Hair Theatre | The Che Underground

Birth of the Nephews!

December 25, 2021December 25, 2021 by Mmrothenberg

A Che Underground exclusive: San Diego legends The Nephews revisit four decades of music ahead of their Feb. 18 appearance at The Casbah San Diego for A Che Underground Midwinter Masque. Book your tickets early and often!

The Nephews began as a comedy act in middle school around 1980. The original name was Ceilings and Floors, but we changed it to The Nephews (which has the same amount of meaning as “Ceilings and Floors”) around 7th grade.

We were very heavily into music, started playing as a rock band in high school, and were able to start playing club shows fairly quickly. Actually, our very first show outside of inland North County where we grew up was at the Che Cafe in 1984. We supported Manual Scan at Club Zu pretty early on.

Eric Cullen (Nephews keyboardist, 1989): “The first memory I have of The Nephews is of them playing during lunchtime at Poway High School. The
thing that immediately hit me about their music was how sophisticated their sound was, considering this was high school and all. Their harmonic language was dense, their chord progressions rather abstract, the lyrics obtuse. The Nephews’ music seemed advanced and not really belonging to the time, which was 1984 or ‘85. They were mining their own sound, and to this 17-year-old it sounded great. They had an air of ’60s psychedelia but were in touch with current underground bands like R.E.M., Minutemen and Pere Ubu. They also had a slight Zappa/Beefheart side about them, as well.”

Ready for ‘A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase’?

February 13, 2020 by Mmrothenberg

Most rock-‘n’-roll historians know San Diego’s Che Underground scene as a mad scientist’s lab for musical experiments at the top of the ’80s.

Named for notable shows they staged at UC San Diego’s Che Café — but active across the region — the bands of the Che Underground brought together artists steeped in punk, psychedelia, garage and more. Throwing their influences into a high-speed blender, bands like The Answers, Hair Theatre, Noise 292, The Rockin’ Dogs, The Tell-Tale Hearts and the original SD Wallflowers provided a soundtrack for Southern California youth culture.

Four decades later, those musicians and artists continue to kick out the collective jams — and on Feb. 29, some of the best minds of that generation will stage a family reunion at the Riviera Supper Club & Turquoise Lounge for “A Che Underground Leap Night Showcase.” The night’s lineup of Che Underground supergroups will feature two stars of the scene who haven’t performed in San Diego for more than three decades: Jeremiah Cornelius and Tom Clarke.

Hair Theatre, ‘What Should I Say’

January 15, 2022December 13, 2019 by Mmrothenberg

Sweeping onto the scene from northernmost San Diego County in 1983, Hair Theatre made its mark with a brand of American Gothic that was far ahead of its era.

This rare video of “What Should I Say” shows Hair Theatre at the peak of its power and offers a glimpse of the charisma that would make the band a legend among music cognoscenti.

The date was Dec. 28, 1984, and the venue was the Gaslamp Quarter Theater, where Hair Theatre appeared with Penguins Slept and Orange County’s Society.

Hair Theatre opens for Devo at Iguana’s: The Juni Bravo archive

January 2, 2018January 2, 2018 by Mmrothenberg

An online discovery has created a new Che Underground mystery to solve.

I ran across this video of the mighty Hair Theatre playing Iguana’s in Tijuana. Now I want to know how it made its way to YouTube and who-all is on the other half-hour of tape!

Some clues:

The gig is dated Sept. 28, 1989, and the master VHS is credited to the “Juni Bravo archive.” It was posted to 3.Cameras.and.a.Microphone by someone who writes s/he knows nothing about the band and incorrectly identifies this San Diego North County group as Mexican.)
Google and Facebook tell me that Juni Bravo was a friend to many of our San Diego circle and had relocated to Austin before she passed away in February 2015.
At the end of the 11-minute segment, lead singer Sergio announces that “Devo is next.” A Google search reveals that Devo played two nights at Iguana’s: Sept. 28 and 29, 1989.
Besides Sergio, the lineup onstage includes Cesar Castillo on guitar; Sergio Castillo on bass; Steve Broach on drums; ~~Sam Wilson (I think?)~~ Simon Holehouse on lead guitar; and John Murray on flute, harmonica and percussion.
After the first 12 minutes, the balance of the 41-minute tape contains scenes from a Revolt in Style fashion show at … The San Diego Sports Arena, perhaps?

Introducing Sceneroller

September 4, 2011March 11, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

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.

More photos of Hair Theatre and friends

September 14, 2014January 2, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

Che Underground New Year’s resolution #1: Get better about tackling our backlog of treasures.

Here’s an assortment of photographs I’m long overdue to post from the collection of Laura S. These 10 photos include mid-’80s shots of Hair Theatre and other nears and dears, followed by Laura’s recollections of the circumstances behind each. Help fill in the blanks!

San Diego’s next big thing?

December 11, 2017October 26, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

I had a great conversation Sunday with Sergio from Hair Theatre. We talked about how early parenthood complicates musical forays (both playing out and keeping up). Add to my predicament 24 years’ and 3,000 miles’ separation from San Diego, and I confess complete ignorance of what’s hot in my hometown beyond recent projects by friends from my youth.

This seems a disgraceful lapse if I’m curating a blog ostensibly about music and San Diego! I don’t expect to become an instant expert, but I would enjoy a decent 360-degree view of what people of every age are creating and listening to … After all, many of the people who contribute here remain vital, active participants in various segments of the SD music scene, and they’re the people who can help me connect the dots from San Diego then to the town of now.

Hair Theatre: “In Obscurity”

December 11, 2017October 23, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Our Che Games for May 2009 show at San Diego’s Casbah regrouped nine legendary bands and ignited countless personal reunions. The crescendo of the two-night event was the triumphant return of the incredible Hair Theatre, seen here performing “In Obscurity” for the madding throng.

Seeing Hair Theatre perform together again was a personal highlight. This band amazed and delighted me from the first time I saw them play a party in Leucadia in 1983, and the reunion of members scattered along the West Coast was more than I could have hoped for when we first conceived this event.

Read moreHair Theatre: “In Obscurity”

Forever changes: Che Games for May
and the the perpetual nostalgia machine

January 6, 2011May 29, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Detail: Dave Fleminger, the Mirrors; May 30, 2009 (photo by Dave Doyle) Ava points out that it was exactly one year ago that Che Underground: The Blog hosted its first-ever reunion gig (a k a “Che Games for May”) at San Diego’s Casbah.

The two-night blowout included eight great San Diego bands (nine, if you count the unannounced, sizzling first-night mini-set by Lemons Are Yellow), most of whom hadn’t played together in a quarter-century. It marked the first time most of us had been together since the mid-’80s — and the opportunity to meet a few new friends who’d met through the site and their shared San Diego musical history.

This anniversary thus represents an interesting object lesson in the recursive nature of memory: This event itself has now passed into its realm and hence deserves its own commemorative post!

Then and now: The Che Cafe

August 20, 2011September 14, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(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.