Live at Lestat’s: An underground evening

(David Rinck offers a performer’s-eye view of a recent night of musical eclecticism in San Diego.)

On the evening of Thurs., Nov. 4, we again converged on the little theater at Lestat’s Coffee House on Adams Ave. in Kensington, which is beginning to feel like home for some of us here.

Lestat’s most recently hosted the first night of the Che Underground Rock and Roll Weekend on July 30 and 31, and the Nov. 4 show was an exciting follow-up to that event. Some of San Diego’s finest underground musicians offered up an eclectic array of sounds from a range of genres. At the same time, the visual arts were represented by terrific graphics, photography and video recording, some of which is available here.

The Fairmount Extension, an instrumental variation on rising stars the Fairmounts, kicked off the live music with an elegant and up-tempo jazz and R&B-infused set, which included both well-chosen covers and new original material. Esteemed keyboardist A.J. Croce joined the original quartet to round out the sound, and reed-player Lou Damian made a brief cameo with his alto saxophone.

Seven-year-old Graziela Damian provided a surprise grand finale to the Fairmount Extension set, when she and Dave Fleminger (sadly appearing only briefly this evening in guitarist incarnation) took the stage for the closing number, a rendition of Bowie’s “Starman” from the Ziggy Stardust album. Ms. Damian had delighted audiences at the Rock and Roll Weekend with her captivating performance of the Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning”, and her return on Nov. 4 inspired a well-deserved standing ovation.

Up next was hING. Fronted by the withering saxophone of Lou Damian, this outfit delivered a percussive and at times suspenseful free-jazz and noise rock-inspired set that simultaneously enthralled and baffled the room. It was fun to see which members of the audience would bop joyously in their seats, and which would simply stare in amazement. hING features an unconventional technique and instrumentation (such as a wah-wah equipped cymbal), and a sound that recalls at times Ornette Coleman or the more experimental pieces of the Velvet Underground or Noise 292. On a slightly disappointing note, Lou did not throw his sunglasses into the audience this evening.

The P Man, Paul Howland, who had until now acted as emcee, next took over the stage with a throbbing set of Dubstep and other variations. The grief I feel at Paul’s hanging up the bass guitar in recent years has been to a large extent offset by the fantastic new music he’s spinning from his turntables. Paul has always had one of the Che Underground’s most cutting-edge and innovative ears, and even bass-less now he continues to be a trendsetter.

Finally, I had the privilege to take the stage with Skeleton Club-era punk rock veterans the Cardiac Kidz, recently reformed and wildly active on the local music scene again. Newly added ex-Phantom Ratio/Social Spit drummer Jimi Flynn rounded out the line-up in his first appearance with the band, and the Kidz delivered their set at characteristic triple-digit decibel levels.

I’ll leave it to those that witnessed the set to comment on its qualities, but for those that couldn’t make it (or even those that could and would like a souvenir of the event anyway), a “Cardiac Kidz — Live At Lestats” CD is in the making, the release of which is planned to coincide with a re-release of the Kidz’ rare “Get Out” CD on Bart Mendoza’s Blindspot Records in mid-December. Dave Fleminger’s Metronoma studio is slated to do the mastering.

Alongside the musicians, some of our best visual artists complimented the music with their images:

Underground art Goddess Kristen Tobiason designed one of her characteristically striking posters, lighting up the Lestat’s rotating “now playing” marquees for weeks before the show. I’ve seen Kristen producing images for the San Diego underground since the mid-’80s, and from the psychedelic hand-drawn flyers of the early Che Underground heyday, to her recent slew of bold concert posters, her work has been a barometer of the times. She has plans to expand her graphic arts outfit Tobi soon, so hopefully we can look forward to much more to come.

Messrs Dave Doyle and Sean McMullen lent their authentic rock-‘n’-roll eye the event and snapped plenty of pictures. Both of these photogs are accumulating impressive records of the local music scene. Likewise, Dave Fleminger caught the event on tape, and shot some exciting videos, further enhancing the Che Underground YouTube video channel. For those of you that haven’t yet checked out this impressive collection, I recommend setting aside some time to sample its contents.

Finally, a huge Che Underground thanks to Lestat’s manager and soundman Lou Brazier, who is doing a terrific job making a home for underground art and music at his venue. Lou is a longstanding fixture on the San Diego music scene dating back to his days with the Flexies, and he has really created a dream-come-true setting at Lestat’s with his top-notch audio system.

I wanna stop here and leave folks with a moment to really think about what goes into an evening like this. I don’t mean the time booking and promoting the event, or even the years of honing chops, and hours of rehearsals, the development of the skills of our great audio and visual artists.

I’m thinking about the amazing range of traditions and heritage that come together on a night like this – a brand-new band brought us vibrant classic vintage sounds from decades past, while on the same stage, a veteran punk rock outfit returned from three decades ago to carry us back to the heyday of punk rock, while yet another explored the outer limits of music. To top it off, Graziela represented the next generation of underground art and music. And alongside them, the visual and audio genius of our colleagues accentuated and memorialized the night. It was just one evening in the underground, but it carried with it a long and distinguished pedigree.

— David Rinck

More from David Rinck:

• Mali Blues
• Play ‘Misty’ for me: BOMBAST rocks out at Bar Pink
• The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Punk Rockers from San Diego
• Blues Haitien and the Best Nightmare on Earth: Update from the West Indies
• Even Dave Wallflower gets the blues
• The Che Underground Cookbook: Dave Wallflower’s Peri Peri Chicken
• We are all Blues Gangsters