Che Underground: The Blog

Calling Poly Styrene from La Jolla

September 4, 2011April 28, 2011 by admin

(Mikel Toombs takes inspiration from the late punk icon.)

Poly Styrene, who died Monday after battling breast cancer (she was 53), was the subject of the first interview feature I ever wrote. It appeared in the Triton Times, before it became the UCSD Guardian and moved in next door to the Ché Café, which you may have heard about.

And what would prompt a penniless college student to place a then-pricey phone call to London to talk to someone in a band, X-ray Spex, that had a single 1977 single (“Oh Bondage! Up Yours!” backed with “I’m a Cliché”) in a style (punk) that had yet to take hold in the US, which still wanted to get down tonight?

This: “Some people think little girls should be seen ‘n’ not heard, but I say,” Poly said, “oh bondage! Up yours!”

Setting ‘Blood on Fire’

September 4, 2011April 23, 2011 by admin

(On April 6, a group of San Diego music veterans backed local hero Gary Heffern when he returned from Finland to play the Casbah. Joe Piper recounts the 34 years leading up to his own part in the gig.)

Life’s funny…

When Gary Heffern’s Blood On Fire took to the Casbah stage earlier this month it was, for me, more than just an opportunity to play with some truly outstanding musicians who just also happen to be a group of the greatest guys you could ever hope to meet. It was more than a chance to take part in what is possibly the most enjoyable project I’ve ever worked on. It was all that and more — it was a chance to take care of unfinished business.

Eric Rife previews ‘Garageland’ footage

December 11, 2017April 15, 2011 by admin

Good news for fans of San Diego music in particular and local music scenes in general: Eric Rife’s epic film project “Garageland” is approaching release in 2012, and Eric has posted a short preview of the film on YouTube.

Readers of Che Underground: The Blog as well as veterans of San Diego music are familiar with Eric’s work as a photographer and videographer. Indeed, his years of work pulling together archival and current footage for “Garageland” was an inspiration for me to start this blog in the first place.

Penetrators and friends at the Casbah

September 4, 2011April 12, 2011 by admin

(San Diego’s legendary Penetrators got together for a rare performance April 3, when lead singer Gary Heffern flew in from Finland for a short visit. Ace photographer Sean McMullen was in the audience and offers a wealth of images for us out-of-towners.)

It was a really good turnout with a true rogue’s gallery of old friends.

I made a joke about there not being much of a pit, and someone said it was more of a “hug pit.” Haha. I definitely participated in that. All three sets (including openers the Loons and Social Spit) were high energy and rocked the joint well. The level of passion and musicianship was an adrenaline rush all the way through.

Personally, The Penetrators were one of the first bands I saw live as a 13- or 14-year-old kid at Golden Hall. I became friends with Gary in the last decade through Casbah shows and Facebook, so it was a joy to have him back here and interacting with all of the people I grew up with from that early age.

Salad days at the Che

September 4, 2011April 6, 2011 by admin

(A new perspective on our old stomping grounds. Any other readers from the Che collective want to chime in?)

So, I am flipping through the Reader, and I see the short article about your site and I go check it out because back in the day I belonged to several lefty campus organizations that put on benefit concerts at the Che.

I recognized the name of your band, Noise 292, because of all the shows we did. I had one flyer saved from back in the day, and it has your band’s name on it along with The Front and The Odds. It was for a Feb. 24, 1984, concert [to benefit draft resister Michael Marsh] sponsored by the UCSD Committee Against Registration and the Draft which was a part of the Progressive Student Organization at the Che.

Lemons Are Yellow play Che Games

September 4, 2011March 23, 2011 by admin

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.

Gary Heffern: “Hand of the Devil”

December 11, 2017March 19, 2011 by admin

In time for his visit to San Diego’s Casbah April 3 and 6 to reunite with the Penetrators and celebrate the pending release of his “Gary Heffern & Beautiful People” CD, Gary Heffern shares this new video for his song “Hand of the Devil” and describes the process of its creation.

“The video was shot at the school Rovala, which I am attending to learn the Finnish language,” Gary writes. “While there it struck me that I was one of the only English-speaking people there, and how many refugees were in my class … And there were many moments when I felt so insecure about what I was doing and why I was here.

“When I began to learn more about these people it seemed that my circumstances were smaller, and I also saw very plainly that they really have no future here in Finland, simply because of not speaking the language, or the color of their skin.

Introducing Sceneroller

September 4, 2011March 11, 2011 by admin

We’ve spent the past three years here on Che Underground: The Blog talking about the bands, people, places and shows that made our scene. Now here’s a way to connect them to each other — and to other scenes around the world.

San Diego is my musical home, and our musical history is precious to me … So this is the right place for the first real public launch of Sceneroller, a software platform that lets users connect bands, people, venues and gigs to write a shared history of local music scenes.

Crawdaddys/Scan/GDV at the Syndicate

September 4, 2011March 6, 2011 by admin

This hitherto unpublished 1984 flyer from the Bruce Haemmerle Collection portrays the Crawdaddys, Manual Scan and the Gravedigger V at Point Loma’s Syndicate all-ages club.

I’m giving it pride of place for a few reasons: