Performance History | The Che Underground

Welcome home, Dave Fleminger!

September 4, 2011June 21, 2011 by admin

(Lou Damian salutes Dave’s relocation to San Diego after a 25-year absence and cuts the ribbon on a groovy summer night in the city.)

Che Underground presents SOUNDS of the SUNSET STRIP: Saturday night 9pm on July 30, 2011, at Lestat’s Coffee Shop.

We always wanted to pay tribute to the bands we dug from this era … And now with the return of Flem to San Diego, the scene is set and we can move forward on this idea … We also decided to call ourselves The CIROS in honor of nightclub where the BYRDS made their debut.

Frank Zappa vs. Jerry Herrera!

December 14, 2017June 16, 2011 by admin

(San Diego scene veteran Gary Ra’chac, singer-songwriter and radio personality and current producer of “Vince Martell Rocks America,” shares photos and memories of an encounter between two notable personalities.)

Here are some photos (by legendary soundman Bill Blue) from the golden days of San Diego’s Community Concourse’s Exhibit Hall concerts. Shows by groups like Country Joe and the Fish, Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and Cream were quite inexpensive, and given the fact the security was less than tight, I was able to finagle my way backstage on a regular basis. It was in fact where I first met The Who, and ironically The Vanilla Fudge ( with Vince Martell). (Editor’s note: These photos of Country Joe and the Fish and the Mothers of Invention date from April 12, 1969, according to the San Diego Concert Archive.)

The last time I saw Frank Zappa was 10 or 11 years later, on April 4, 1980. A friend of mine brought him to a “Scene” promotions party club owner Jerry Herrera and I threw at the Spirit Club. Frank had just finished a show at the Sports Arena when I got a call at the club from journalist Larry Skuse, who told me he and Frank wanted to come down. I said, “Cool” and hung up.

The Penetrators in August:
SDMA lifetime kudos, Casbah gig

September 4, 2011June 13, 2011 by admin

August 2011 is a momentous month for San Diego hometown heroes the Penetrators, when lead singer Gary Heffern returns from Finland in time for the band to receive a recognition for lifetime achievement at the 2011 San Diego Music Awards August 8! The event will also occasion another Penetrators reunion performance at the Casbah August 13.

“As a child, I was told, ‘You will never amount to anything,’ ” Heff recalls. “Still that voice in the back of my head repeats that over and over again. It’s a mantra I fight against on a daily basis.

“When I first heard the Ramones’ ‘Beat on the Brat,’ the New York Dolls’ ‘Trash’ and the Sex Pistols’ ‘No Future,’ they weren’t just words but anthems to me, something that was personal, and all mine … People who understood those songs and what they meant to me became instant friends … It was us against the world …

Crawdaddys/Unknowns Labor Day gigs:
Buy your tickets now!

December 11, 2017June 9, 2011 by admin

What could be hotter than the triumphant return after 30 years of two famed San Diego bands? The tickets to the event, which just went on sale on the Casbah Web site!

Here are those details again of this can’t-miss event:

Read moreCrawdaddys/Unknowns Labor Day gigs:
Buy your tickets now!

The Crawdaddys at Rhino Records!

December 11, 2017June 4, 2011 by admin

(Crawdaddys Redux: Joe Piper channels his inner Andrew Loog Oldham to write this eyewitness account of the Crawdaddys’ long-awaited return to the stage last Sunday.)

What was originally intended to be a “low-key warmup gig” for the reunited ’81-model Crawdaddys prior to their jetting off to Spain for a prestigious appearance alongside The Nashville Ramblers at a bullfight or somesuch (actually “Go Sinner Go!! 2011”), quickly turned into The Event Of The Summer one whole day before summer even officially kicked off.

A capacity crowd crammed into the Rhino Records pop-up store on Santa Monica Blvd. last Sunday evening to raise money for a most worthy cause (MusiCares, providing a safety net for music people in times of need — feel free to contribute any time) and get their Rave Up R&B groove thangs righteously refurbed.

Backstage, West Coast Gnurl Music Festival

December 18, 2017June 2, 2011 by admin

While we’re in a Buffalo Springfield frame of mind: San Diego music stalwart, songwriter and radio personality Gary Ra’chac has generously shared backstage photos of Poco at the West Coast Gnurl Music Festival, October 12, 1969.

This event, which drew more than 10,000 people to Balboa Stadium, also featured Country Joe and the Fish, San Diego’s own Framework, Merryweather, and Chicago.

Gary describes the back story on the photos: “Gary Ra’chac (yeah, that’s me!?!) with the great Richie Furay (and what appears to be drummer George Grantham and Gram Parsons standing directly in back of us.

Unknowns, Crawdaddys revisit San Diego!

December 11, 2017May 30, 2011 by admin

Where were you 30 years ago? If you were hanging with San Diego’s cool kids, chances are a gig featuring the Crawdaddys and/or the Unknowns was on your social calendar. And since a few decades hardly matter among friends, Che Underground: The Blog is proud to present a Labor Day weekend featuring both these legendary bands at San Diego’s Casbah!

Here are the deets:

What, when: Che Underground presents the Crawdaddys (Friday, Sept. 2) and the Unknowns (Saturday, Sept. 3)

Where: The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd. San Diego, CA 92101

How much: $20 per night, $35 for a two-night package (on sale soon via the Casbah site)

Here’s what’s cooking with our headliners:

Steve Griggs: A life well lived

September 4, 2011May 28, 2011 by admin

(Tony Suarez offers photos and memories of another San Diego stalwart gone too soon.)

We lost another good guy recently in San Diego. Stephen Griggs passed away on May 17, 2011.

Steve didn’t play in a band. He was the guy that got all of us to go see the bands, and got people up front and dancing. If it weren’t for guys like Steve, most of us playing music would not have had an audience. He was a ringleader, and got people together to go to shows. His involvement with the Secret Society Scooter club led to many shows at Club Zu, Rock Palace and most of the New Sounds of the 6ts, and many of the early SD scooter rallies (I got Dogged, the rallies to Bad Manners, the Who show, et al.).

I hope these photos attest to his far-reaching love and friendship … not only in the mod and scooter communities, but to his love of Little League (he was an umpire for many years) and the the SD rockabilly scene through most of the late ’90s. I look at his Facebook, and Steve had more friends than most bands and celebrities!

John Kuhlken, 1961-2011

December 16, 2017May 24, 2011 by admin

An accomplished San Diego musician and friend to many, John Kuhlken passed away on Friday after being hospitalized with a blood infection.

John played drums for myriad local bands, including Sara Petite and the Sugar Daddies, the Nards, Brawley, Deep in the Shed and the Targets.

According to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune, where John had worked as an ad copywriter for about 20 years, John suffered from non-Hodgkin lymphoma but had been in remission for most of the past decade after a bone-marrow transplant.

Recovering Mondo Vanilli

December 14, 2017May 21, 2011 by admin

A lost artifact from the heady cyberdaze of the 1990s Bay area emerges two decades later. After being hidden away since before the turn of the millenium, the album “I.O.U. Babe” by Mondo Vanilli (a k a M.V., Inc) has been officially released, and after being initially offered for free on Bandcamp, downloads of ‘IOU Babe’ have exceeded the site’s limit for free downloads. A conventional CD version of the album (with bonus tracks) will be released soon.

Download Mondo Vanilli’s “IOU Babe” album (free download limit exceeded, it’s now 50 cents to download but still free to listen/stream ) and view remix videos by Link C!

Hear Mondo Vanilli’s “IOU Babe” album for free on Soundcloud!

Quick history: A few years after a brief collaboration as the Merry Tweeksters in the mid-‘80s, cultural visionary R.U. Sirius (of Mondo 2000 fame) and Che Underground expatriate Dave Fleminger reunited to begin work on creating the world’s greatest cyber-band. Soon thereafter R.U. invited alien/artist Sim1 3Arm to join the mix, and Sim1’s boundary-pushing performance experience helped turn MV into a sirius triple-threat.

Says Fleminger, “At that point, I had literally no computer experience, and knew nothing of the music RU was referring to as a stylistic jumping-off point, but his ideas were quite inspiring to me and he said, ‘You’ll figure it out’ … so that was enough encouragement for me to give it a try.