Gary Heffern + the Town Criers
+ benefit raffle = Jan. 30 fun!

heff102_001Attention, San Diego scenesters: To cap the run of special guests at at the Casbah’s Che Underground showcase Jan. 30, Penetrators vocalist Gary Heffern is coming in from Finland to join the festivities!

Heff will be singing with the Town Criers (while his Penetrators bandmates Chris Sullivan and Chris Davies join Manual Scan onstage). He’s also helping Che Underground: the Blog jump-start a San Diego underground retrospective exhibit and raise money on behalf of Unknowns vocalist Bruce Joyner.

Read moreGary Heffern + the Town Criers
+ benefit raffle = Jan. 30 fun!

“Manual Penetration” at the Casbah Jan. 30!

ManualPenetrationLogoNext Saturday’s Che Underground showcase at San Diego’s Casbah continues to gain star power: Manual Scan announces a Penetrators-themed show-within-a-show featuring two members of that legendary band.

Manual Scan’s Kevin Donaker-Ring explains the circumstances that brought Penetrators bassist Chris Sullivan and guitarist Chris Davies to the Casbah show, which will also feature the Unknowns, the Town Criers and the Blues Gangsters.

Read more“Manual Penetration” at the Casbah Jan. 30!

Get your poster: Jan. 30 at the Casbah!

dave flyerOLGoing 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:

Read moreGet your poster: Jan. 30 at the Casbah!

The Unknowns join the show!
Jan. 30 at San Diego’s Casbah

Cooler and cooler: As if the Town Criers, Manual Scan and the Blues Gangsters weren’t enough to fill out the next Che Underground showcase at the Casbah, San Diego’s legendary Unknowns have joined the bill as special guests!

Guitarist Mark Neill, bassist Dave Doyle and drummer Craig Packham will round out the evening with a short set, their first gig in more than five years. If I had any question about getting my plane ticket’s worth, this answers it definitively. Don’t miss it!

Read moreThe Unknowns join the show!
Jan. 30 at San Diego’s Casbah

Come with me to the Casbah!

Pepe Le PewGive me a ticket for an aeroplane … Ain’t got time to take a fast train! Jan. 30’s Che Underground event at the Casbah proved too tempting to pass up. I just bought my fare from snowy New Jersey, and I hope to see you while I’m in sunny San Diego.

Our Che Games for May event was a blast — this time out, I’m looking forward to having more of a chance to relax and enjoy the evening and the company of some good friends. Please join me!

To recap highlights of this historic musical showcase:

Read moreCome with me to the Casbah!

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

(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.)

The Town CriersOn 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.

Read moreMark your calendars! Start your engines!
Jan. 30 Che Underground showcase

Che Underground at the Casbah, Jan. 30!

The Casbah — live since 1989If you enjoyed (or missed) Che Games for May in 2009, here’s another chance to join us at San Diego’s Casbah for the first official Che Underground event of 2010, featuring the Town Criers, Manual Scan and the Blues Gangsters.

This Saturday night event will feature historic performances by some of San Diego’s finest sons and daughters. Jubilation guaranteed!

Read moreChe Underground at the Casbah, Jan. 30!

Penetrators reunion, January 2010!

Detail: Penetrators group shotChe Underground: The Blog has been immeasurably enriched by our recent interactions with the Penetrators. As Ray Brandes has chronicled here, the Penetrators have been one of the most influential and beloved forces in San Diego’s music underground from the band’s genesis in 1977 until decades after its dissolution in 1984.

Good news for all their fans: Pens frontman Gary Heffern has given us the green light to announce a run of Penetrators-related fun at San Diego’s Casbah from Jan. 27-31, 2010 — including an evening presented by the Che Underground.

Read morePenetrators reunion, January 2010!

We are all Blues Gangsters

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

THE BLUES GANGSTERS: The Perils of LifeHere’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.

Read moreWe are all Blues Gangsters

The Che Underground