Che Games for May | The Che Underground

Ready for ‘A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase’?

February 13, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

Most rock-‘n’-roll historians know San Diego’s Che Underground scene as a mad scientist’s lab for musical experiments at the top of the ’80s.

Named for notable shows they staged at UC San Diego’s Che Café — but active across the region — the bands of the Che Underground brought together artists steeped in punk, psychedelia, garage and more. Throwing their influences into a high-speed blender, bands like The Answers, Hair Theatre, Noise 292, The Rockin’ Dogs, The Tell-Tale Hearts and the original SD Wallflowers provided a soundtrack for Southern California youth culture.

Four decades later, those musicians and artists continue to kick out the collective jams — and on Feb. 29, some of the best minds of that generation will stage a family reunion at the Riviera Supper Club & Turquoise Lounge for “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase.” The night’s lineup of Che Underground supergroups will feature two stars of the scene who haven’t performed in San Diego for more than three decades: Jeremiah Cornelius and Tom Clarke.

Lemons Are Yellow play Che Games

September 4, 2011March 23, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

Che Games for May 2009 continues to pay dividends for aficionados of San Diego subculture, encapsulated here in two choice cuts from the reunited Lemons Are Yellow: “Thousand Island” and “America’s Finest City.”

The LAY lineup comprises Paul Kaufman (guitar, vocals); Dave Fleminger (guitar, vocals); Kristin Martin (bass, vocals); and Seth Affoumado (drums). Heather Vorwerck shot the performance, which opened the festivities May 29, 2009.

Noise 292: “Chanson Dada” at the Casbah

July 3, 2011November 20, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Here’s a song that’s traveled with me since age 16 (when I first translated the words from the 1923 poem by Tristan Tzara) and got its definitive treatment when we formed Noise 292 in 1982.

I’ve played “Chanson Dada” in a lot of bands since (and even recently found my translation had been covered by some wacky Scandinavians!), but it’s probably the composition of mine I identify most closely with Noise 292. That made it a special pleasure to perform at our reunion May 31, 2009, when we presented Che Games for May at San Diego’s Casbah.

Noise 292 plays ‘Mr. Pumpkin’
b/w ‘Talking in Circles’

July 3, 2011October 30, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

I’ve written before on the blog about my oldest musical connection within our scene: with David (a k a Kavika) Rives, the fantastically talented lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for Noise 292. My musical association with Kavika began in eighth grade, ca. 1977, and was rekindled after a long separation when Noise 292 reunited to play Che Games for May 2009.

Here are two examples of Mr. Rives’ talent: his songs “Mr. Pumpkin” and “Talking in Circles.”

Hair Theatre: “In Obscurity”

December 11, 2017October 23, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Our Che Games for May 2009 show at San Diego’s Casbah regrouped nine legendary bands and ignited countless personal reunions. The crescendo of the two-night event was the triumphant return of the incredible Hair Theatre, seen here performing “In Obscurity” for the madding throng.

Seeing Hair Theatre perform together again was a personal highlight. This band amazed and delighted me from the first time I saw them play a party in Leucadia in 1983, and the reunion of members scattered along the West Coast was more than I could have hoped for when we first conceived this event.

Read moreHair Theatre: “In Obscurity”

Play “Misty” for me:
BOMBAST rocks out at Bar Pink

December 11, 2017September 25, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

(David Rinck provides his back story of this meeting of musical minds at the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend. Plus, let’s go to the video, courtesy of Paul Kaufman!)

Now I’m really perplexed by this one. Dave Fleminger calls for the “end of the Age of Irony,” and then he is largely the perpetrator of a band called BOMBAST. This seems like a contradiction.

And then there’s the song-list issue — a couple old San Diego classics like the Wallflowers (“Rubber Room” and “Survive the Jungle”) and Blues Gangsters (“Tigershark Blues”), some Arthur Lee and Love (“Bummer In the Summer”), and even the Stooges (“TV Eye”) and Parliament (“Unfunky UFO”). Seems like a pretty strange brew, more contradictions? “Well, what do we all agree on?” I asked with great trepidation as the project grew. Pretty much one thing — BOMBAST is LOUD! Okay, that’s enough for me. I’m good to go.

Why don’t we sing this song all together?

February 2, 2011August 12, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

For many of the participants in this blog, our involvement with San Diego music ended with our wholesale departure from San Diego. A large contingent of us decamped first to San Francisco, and we now make our homes in places like Seattle, Oregon, New York, Boston, Wisconsin and Haiti.

That means the string of Che Underground gigs we’ve hosted in San Diego (including May 2009 and January and July 2010) marked the first time in more than two decades that many of our musicians have played in front of a hometown crowd.

Warming up for DaveFest Four

March 24, 2018July 24, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

(Charisse Sciuva and Dave Rinck describe hot times at Lestat’s Coffee House. The featured act: a warm-up for the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30-31 and a Che Underground supergroup that will feature San Diego music legends Dave Doyle, Dave Fleminger, Dave Klowden and Dave Rinck.)

On July 19, the DaveFest Four (actually two, Dave Rinck and Dave Fleminger, plus an “honorary Dave” — Lou Damian on harmonica), shut down a packed house at Lestat’s Coffee House on San Diego’s Adams Ave. after just two acts. The occasion was the second weekly night of the Monday night warm-ups at Lestat’s, the venue for Night One of the upcoming Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend on July 30 and 31. Due to an unplanned event that could be called a “mishap” by some, their performance set the standard for what is certainly going to be the event of the year!

Why “DaveFest Four”? Read Patrick Works’ history of Dave Fest!

After an intro by the master of ceremonies, the DaveFest combo took the stage in what was truly a Che Underground moment. Upon pulling in, a painfully loud intermittent reverb-laced blast was heard!

Che Underground Rock-’n’-Roll Weekend!

March 24, 2018July 4, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

(David Rinck cuts the ribbon on a late-July musical extravaganza in San Diego!)

How could we let a year go by since the Che Games for May? It is high time to do it again!

Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts and get ready to experience the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend. Here’s what we have in store for you:

Friday, July 30, at Lestat’s Coffee House (3343 Adams Avenue; $10; doors open at 9pm)

Jeffrey Luck Lucas
The Comeuppance
The Davefest Four (with Messrs Dave Doyle, Fleminger, Klowden and Rinck)
Wendy Bailey & True Stories (with Bart Mendoza)
Thomas E Ward

Plus a photo retrospective of San Diego Underground Rock ‘n’ Roll by Dave Doyle and Sean McMullen.

Saturday, July 31, at Bar Pink (3829 30th St.; free; doors open at 9pm)

Wendy Bailey & True Stories
The Answers
Bombast

Plus, dubstep deejaying by the P Man

The Wallflowers: ‘Walldrugs’ at Che Games

January 6, 2011June 6, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

One year later, we’re finally on deck to start releasing performance footage shot by Eric Rife at May 2009’s Che Games for May reunion, synchronized to Jason Brownell’s high-fi audio courtesy of resident polymath Dave Fleminger.

First up, the first live performance of the original San Diego Wallflowers’ signature “Walldrugs” since 1985. Lead singer David Rinck reflects on resurrecting the song:

“When we were putting together the Wallflowers set list for the Che Games last year, we had to listen closely to the old recordings to figure out how we played those tunes, in order to get us all on the same page on the arrangements and all, since with me in Africa and the rest of the band spread out all over California, we were basically working via the Internet.”