s 200-person Loft venue, says the Stage Room should be just right for him.

“It’s really a good-sized room,” says Motsenbocker about the 550-capacity campus venue. “And unlike the Belly Up, you don’t turn away anyone younger than 21. But if you are old enough, you can also grab a beer.”

Actually, it will be a few months before the Stage Room will be able to sell beer. Two independent operators used their own beer-and-wine license when they ran the venue from 1993 until May of this year.

UCSD vice chancellor Gary Ratcliff wanted a wider variety of shows at the space. He says that the University Events Office (which also oversees Rimac and the Sun God Festival) and Student Center Program office (which books over 100 shows a year at the Loft) will now be booking the shows in the Stage Room.

Motsenbocker’s October 22nd show will be one of the first presented at the renamed Stage Room, which will be equipped with a concert-grade P.A.

Ratcliff says the Stage Room will welcome most music genres. He makes it clear that outside promoters will have a better chance to use that space, since they will now be dealing with an in-house school staffer who will welcome co-presentation opportunities.

Motsenbocker says the UCSD talent crew has been good to him. “I got to open for James Bay from London right before he went on tour with Hozier. UCSD is really good at finding new bands that people like me can open up for. Playing in the Loft is not like playing in some weird basement, which is what a lot of all-ages shows feel like.”

Motsenbocker, who moved to North County six years ago from Washington state, says it took a while but he has now found a network of like-minded local artists. Seattle-based Tooth and Nail Records will release his Letters to Lost Loves in early 2016.

Joining Motsenbocker on October 22 are Hawai (L.A.), Mike Edel (British Colombia), and local band Second Cousin.