Wow. Just … wow. The Che Games weekend was an emotional, artistic and spiritual triumph — throw in a few adjectives of your own there! I’m grateful that so many other people feel so energized and fulfilled by the time we spent together.
I think most of us need at least a little while to digest (and for those of us heavily involved in prep, to reclaim our schedules). But hey: While the iron’s hot, I want at least to hear what new worlds you want this blog and this community to explore next.
Here are a few items on my personal menu … Please chime in with more!
- Che Underground: The Blog will continue its mission of exploring our musical history. Robyn Wexler, Bart Mendoza and lots of other folks have told me about new archival paydirt from the old school. Plus, we want new writers to tell the old stories! Please send ideas and submissions to cheunderground@gmail.com.
- We’ll showcase new work from the Casbah and beyond. Thanks to all the great digital tech we’ve got nowadays, last weekend was documented the way we never managed as kids. I’m so excited to see and hear all the results — and with the artists’ and documentarians’ kind permission, I want to feature it here. Meanwhile, we’ve got a lot of people who either have been making music recently or have been inspired to make more … Let’s get your projects promoted!
- “This We Sung.” Working title, but Wallflower Dave Rinck just IM’d me from Amsterdam (en route to Africa) to suggest a new feature that highlights the lyrics of our songs. Lovely idea! We’ve got some great lyricists in this community.
- Other performance opportunities and collaborations? I don’t want to force the magic; as my very wise guru Jason Brownell said to me yesterday, “There’ll never be another first reunion.” However, that doesn’t mean we can’t channel energy into being together in different, creative ways, up to and including some public appearances.
Just a few general ideas. … I want to hear what you want! And please: It doesn’t have to be fancy or elaborate. Little things are nice, too. (The thought of Louie’s little girl singing to us is enough to bring a smile.)
Fire away!
Well, Matt, as to #4, there’s already talk in the Scan camp (emails were already flying around Saturday morning) about recording with this lineup. Bart had several great songs that never made it to tape, and I’d love to resurrect them. And, of course, he continues to write fantastic songs on a constant basis. I love this band.
Also, Morgan and I have already discussed a side project (suggested by several people including Sean McMullen) that I’m now itching to do. We’ll need at least two people capable of playing keyboards, a bassist, and a guitar player. Perhaps someone can do double duty. Feelers are already out . . .
I must have climbed somewere else!
This all sounds wonderfull. I’m really sorry to miss picnic children…
Onwards and upwards!
>>We’ll need at least two people capable of playing keyboards, a bassist, and a guitar player.
Kevin: … Some duct tape, a blowtorch, a Banana Splits lunchbox and marshmallows. A lot of marshmallows! LOL
(VERY cool. Your feelers make me feel happy.)
I’d love to share some photos from the shows and a recording (I handed over my Edirol R09 recorder to Jason for both shows). I agreed to help Dave F. with editing all the recordings. (Note to self, never admit to anyone that you’ve worked in audio postproduction for 15+ years!)
As for going forward — I would love to record old and new songs, and to perform live again — that was too much fun to be a one-off!!
Oh, and Lemons are Yellow really needs to do a full set next time!
Yeah, I didn’t even mention how bad-ass LAY was! Totally kicked the show off with a BANG.
Eric Rife has high-res video in the can for both nights as well. Especially if we can sync it to the audio, we’ll have a very crisp audiovisual record.
I want to make a Che Underground Poetry Site!!!
We can share and collaborate our written talents. Yes?
summon the muse…there are many byrons, shelleys and bukowskis here, I mean come on, think of it: Jerry, Toby, Sean, Matthew, Jeff, Louis, Ava, Robin…. just add photography and artwork and we’ve got a recipe for brilliance.
I also want to create an illuminatatus secret society and discuss our world takeover over coffee and finger sandwiches.
And maybe make a book club….
A meditation group….
And of course resume our Che Graveyard Picnic playdates…..
Dave Fleminger and I were discussing a CD compilation of the Che Underground site, but for me at least, life intruded upon the plans. Now that the (first) show is out of the way, perhaps we can get a compilation together.
Oh yeah, and I’d like to lead a summer expedition to the great Northwest to search for the elusive sasquatch.
>>I’d like to lead a summer expedition to the great Northwest to search for the elusive sasquatch.
You haven’t seen me shirtless, have you, Ray?
I’m stoked you guys had a great show, I was committed to taking my oldest daughter camping last weekend before I stumbled upon this site. Looking forward to seeing and hearing music from the show.
Billy
We could do a feature with different members’ moms telling stories about how goofy we were …
BTW, Kevin’s mom is the BOMB! And not just ’cause it rhymes. 🙂
I was totally stoked to meet her at last.
There’s usually two things to do after a gig:
1. Hang out all night at Denny’s
2. Party at Pat’s house
--discuss--
In case you pick number two, I’ve already hidden the phone.
Patrick Works
Sorry I missed it
Pat, man: It was La Posta … Buncha 40-somethings woofing down burritos at 3:30 a.m. both mornings — and THEN an after-party! 🙂
(Wish we’d made Denny’s … First-person plural including you, of course.)
We opted for #1, with the strategic substitution of La Posta for Denny’s. Can’t get rolled tacos where I live now, so all the memory cells were activated at once.
There are so many more great bands that should shine again in this type of banner weekend! I’ll start by nominating The Unknowns.
….and I’ll second that with: The Injections!
Yes to all the above. Sorry Pat, Jerry, Mark Stern and everybody else couldn’t make it. I’m glad to hear it was recorded in many ways. I didn’t manage to meet Jason. I was whirling. It was great to see everybody even though there was so little time to talk. My girlfriend of 12 years, Annie took photos too. I’ll make them available as soon as I recover (drove back yesterday, worked today). I think the bands were better in many and varied ways then back in the day. I’m deeply gratified to be part of this community.
I love the idea of the compilation -- count me in for any help needed there. As for future events, there are certainly lots of additional bands that it would be great to have (The Unknowns would also be high on my list, as well as The Nashville Ramblers) but I’d definitely like some of the bands that played this time to return, starting with the Answers ….
This may seem like a no-brainer, but we should definitely tour Japan as soon as possible!
Also, for Bart and Ray -- David Flreminger and I have also started talking about putting together CDs of the CU bands. A compilation definitely, but also some full CDs of the individual bands. We semi-seriously launched Furious Babyface Records for the Blues Gangsters CD, but maybe we can join up with you on this Bart? Let’s talk…
Also, Kristen I couldn’t agree more on the words of the CU. Just yesterday I pitched a new series of posts to Mathew on the lyrics of our bands’ songs. My idea though is to push for new collaboration on lyrics writing. Until now we’ve focused on the music, but we need to think of the words too!
Dave Rinck: I’ve been singing “Rubber Room” for days.
I also wanna form Candy Rock, a Rockin’ Dogs tribute band.
Kristen: Yes, more art of Che! And poetry. We can post lots here, hells yeah.
Do you guys think we can sell an animated series? Wonder if any of the artists who did the Beatles cartoons are still alive? I want the “Spongebob” guy to do my voice.
Couple of observations on distributing stuff … I’m totally loving all the photos and videos and things going up on Facebook — but of course, those channels are limited to Facebook friends, and it would be fun to get broader exposure for the cream of the crop.
Other public-facing venues for Che Games content right now? I want to get folks’ explicit permission before lifting their stuff.
Mathew…heh? what does that last sentence mean?
Anyway, I have a stash of old poetrt and art Kriten, from Mdison Avenue days, to help kick off your poetry/art corner! i’ve got goods from a wide array of critters…Leighton Koizumi,Ted, Jeff Lucas, really neat poems & drawings by Jerry Cornelius, Chris Gast, KristenTobiason, Anni , myself…the list goes on!
Che uNDERGROUND-THE LIVE TOUR sounds fun to me…I’m all for moving ahead on more live band performances, especially up and down the Pacific Coast…I will definitely be doing research on that as time moves on. this is one area where my connections with the Original Cafe Du Nord Gang should open some doors!
I hope you all enjoyed Everybody Violet’s set on Friday night!i am really prous of how the band came together and gelled-the performancewd was definitely electic and asurreal, ans took a great deal of emotionL AND PHYSICALenergy from me! I apologize for now makuing myself availableto mingle after the set but theside-ffects of my grain inury result in sensitivity to stinulation and noise. after our set, I was completely awash with adrenaline, and was too hyper-sensitive to manage the crowd and noise at te Casbah!
But, a heartfelt thanks goes to everyone who helped the he Underground Showcase a reality, and the Rebirth of Evrybody Voliet morwe than just a fantasy! now EV is already planning more shows and the recording of a CD!
Thanks again, for all of your work Mathew!
v
Please excuse the awful spelling and grammer in that passage. TIMES LIKE THESE, I WANT TO PRESS THE ‘RE-DO’ BUTTON.
Like many other Che Undergroung participants, I am struggling with post-reunion exhaustion. Add a dash of brain injury, a side of forty-something back pain, and a pain killer; and you wind up with very sloppy blog insert such as that one. Well, at least I had good intentions.
Yes, the Che Games in May will be remembered as a great San Diego rock n roll play date! ow it is time for this tired youngster to fly home to The Bay Area, and quaint little old Alameda, CA!
01. CD (With booklet, plenty of good pics available and could use some excerpts from the blog as well)
02. DVD
03. I -- Tunes (Audio and Video)
those are blatantly obvious I reckon…
Well..yes to all the great ideas. Even Sasquatch: I can give you guys a tour of Sasquatch land, bring your fur, it’s cold here. I even know a Sasquatch song from a Karuk elder here…we can get him (Sas) to help with equip. I think they can even levitate it. Anyway, I’ll spend some more time thinking about all this…Che weekend was a high point in local rock history with ripples soon to spread far and wide…peace, yo-ta-wa-pa-hey
Don’t worry about it Kristi! No explanations are necessary from this point on. We know that you have been through a lot. And give yourself a pat on the back for giving an energetic, outstanding performance on friday night.
I like being the “old poetrt and art Kriten”. it’s my new monniker.
come to the northwest and we can find maggie and marit and do a north country version of the weekend.
portland has a lot of great venues.
kevins mom is unreal and wonderful. she was my confidante back in the day. guided me through so much. i love that lady. and her brilliant, kind son.
patrick, you were so missed. monica and i got down to manual scan and longed for your dancing feet.
i think a poetry site is an excellent idea. kristen, let me know how i can help.
i’m home in body, but in spirit i am still at graveyard park hanging with rosemarie and megan and carter and monica and and and…
West Coast tour sounds good. And Hawaii.
>>West Coast tour sounds good. And Hawaii.
Toby, man — you heard Mr. Allen … We’re coming to get you, buddy!
poor toby. all he wants is to be left to his writing devices. i bet he’d be stoked if we all showed up though. after he got over the shock of the invasion.
as for the northwest, it’s very kid friendly.
If you guys do another showcase bring back some of the same bands so I can see The Wallflowers. Maybe you could also swing a Gravedigger V reunion with Tom Ward on bass I am sure alot of people would like to see that.
dylan, sorry you missed it… but there’s video at least.
I second Dylan’s Gravedigger V idea! Missed the reunion in New York at Cavestomp in the 90s. Perhaps on the same night you could have the Nashville Ramblers and Manual Scan (Tom was in the band for a bit).
I would love to see The Answers again because I was too drunk on Friday by the time they played. I know I enjoyed them but just can’t remember the details.
Dave E you don’t know how bummed I am:(……
>>I second Dylan’s Gravedigger V idea! … Perhaps on the same night you could have the Nashville Ramblers and Manual Scan (Tom was in the band for a bit).
TomFest!!!
Will you bring your banana splitz lunch box, matthew? I am sure I can rope tom in…
i believe dave acampora is over on your side of the states, as is dirk, now and again.
I dig all of the projects spinning out from this! Count me in. I have to say for someone who has spent a *lot* of time at the Casbah (dating back to the inaugural show, 20 years ago -- Romy Kaye & The Swingin Gates), the Reunion shows were especially resonant for me in that setting. Getting to work while listening to my talented amigos at the same time was especially gratifying. Well done. Keep it up. I’m glad to see/hear video coming out too. Things go so fast when I’m shooting. It’s nice to be able to relive the performances. So far I’ve seen only the Wallflowers videos -- are there more of other bands? Looking forward to that. Also, MR let me know where you’d like me to post my photos. It’ll be nice to have larger versions up for all to see. I’ll be out of the office on a camping trip this weekend, and back later Monday. I can probably have them up by Wed-Thursday. ¡Hasta luego La Postadores!
>>So far I’ve seen only the Wallflowers videos -- are there more of other bands?
Sean: Go check out my Facebook page for lots of Noise 292 video shot by Hobie’s better half, Ami. I’m hoping we can push some video to our YouTube channel soon — including some of Eric Rife’s comprehensive footage and rehearsal video Paul Kaufman shot of a variety of bands.
Have fun camping! I’ll check in with you about the photos.
Sean, I’m very interested to see the photographs of the show…
and video of the performances as well. Do you have a flickr page, or are you saving your photos for The Che Underground Coffee Table book?
Now, there is an idea for future investment!
I know members of the Castillo family got video of Hair Theatre, perhaps other bands as well. Still trying to put Annie’s pictures up, they’re not ready for the same reason it’s hard to get out of the house together.
>>I know members of the Castillo family got video of Hair Theatre
Rated XXX, adults only!
Ami’s Noise 292 palmcorder video needs an audio transfusion before youtubing. Kristin Martin is working on that. Patience !