Personal History | The Che Underground

Two days in Che: A retrospective

February 2, 2011August 3, 2010 by admin

(Paul Kaufman flew in from Massachusetts to taste the fury of the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30 and 31. Here are Paul’s impressions, accompanied by photos from Sean McMullen and Kymri Wilt.)

After an early-morning cross-country flight, I was somewhat worse for wear by the time 9pm rolled around on Friday, July 30, but I didn’t want to miss this!

It had probably been around 20 years since I had been down Adams Avenue. Normal Heights is heavily transformed from the residential neighborhood I remembered, with many new restaurants and shops. The center of the action is Lestat’s gallery, coffee shop and nightclub. A big marquee announces the Che Underground show! In addition to the musicians themselves, lots of blog stars are there: Kristen Tobiason; Chris Mathis; and of course tonight’s MC, Lou Damian.

Sean McMullen, Dave Doyle on photography

January 6, 2011July 18, 2010 by admin

It’s not just for bands any more: The pending Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend will also celebrate two photographers whose work has captured San Diego music for decades.

The first night of the event — Friday, July 30, at Lestat’s Coffee House in San Diego — will feature a joint exhibit of concert photos by Dave Doyle and Sean McMullen. I caught up with each of them to learn a bit more about their respective photographic visions and how San Diego has shaped them.

Club Zu reunion: Don’t miss the boat!

December 14, 2017July 12, 2010 by admin

I asked Club Zu founder Kelsey Farris to update us on the long-awaited fourth installment of his renowned boat parties, scheduled for August 21, 2010, aboard the Hornblower Adventure in San Diego Harbor.

“The event has sold 150 tickets so far,” Kelsey responds, “and we’re capping it at 400. (The boat holds 500 plus a staff of 75.)

“There are the amazing DJs, FYI – David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets) and DJK (Robert Kaechele) have 10 entertainers in ‘The Departure Lounge,’ Jesus! Dub, Shoegazer, Downtempo with live percussionists and digeridoo players on the ship’s bow.

Eric Bacher on national TV

December 16, 2017July 9, 2010 by admin

Thanks to Tom Griswold for pointing out Tell-Tale Hearts guitarist and Taylor Guitars uber-luthier Eric Bacher’s supporting role in this national TV spot for GE Capital.

According to Sign on San Diego, “Taylor Guitars didn’t need any Fourth of July fireworks to help it create a nationwide bang this week. … The $65 million El Cajon company, which produces nearly 80,000 guitars a year and counts Taylor Swift and Oceanside’s Jason Mraz among its customers, Tuesday launched a joint marketing campaign with GE Capital that should greatly boost the visibility of both companies.

Manual Scan meets the Penetrators

April 14, 2012July 7, 2010 by admin

Among the highlights of our Che Underground event Jan. 30, 2010, at the Casbah was “Manual Penetration.” This collaboration brought Chris Davies and Chris Sullivan of San Diego’s legendary Penetrators onstage with the equally storied Manual Scan to perform a mini-set of Penetrators songs.

Scan co-founders Bart Mendoza and Kevin Donaker-Ring talk about the origins of this matchup, captured here on video shot that night by Eric Rife with sound engineered by Dave Fleminger.

Time-machine sidecar

January 6, 2011June 28, 2010 by admin

Two things that make me happy about this blog: It puts a lot of people and images and music I loved as a kid in one place, and it gives me a second chance to understand what I witnessed the first time around.

Sharing an adult perspective on the passions of our youth is a very cool thing to me. Even with those tools, though, I sometimes find it hard to explain to people who know me now what excited me then.

Hence today’s conversation-starter: Is there anyone you wish you could take back in time for a one-day tour of your wasted youth in San Diego? If so, who would it be? What would you like to show them?

Bamboohead 3000 on Terry Marine

January 6, 2011June 24, 2010 by admin

Clayton Colgin continues to reimagine his formative Bamboohead ‘zine online. This week, Bamboohead 3000 touches bases with another historic figure of the San Diego punk scene: Terry Marine, founder of Be My Friend magazine and a familiar face to anyone who frequented the SD underground of the late ’70s and early ’80s.

“I was always fascinated by Terry because something told me he was crazier than most of us,” Clay writes by way of introduction. “Nobody ever told me to watch out for him, and I never heard any ugly stories about him back then. I never saw him needlessly brutalize anyone. I did see him rush to defend the ranks when particularly-ornery-crews of LA-punks would come to our shows for the purpose of flexing fear-and-intimidation. He never shied from these situations.

Father’s Day: Past, present and future

March 30, 2019June 19, 2010 by Paul Kaufman

(Old Lemons Are Yellow guitarist/new dad Paul Kaufman has something extra to celebrate this weekend.)

This is the first Father’s Day that I’m actually a father! This prompted me to share some musical thoughts with all of you.

Last fall, my dad was visiting the new baby and us, and one evening we saw one of those PBS retrospective/fundraiser specials highlighting major musical performances that had been on the Ed Sullivan show. Lots of classic bands at their peak: Beatles, Stones, Sam and Dave, Sly Stone, Byrds, et al.

This footage had all been shot when I was 0-5 years old, and that era remains the bedrock of my musical upbringing. However, to my daughter, the January 1967 performance of Mick Jagger asking to spend some … time … together is as distant from her birth as a scratchy newsreel of flappers dancing the Charleston is to mine. So, 40 years from now, will I be watching a Justin Bieber documentary with our grandkids?

Remember Walking in the Sand?
Sunscreen, lemonade and summer radio

December 14, 2017June 14, 2010 by admin

(Ray Brandes ushers in the season with a call for signature songs.)

“In summer, the song sings itself.”
— William Carlos Williams

“School’s out for summer!”
— Alice Cooper

Some of the greatest songs in the rock-‘n’-roll era were released in June, July and August. A great summer song doesn’t necessarily have to be about summer itself, but rather capture the quintessence of the season: that feeling of long, lazy sunburned days and humid nights spent making love to the sounds of crickets.

The summer of 1965 alone gave us the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction,” the Beatles’ “Help,” Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” and Martha and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street,” songs that are quite different in theme but are bursting with the exuberance of the sunny season.

Forever changes: Che Games for May
and the the perpetual nostalgia machine

January 6, 2011May 29, 2010 by admin

Detail: Dave Fleminger, the Mirrors; May 30, 2009 (photo by Dave Doyle) Ava points out that it was exactly one year ago that Che Underground: The Blog hosted its first-ever reunion gig (a k a “Che Games for May”) at San Diego’s Casbah.

The two-night blowout included eight great San Diego bands (nine, if you count the unannounced, sizzling first-night mini-set by Lemons Are Yellow), most of whom hadn’t played together in a quarter-century. It marked the first time most of us had been together since the mid-’80s — and the opportunity to meet a few new friends who’d met through the site and their shared San Diego musical history.

This anniversary thus represents an interesting object lesson in the recursive nature of memory: This event itself has now passed into its realm and hence deserves its own commemorative post!