Reviving San Diego's Rock Renaissance
San Diego music veteran Harold Gee continues the painstaking process of developing precious negatives from the glory days of the San Diego underground scene, then digitizing them for his Flickr set.
Here’s a new one that captures the essence of a larger-than-life figure from that era: the late Steve Epeneter on stage at Studio 517, the club he managed and the inspiration for the Wallflowers’ classic “Paradise on 4th Avenue.”
(Roving correspondent/ photographer Kristen Tobiason revisits and documents the scenes of our youth. Today, Studio 517 sheds its leathers for pinstripes.)
Studio 517 was in full swing during the summers of 1982-’83. Managed by Steve Epeneter — a tall, idiosyncratic fellow nicknamed “Lurch” — its concrete walls housed outstanding performances by the Gravedigger V, The Tell-Tale Hearts, The Wallflowers, Personal Conflict, The Front and many others.
Sean McDaniels (inveterate troll of San Diego hangouts) recalls, “It was only open in the summer, and it was hot. We hung out on the sidewalk out front or in the park more than we did inside where the bands were playing. I remember there was a Chinese lady who used to yell at us from across the street.”