Adams Ave. Theater | The Che Underground

Jerry Cornelius & The Cooler Heads: ‘Electric Flowers’

February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 by Mmrothenberg

When do you celebrate the first anniversary of an event that happened on a Feb. 29? Che Underground: The Blog is jumping the gun with its birthday salute to “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase,” which transpired Feb. 29, 2020, and featured performances by The Wrecktangle; Jerry Cornelius & The Cooler Heads; and P-Touch All Stars.

On offer today: JC & TCHs’ cover of The Answers classic “Electric Flowers,” along with some liner notes by Mr. Cornelius himself!

“Memories, they have no place/They take up precious time and space.”

When I first saw David Fleminger and The Answers in their form with Tony Suarez and Dave Anderson at the Adams Avenue Theater, I was struck by the force and musicality of what they were playing.

Over the 37 years since then, several of these songs — especially “Color Notes” and “Electric Flowers” — have never been far from my mind.

Warming up for DaveFest Four

March 24, 2018July 24, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

(Charisse Sciuva and Dave Rinck describe hot times at Lestat’s Coffee House. The featured act: a warm-up for the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30-31 and a Che Underground supergroup that will feature San Diego music legends Dave Doyle, Dave Fleminger, Dave Klowden and Dave Rinck.)

On July 19, the DaveFest Four (actually two, Dave Rinck and Dave Fleminger, plus an “honorary Dave” — Lou Damian on harmonica), shut down a packed house at Lestat’s Coffee House on San Diego’s Adams Ave. after just two acts. The occasion was the second weekly night of the Monday night warm-ups at Lestat’s, the venue for Night One of the upcoming Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend on July 30 and 31. Due to an unplanned event that could be called a “mishap” by some, their performance set the standard for what is certainly going to be the event of the year!

Why “DaveFest Four”? Read Patrick Works’ history of Dave Fest!

After an intro by the master of ceremonies, the DaveFest combo took the stage in what was truly a Che Underground moment. Upon pulling in, a painfully loud intermittent reverb-laced blast was heard!

From Scan to the Shambles

January 1, 2011May 16, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles talks about how he got from there to here.)

Of course the various members of the Shambles knew each other for years before the band’s formation, but I can put down the beginnings of the band to two events.

In the late ’80s, Kevin Donaker-Ring co-produced Manual Scan’s “Days & Maybes” EP with Ray Brandes (side note: humorous liners by Mike Stax), and we were all part of a group of musicians that frequented Megalopolis on Fairmount Ave., often playing round-robin style — David Moye and Jon Kanis amongst the round-robiners who didn’t end up in the band (though we did back up Kanis on a compilation-album track).

Gigs that hooked you

January 1, 2011May 13, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

Hey! Let’s talk about music, and San Diego, and San Diego music …

A long, long time ago, Che Underground: The Blog hosted a thread about our musicians’ first times on stage. Let’s reach even further back into the collective memory banks and talk a bit about those formative shows that made you feel like part of a scene of interesting people listening to interesting sounds.

We’ve talked about many local bands and a slew of notable visitors at venues ranging from the Skeleton Club to the Zebra Club to the International Blend/Kings Road Cafe … Adams Ave. Theater to the North Park Lions Club et al.

Now, which ones came first for you, and why?

Punk flyer blow out from the Seibert Collection

January 1, 2011January 4, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

You asked for it, we’ve got it: The recent success of the PDF set of mod-themed flyers from the Ken Fugate Collection prompts a 31-page volume of punk classics from early ’80s San Diego, courtesy of our beloved Jason Seibert.

The Seibert flyers reference a variety of venues, including Fairmount Hall, North Park Lions Club and the Adams Avenue Theater (many of them organized by Marc Rude’s Dead or Alive). San Diego acts include Personal Conflict, Men of Clay, No Age Limit, the Skullbusters, Social Spit, Manifest Destiny, Catch-22, Moral Majority, V-5, 5051, the Nutrons, the Middle Class, Battalion of Saints, District Tradition, the Front, Sacred Lies, the Injections and Black Tango.

Read morePunk flyer blow out from the Seibert Collection

The Answers: “Teenage Problems”

January 21, 2018June 9, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

The Answers come alive! Here’s a very hot number from the 1982 lineup of this protean band. Dave Fleminger sets the scene for this song, which perfectly captures the SD teen spirit we’re celebrating on Che Underground: The Blog.

“The Answers, opening the day’s festivities at ‘Mod Mania,’ hosted by Lumpy at the Adams Ave. Theater, Sept. 18, 1982. Dave Fleminger (guitar/voice); Tony Suarez (bass/voice); David Anderson (drums).