Dave Fleminger | The Che Underground

Town Criers, Gary Heffern at the Casbah

February 2, 2011August 8, 2010 by admin

One of the highlights of our Che Underground showcase at San Diego’s Casbah Jan. 30, 2010, was the 20-year reunion of the city’s pioneering alt-rockers the Town Criers.

And adding to the Penetrators theme of the festivities, Gary Heffern (frontman for that legendary band) flew in from Finland to join the band in a rare San Diego guest appearance.

Read the Town Criers’ story!

First off, here’s the Town Criers performing “My Baby Left Me,” written by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup and performed by Elvis Presley, among others. The lineup fueling this first performance in more than two decades included Ray Brandes (vocals, guitar); Mark Zadarnowksi (bass); David Klowden (drums); and Peter Miesner (lead guitar).

The Comeuppance with Graziela Damian:
“Sunday Morning”

February 2, 2011August 5, 2010 by admin

The Che Underground officially entered its second generation Friday, July 30, when Graziela Damian joined the Comeuppance onstage at Lestat’s Coffee House during the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend.

The daughter of Lou Damian and Charisse Sciuva graced us last year at the post-picnic for Che Games for May with an a capella rendition of Love’s “You Set the Scene.” This year, Graziela returned with this beautiful rendition of the Velvet Underground’s “Sunday Morning.”

Two days in Che: A retrospective

February 2, 2011August 3, 2010 by admin

(Paul Kaufman flew in from Massachusetts to taste the fury of the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30 and 31. Here are Paul’s impressions, accompanied by photos from Sean McMullen and Kymri Wilt.)

After an early-morning cross-country flight, I was somewhat worse for wear by the time 9pm rolled around on Friday, July 30, but I didn’t want to miss this!

It had probably been around 20 years since I had been down Adams Avenue. Normal Heights is heavily transformed from the residential neighborhood I remembered, with many new restaurants and shops. The center of the action is Lestat’s gallery, coffee shop and nightclub. A big marquee announces the Che Underground show! In addition to the musicians themselves, lots of blog stars are there: Kristen Tobiason; Chris Mathis; and of course tonight’s MC, Lou Damian.

DaveFest Four: ‘Prison Walls’ at Lestat’s

February 2, 2011August 1, 2010 by admin

First fruits of the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend: Days after we posted about a video featuring “Prison Walls” from the Injections’ seminal 1980 single, the DaveFest Four put its own spin on the song at Lestat’s Coffee House on San Diego’s Adams Ave.

Dave Fleminger, who provides vocals and guitar on the track, describes the inspiration for the DaveFest Four’s version of “Prison Walls”:

From Lestat’s: Welcome back, Tom Ward

January 6, 2011July 29, 2010 by admin

(Charisse Sciuva offers another advance view of the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30 and 31 at Lestat’s Coffee House and Bar Pink, respectively.)

Monday night, Lestat’s-goers were awestruck by the appearance of Thomas E. Ward, who will be kicking off the Che Underground show this weekend. Ward took the stage with his 12-string Guild and pounded out “She’s Not Just Anybody” with vocals to match.

While most sit back casually and drone out their love songs, Ward stood tall over the audience as he sang, a rock-‘n’-roll bassist back from New York City, grounded once again in San Diego. All eyes were glued on this fresh and crisp performer, waiting for what he would deliver next.

Get your ‘Rock-’n’-Roll’ flyers!

March 24, 2018July 26, 2010 by admin

You asked for it, you got it: “Then and Now” reporter and Che Underground veteran Kristen Tobiason has obliged us with downloadable PDF versions of the flyers she prepped for the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30 and 31!

Just click on the thumbnails below for pure, print-ready chewing satisfaction:

Here’s a recap of the weekend’s haps:

Read moreGet your ‘Rock-’n’-Roll’ flyers!

Warming up for DaveFest Four

March 24, 2018July 24, 2010 by admin

(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!

The Comeuppance: Bringing it home

January 6, 2011July 20, 2010 by admin

Dave Fleminger — veteran of San Diego’s Answers, Mirrors and Manual Scan and a chief architect of our Che Underground events — is down from San Francisco for the month to prepare for the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30-31.

Among the first-night acts at Lestat’s Coffee House: the Comeuppance, Dave’s current collaboration with cellist Heather Vorwerck. The duo last week made its San Diego debut at a Lestat’s open mic, and I asked Dave what it was like playing his new material on our old turf after so many years away.

The Answers Never Existed

January 21, 2018July 13, 2010 by admin

(In preparation for the band’s July 31 reunion at the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend, founding Answer Dave Fleminger unvaults a historic track and the story behind it.)

Contrary to what this post’s title implies, the Answers did indeed exist; it was just too tempting to suggest that here was a band that never existed in order to introduce a recording few knew existed of a song entitled “Never Existed.” Enough of that …

During the summer of 1982 the Answers had the pleasure of performing a number of times at the Kings Road Cafe, previously known as the International Blend. Among the audience at some of these shows was Terry Marine, who enjoyed our noise enough to mention us in his mag Be My Friend, referring to us as “tight, nervous new stuff.”

Manual Scan meets the Penetrators

April 14, 2012July 7, 2010 by admin

Among the highlights of our Che Underground event Jan. 30, 2010, at the Casbah was “Manual Penetration.” This collaboration brought Chris Davies and Chris Sullivan of San Diego’s legendary Penetrators onstage with the equally storied Manual Scan to perform a mini-set of Penetrators songs.

Scan co-founders Bart Mendoza and Kevin Donaker-Ring talk about the origins of this matchup, captured here on video shot that night by Eric Rife with sound engineered by Dave Fleminger.