Which bands and solo stars have played at the Belly Up, the 600-capacity Solana Beach music venue that this month celebrates its 50th anniversary?
It’s easier to ask which bands and solo stars haven’t played at the Belly Up, whose roster of past performers contains more than 30 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees.
They include B.B. King, Rolling Stones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Bonnie Raitt, George Clinton, Etta James, Willie Nelson, Buddy Guy, Willie Dixon, Patti Smith, Curtis Mayfield, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Carl Perkins, Leon Russell, Elvis Costello, Billy Preston, Laura Nyro, Todd Rundgren, Paul Butterfield, Sheryl Crow, Cheap Trick, Booker T. Jones, Graham Nash, Joan Jett, The Ventures, Foo Fighters, Stephen Stills and Albert King.
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Some of the other inductees who have played the Belly Up include Eric Burdon of The Animals, Dave Davies of The Kinks, John Entwistle of the Who, John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful, Joe Walsh of the Eagles, Nils Lofgren of the E Street Band, Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark of the Byrds Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker of Cream, Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band, Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth of Van Halen, and Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood.
Jimmy Buffett, who will be posthumously inducted into the hall next month, headlined three shows at the Belly Up, one of them a warm-up date for a national arena tour with his Coral Reefer Band. He also periodically sat in with some of his musical pals during their Belly Up gigs in the 1970s and ’80s.
Here’s a sampling of other artists who have played the Belly Up over the years.
King Sunny Ade
Dave Alvin
Angels & Airwaves
Asleep At The Wheel
Erykah Badu
Jennifer Batten
Beat Farmers
Black Uhuru
Black Eyed Peas
The Blasters
Blind Boys of Alabama
blink-182
Burt Bacharach
Pato Banton
B-52’s
J.J. Cale
Canned Heat
Belinda Carlisle
Billy Cobham
Commander Cody
Ornette Coleman
Albert Collins
Concrete Blonde
Ry Cooder
The Count Basie Orchestra
Cracker
Robert Cray
Christopher Cross
Papa John Creach
De La Soul
Death Cab For Cutie
Dick Dale
Dawes
Thomas Dolby
Donovan
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott
Melissa Etheridge
Maynard Ferguson
Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
Flo & Eddie
The Flying Burrito Brothers
Childish Gambino
Bob Geldof
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Macy Gray
PJ Harvey
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals
Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians
The Hives
Allan Holdsworth
Abbie Hoffman
Chris Isaak
Jack Johnson
Rickie Lee Jones
Tom Jones
The Killers
Kris Kristofferson
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Timothy Leary
Albert Lee
David Lindley
Lone Justice
Los Lobos
Shelby Lynne
Taj Mahal
Ziggy Marley
Maroon 5
John Mayall
John Mayer
Moby
Maria Muldaur
The Neville Brothers
The New Pornographers
No Doubt
NRBQ
Joan Osborne
Ozomatli
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Leon Redbone
The Romantics
The Roots
Soupy Sales
Poncho Sanchez
Mongo Santamaria
Brian Setzer
Jill Scott
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
Slightly Stoopid
Elliott Smith
The Smithereens
Steel Pulse
Al Stewart
Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives
Squeeze
Sublime
Sun Ra
They Might Be Giants
Richard Thompson
Toots & The Maytals
Big Mama Thornton
Andrew Tosh
The Tubes
Dwight Twilley
Loudon Wainwright III
The Wallflowers
John Waters
Paul Westerberg
Wilco
Edgar Winter
Johnny Winter
Dweezil Zappa
Warren Zevon
