Reviving San Diego's Rock Renaissance
It’s hard to believe the earth has already circled the Great Pumpkin completely since Ray Brandes reviewed hip-and-spooky Halloween music and his sister Claudia recalled her 1984 Halloween party featuring some of our favorite boys and ghouls.
But indeed, Samhain is here again … and I realize that I experienced the holiday in three distinct modes:
(High time! Che Underground documentarian Kristen Tobiason revisits the spot that gave the blog its name.)
The first time I landed on the surface of the Che Café was at an early-evening soundcheck for the Wallflowers (not the Jakob Dylan pansy MTV sensation, but the raw & funky, OG Wallflowers), who were opening that night for Noise 292.
Arriving and styling in Paul Howland’s parents’ green station wagon, we unloaded a couple pieces of equipment, and then proceeded to hang out in the woodsy picnic areas surrounding the venue, creating a smoky haze amidst talk of music and the humor of Tom and Paul’s use of ordinary soap as an alternative to dime-store hair gel.
(Not satisfied to supply the holiday tunes, the Brandes siblings come through with a swingin’ Halloween photo gallery for recovering SD scenesters! Claudia Brandes provides the back story.)
These photos were taken at the Halloween party that Zoe and I threw at her loft downtown in 1984. Zoe and I were great friends at the time, and we talked all year about wanting to have a huge Halloween party. She was the only person I had ever met, besides Kristen Schwartz, who loved Halloween as much as I did.
Kristen, in one image, is a “jigsaw puzzle,” and Zoe is George Washington. It was a great costume, and she was quite convincing! I was Peter Pan, which allowed me to wear my Beatle boots and a short skirt and still look cool. One photo has a very handsome young Peter Miesner dancing with Zoe.