Reviving San Diego's Rock Renaissance
Jeffrey Luck Lucas — veteran of the Answers and the Morlocks and current solo artist — offers up these photos from the band he calls his favorite from his days in San Diego.
The Mirrors were formed by Jeff and Dave Fleminger in late 1983 and played their last show in May 1984. Artifacts are rare, but these images shot by John Nee capture the band playing the UCSD Rec Gym April 14, 1984 with The Unclaimed, the Odds and Noise 292.
Here’s an urgent opportunity to support one of our own and get some fine, fine music in return!
San Diego expat-turned-San Francisco solo artist Jeffrey Luck Lucas is preparing to re-release his third CD, “The Lion’s Jaw,” and it will require $1,300 within the next two weeks to print the CDs his record label will distribute and promote.
It’s a quid pro quo: Donate to to “JLL, The Lion’s Jaw CD Release and General/Overall Local Artist Support Fund,” and Jeff will send you a signed copy of the newly redesigned “Lion’s Jaw” CD as well as his nearly completed new studio album, “The Love of Leaving.”
We’re overdue to devote a post to the recent work of one of the Che Underground’s most protean talents: Jeffrey Luck Lucas, veteran of San Diego’s Morlocks, Mirrors and Answers and a prolific Bay area solo artist.
I was privileged to play with Jeff for a few years in San Francisco — a longtime aspiration of mine — and I can testify to the intensity of his artistic vision through many incarnations.
A Thanksgiving treat from the Comeuppance, the sublime pairing of Dave Fleminger on guitar and vocals and Heather Vorwerck on cello.
These two songs closed the Comeuppance’s set at the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30, 2010. The band’s first formal San Diego appearance also closed a circle for Dave nearly 25 years after relocating to San Francisco.
For many of the participants in this blog, our involvement with San Diego music ended with our wholesale departure from San Diego. A large contingent of us decamped first to San Francisco, and we now make our homes in places like Seattle, Oregon, New York, Boston, Wisconsin and Haiti.
That means the string of Che Underground gigs we’ve hosted in San Diego (including May 2009 and January and July 2010) marked the first time in more than two decades that many of our musicians have played in front of a hometown crowd.
(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.
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:
(David Rinck cuts the ribbon on a late-July musical extravaganza in San Diego!)
How could we let a year go by since the Che Games for May? It is high time to do it again!
Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts and get ready to experience the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend. Here’s what we have in store for you:
Friday, July 30, at Lestat’s Coffee House (3343 Adams Avenue; $10; doors open at 9pm)
Plus a photo retrospective of San Diego Underground Rock ‘n’ Roll by Dave Doyle and Sean McMullen.
Saturday, July 31, at Bar Pink (3829 30th St.; free; doors open at 9pm)
Plus, dubstep deejaying by the P Man
On the heels of their live debut at last weekend’s Che Underground showcase at San Diego’s Casbah, the Blues Gangsters will be joining our own Jeffrey Luck Lucas at the Speisekammer restaurant in Alameda, Calif., Feb. 11 for an evening of semi-acoustic dinner theater.
Jeffrey Luck Lucas is a veteran of the Che Underground scene and longtime resident of the San Francisco Bay area who has played with many of us over the years. He recently sat for an interview with Osmosis Online, where he discusses his musical roots; his methodology; and his latest album, titled “The Lion’s Jaw.”
Read moreJeffrey Luck Lucas + Blues Gangsters:
Live in Alameda, Feb. 11