International Blend | The Che Underground

Back to the Blend

January 23, 2018January 19, 2012 by Mmrothenberg

(Dave Fleminger revisits the sights and sounds of this cornerstone of the early-’80s San Diego scene.)

2012 still sounds to me like a year from the future (or perhaps a Rush album). But here it is, and here we are, and 2012 will contain the 30th anniversaries of many happenings already chronicled on this blog. In the spring of 1982 the North Park venue known as the International Blend was re-named The Kings Road Cafe.

Within an unassuming building on 30th St., an incredible stew of various musics were served up to an all-ages crowd. There were even after-school shows that felt like a continuation of some grand afternoon dance-party tradition.

Whether it was the Iblend or the Kings Rd., the decor inside of the club was pretty much the same: bare-bones and all about the music. The stage was immediately on your left as you walked in the door and in the back of the room was a pinball machine that would shout “The … Black … Knight … challenges …. you!” every couple minutes.

Manual Scan at Bar Eleven

February 2, 2011September 20, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

(Manual Scan co-founder Kevin Donaker-Ring talks about a cool new club in San Diego and a turning point for this enduring band.)

I’ve been working security for over four years now. Last September, I started working at Small Bar, owned by the same people that run Hamilton’s Tavern in South Park.

Dennis Borlek, the first person in San Diego I ever met who had a scooter, and who continues to be a San Diego music scene fixture, is the general manager there. Small Bar’s owners recently purchased the Radio Room (formerly the Zombie Lounge) on El Cajon Boulevard, just east of 35th St., and renamed it “Eleven.” (Yes, that’s a direct Spinal Tap reference.)

They improved the sound system and the acoustics (not to mention expanding the beers on tap by an order of magnitude). But anyone who has been into the San Diego music scene will want to visit this place — they wallpapered large sections of the bar with reproductions of vintage San Diego show flyers.

The Answers Never Existed

January 21, 2018July 13, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

(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.”

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?

Opening Kings Road Cafe

January 1, 2011August 25, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Jason Seibert’s generous donation of early-’80s San Diego flyers offers a prime opportunity to open discussion of the Kings Road Cafe (née the International Blend), a small venue that played an enormous role in fostering and showcasing an eclectic mix of bands.

The Seibert Collection represents a slice of life at Kings Road in the summer of 1982, starting in June when the club morphed from the I-Blend under the management of Peter “English” Verbrugge. Other artifacts, including a July 1982 calendar (with membership card offer!), highlight the variety of performers that visited 4034 30th St. that summer, both San Diego regulars and up-and-coming out-of-towners.