"Leave Alewife station," says Stu (just Stu), booker for the latest addition to Greater Boston’s clubland, the Pond. "Then head to the Fresh Pond Mall. There’s a liquor store there. We’re right behind that." There have been less-propitious addresses for concert venues, but not many. "As you can see," Stu admits a little sheepishly once I find the place, "it’s way out of the way."

But Stu is certain that fans will soon be seeking out this bare-bones room above the Hideaway Pub. "Remember back in the days of Edible Rex. That was Billerica. People went there. People go to Haverhill for shows. If the show’s good, people will go."

And Stu has a few good shows up his sleeve. A special coup for the fledgling club will be a May 14 appearance by the recently re-formed Dead Kennedys. Yes, they’ll be sans lead loudmouth Jello Biafra (who is so incensed by the reunion that he’s decided to sue). But the re-formed DKs will be fronted by Brandon Cruz, a/k/a Eddie Corbett from the moldy oldie TV show The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. Which may be even better. "It’s gonna be sold out," Stu says. "I’ve sold 100 tickets already and I haven’t even told anybody about it."

The Pond currently has a capacity of 350, but the recent removal of several pool tables has Stu planning to petition the city to bump that number up to 500. That would be a particular boon to all the young punks in Eastern Mass and beyond, because the Pond aims to offer all-ages hardcore shows, those magical afternoons when the bar is shuttered and, for a couple hours at least, the kids are all right.

"Those are gonna be Saturday and Sunday matinees," says Stu. "I’ve got some national acts coming in to do ’em because this is exactly what they’ve been waiting for. I used to work at the Channel, and we used to do all-age shows all the time. But it hasn’t been that way in a long time. I haven’t seen an all-ages matinee being bragged about in this area for years."

So the Pond will be a rowdy place indeed on weekend afternoons (this Saturday, Total Chaos and the Stabs will appear). But Stu has already lined up a catholic panoply of musicians to grace its low-rise stage the rest of the week. "I see it as a mini version of the Channel. This room can be loud or it could be mellow. I’m not gonna stick with one style of music, you know? I’ve learned to mix it up a little bit."

Over the next weeks and months, the acts taking a dip at the Pond will include superspeedy cowpunks Jabe on May 17; Boston’s august Aerosmith tribute band, Draw the Line, on May 18; Torrid Zone, a new band featuring no less than the original rhythm section of Blue Öyster Cult, on May 25; and roots-rockish alterna-dude Chris Whitley on May 31. Stu points to the lipsticked pout and bottle-blond bouffant emblazoned on a flyer for Missing Persons (they’ll play May 4): "And Dale Bozzio, man! Legend!" (Erstwhile Guns N’ Roses member Gilby Clarke, who was scheduled to play the Pond this weekend, has cancelled his entire tour.)

All this even though the Pond is still a little brackish. The walls are bare except for a few neon beer signs, the sound system isn’t completely installed, and hardly anyone knows where the hell the place is. But that’s all going to change soon. "I’m working out the kinks still, but give me a month or two," Stu says. "I swear this place is gonna be the happenin’ place."

Don’t doubt him. Stu is committed, he’s confident, and he seems thrilled to be holding the calendar on an empty gray-carpeted slightly musty room off Alewife Brook Parkway. Before I head into the vast blackness of the Fresh Pond Mall parking lot, Stu shakes my hand, gives me a mile-wide grin, and says: "The Pond, baby! The water’s warm. Jump in!"

The Pond is located upstairs at the Hideaway Pub, 20 Concord Lane in Fresh Pond. This Saturday, April 27, Total Chaos and the Stabs will play all-ages shows at 2 and 8 p.m. Call (617) 661-8828. Tickets are available at Strawberries locations and at the door.