Once Banned, Punk Rock to Encore at UCI

More than 19,000 students attend UC Irvine to explore a world of ideas and experiences, but since 1997, live punk-rock music hasn’t been part of that world.

That changes Friday, when the San Diego punk trio Blink-182 plays a sold-out concert at the Bren Events Center.

It’s the first punk show on campus since university officials pulled the plug after reports of a few minor injuries to concert-goers at a show in 2,000-seat Crawford Hall by two Southland bands: the Vandals and, ironically, Blink-182.

UCI never issued an edict against punk. But administrators, then stinging from a scandal involving the university’s fertility clinic, cited heightened worries about their liability for injuries that might occur at such shows.

They called off a subsequent appearance by veteran O.C. punk band Social Distortion and haven’t allowed other punk groups to play either Crawford Hall or the Bren center since.

Now, with a new Bren center director eager to use the 5,000-capacity facility for a wider menu of events for students and the surrounding community, the door to punk has opened again.

“I’m working to make our little Bren center a lot more visible,” said Bernadette Strobel-Lopez, a UCI vice chancellor who was appointed director of the Bren center in February. “I’m calling promoters to let them know we’re here. . . . I want us to be doing things for UCI students, who are very important to us, and also for the broader community.”

The Blink-182 show is considered a success on both counts, having sold 1,500 tickets to UCI students on the first day tickets were put on sale. The remaining 3,500 sold in 45 minutes when they became available to the public the next day--a sellout speed record at the Bren, Strobel-Lopez said.

Punk returns to UCI with a band known for its low-brow good humor and well-behaved followers.

“Blink’s fans are generally pretty nice. They’re not mean-spirited people,” said Paul Tollett, a partner in Goldenvoice Presents, which in conjunction with House of Blues Concerts is promoting Friday’s concert. Goldenvoice puts on the bulk of punk-oriented shows in the Orange County-Los Angeles market.

“This is a good show to test the waters with,” Tollett said. Goldenvoice won’t put any extra security measures into effect for this show, he said.

Tollett thinks the recent reluctance at UCI to host punk bands can be considered cyclical. “Schools in general go through different periods where they’re more cautious,” he said. “The same band that’s OK one year might scare them the next.”

He also said punk presents less to worry about now than it may have a few years ago.

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“In general, moshing isn’t as prevalent as it was,” Tollett said. “The slam pits are not as fierce. I think people are now focusing more on the music.”

It’s a welcome change for Tollett, because he considers Orange County a “very important” component of the Southland concert market. The Bren center’s size could make it a significant player in the region, Tollett said.

The closest similar facilities--the 6,251-seat Universal Amphitheatre and the 6,165-seat Greek Theatre, both in Los Angeles--are usually the first stops for acts touring mid-size facilities. But Tollett said the Bren can offer a valuable second stop for some acts or even a first stop in winter months when the outdoor Greek Theatre is dark.

“Los Angeles is unusual in that it has a Universal Amphitheatre-size facility,” said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar magazine, which tracks the nation’s concert business. “Most markets don’t have a 5,000- to 7,000-seat facility as an option. Usually it goes from a 2,500-seat to an 18,000-seat arena.”

Bongiovanni said there is momentum within the concert industry to build more mid-size facilities to plug that gap. He added that the Bren center’s size and its distance from the Universal and Greek should allow promoters to book performers in L.A. and Orange County without worrying about robbing the audience from either place.

“As long as the university officials who run the facility do it in a professional manner and structure costs and policies so they’re at least friendly to outside promoters and to bands coming in, they definitely have a shot at being very successful,” Bongiovanni said.

Besides arranging the Blink-182 show, Goldenvoice is promoting a Nov. 24 bill featuring Garbage and Lit, while House of Blues concerts is handling a Nov. 17 Goo Goo Dolls concert at the Bren. All three bands are modern-rock bands popular on KROQ-FM, not punk groups.

As a UCI vice chancellor in charge of student media, Strobel-Lopez has been familiar with concerts held on campus over the years but said she wasn’t privy to all the details that landed punk in disfavor.

Among those factors: a $40,000 settlement to a fan who sued UCI after a speaker toppled on him during a 1991 concert by British post-punk group Public Image Ltd., led by former Sex Pistols punk hero Johnny Rotten.

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While punk-style music has been heard in the Bren center since the 1997 Vandals/Blink-182 show, it was that of Christian punk bands that don’t attract the secular punk audience that has tended to engage in the most aggressive concert behavior.

“We are in close contact with people at sister venues to know how things go with acts that are coming here,” Strobel-Lopez said. “I try to keep the needs of UCI administration and the needs of our students in mind. It’s a delicate balance.”

The Blink-182 tickets sold to UCI students demonstrate that “this is a show for this college campus,” said Lance MacLean, associate director of student government who oversaw concert activity--about 60 shows--at UCI for most of the ‘80s and ‘90s, though he said he is now “virtually out of the loop” on such events. “It’s the kind of services for students and the community that we should be providing.”

While the Bren center is being primed for increased activities beyond UCI basketball games, intramural volleyball and religious conferences that now dominate its schedule, the outlook remains cloudy for live music in 2,000-capacity Crawford Hall, an important steppingstone to developing regional and touring acts from hard-core punk to mainstream rock through the ‘70s, ‘80s and most of the ‘90s.

Crawford is now used mainly for UCI athletic events, and MacLean said that is unlikely to change any time soon.

* Blink-182 and Fenix TX play Friday at the Bren Events Center, West Peltason Drive and Mesa Road, UC Irvine. Sold out. 7:30 p.m. (949) 824-5000.

Randy Lewis may be reached by e-mail at Randy.L[email protected]