Kristi Maddocks | The Che Underground

Todd Tomarrow memorial mixer!

December 19, 2011August 22, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

As Che Underground: The Blog reported in May, San Diego’s extended arts family lost a member with the passing of the hugely talented costumer Todd Tomarrow in San Francisco. Now, a circle of friends plan to round out the Labor Day weekend at San Diego’s Casbah with a celebration of Todd’s life.

Catherine Pierson Waters, Kelsey Farris and Kristi Maddocks will host “The Todd Tomarrow (Todd Bundy) Memorial Celebration & Pot-luck BBQ” Sunday, Sept. 4, from 2pm to 6pm. (Since it’s in a bar, guests must be over 21.)

“The Memorial Celebration will begin with ‘An Hour of Remembrance,’ ” the Facebook event announcement reads, “followed by a pot-luck BBQ & dance in the Casbah’s back patio. The event will feature a no-host bar. … DJ Van Richter will be spinning music for your Dancing Pleasure (just as Todd would have wanted)!

Goodbye, Bob Sinclair

December 18, 2017August 14, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

(Kristi Maddocks, assistant manager at the La Jolla Pannikin at the time I held the same title in Encinitas, contributes her memories of the San Diego coffee chain’s founder.)

It is with great sadness I say adieu to Pannikin co- founder Bob Sinclair, who was killed in a motorcycle accident last month. Bob died while riding his Moto Guzzi in the New Mexico desert.

Like many Pannikin employees, I started my stint there as a bright-eyed teenager, fueling up on coffee as I pored over notes with high-school study groups at the Del Mar and Encinitas Station cafés. Then, it graduated to hanging out at La Jolla café on weekend mornings, after a later night of dancing or at the tail end of a very cold scooter ride up the beautiful Southern California coast. Nothing was cooler than congregating on the deck of La Jolla Pannikin in the warm sun with your friends, living off an almost endless cup of coffee and bags of day-old bagels & day-old pastries. (That is back when the first cup of coffee was 75 cents, refills were 25 cents each!)

Gary Heffern: “Hand of the Devil”

December 11, 2017March 19, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

In time for his visit to San Diego’s Casbah April 3 and 6 to reunite with the Penetrators and celebrate the pending release of his “Gary Heffern & Beautiful People” CD, Gary Heffern shares this new video for his song “Hand of the Devil” and describes the process of its creation.

“The video was shot at the school Rovala, which I am attending to learn the Finnish language,” Gary writes. “While there it struck me that I was one of the only English-speaking people there, and how many refugees were in my class … And there were many moments when I felt so insecure about what I was doing and why I was here.

“When I began to learn more about these people it seemed that my circumstances were smaller, and I also saw very plainly that they really have no future here in Finland, simply because of not speaking the language, or the color of their skin.

Eris Sisters: “Blue Orange Candy”

July 3, 2011December 16, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Here’s a striking new collaboration with deep roots in San Diego: Eris Sisters, an electronica duo featuring Kristi Maddocks (Everybody Violet) and Clay Colgin (Men of Clay), a k a MCC.

They recently released their debut record “DownHEAR” on True Node Records.

Why don’t we sing this song all together?

February 2, 2011August 12, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

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.

Jeffrey Luck Lucas + Blues Gangsters:
Live in Alameda, Feb. 11

March 24, 2018February 5, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

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.”

Get your poster: Jan. 30 at the Casbah!

December 18, 2017January 22, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Going into the final stretch before next Saturday’s Che Underground showcase at the Casbah, here’s a handsome commemorative flyer created by David Klowden, suitable for framing or Scotch taping!

The roster of special guests is growing, as San Diego music history is revisited and made on Saturday night.

To recap the lineup so far:

Mark your calendars! Start your engines!
Jan. 30 Che Underground showcase

December 14, 2017November 29, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(Heads up! The next Che Underground-sponsored reunion gig is officially on the Casbah roster, with tickets due to go on sale this week. Ray Brandes opens the booth.)

On Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010, country-rock pioneers the Town Criers (Ray Brandes, David Klowden, Peter Miesner and Mark Zadarnowski) will reunite for the first time in 20 years as the Ché Underground presents its second musical event at the Casbah in San Diego.

By popular demand, returning to the stage after a blistering set in May, will be legendary San Diego mod band Manual Scan, led by sharp-dressed men Bart Mendoza and Kevin Donaker-Ring and featuring the rhythm section of Tim Blankenship and Morgan Young.

To open the evening, the all-star Blues Gangsters (Kristi Maddocks, Dave Rinck, Dave Ellison, Dave Fleminger and Matt Johnson) will make their San Diego stage debut. It’s a fresh opportunity to watch a new project by members of the Wallflowers, the Rockin’ Dogs, the Answers and Everybody Violet.

DJ duties will be performed by Louis Mello, a k a DJ Dirty Bird.

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.

We are all Blues Gangsters

January 1, 2011June 26, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(Wallflower David Rinck introduces a new project by old friends.)

Here’s our new record. As far as we know, this is the latest project by musicians associated with the Che Underground.

We wrote the music over the Internet, since we now live in various far-flung corners of the globe (Africa in my case). One of us would write a riff and a few lines of lyrics and then send it on. Pretty soon it added up to a song, and then the eight on the record (actually more, but we could only record eight ’cause of time limitations).

But we all used to be in bands in San Diego and play shows together, so we were used to working together, and the distances were easily overcome.