Reviving San Diego's Rock Renaissance
How much is that in blog years? Today marks three solar orbits since we launched Che Underground: The Blog and another opportunity to take stock of the ground we’ve covered in the interim.
We’ve grown a lot in the past year. Just in time for our second birthday, we broke a traffic record with 9,000 unique visitors in January 2010. This year, we came close to doubling that number; January 2011 was another record-breaker, with more than 16,000 visitors.
More highlights from the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30 and 31, 2010, in San Diego: Che Underground supergroup the DaveFest Four performs the Dead Kennedys’ “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” and “Richie Dagger’s Crime” by the Germs.
The DaveFest Four plays “Richie Dagger’s Crime”: Listen now!
“Dave Rinck came up with the idea to do an all-Dave set of our favorite punk anthems with a semi-acoustic roots sensibility,” writes Dave Fleminger.
Read moreDaveFest Four: ‘Richie Dagger’s Crime’
b/w ‘Let’s Lynch the Landlord’
(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.
First fruits of the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend: Days after we posted about a video featuring “Prison Walls” from the Injections’ seminal 1980 single, the DaveFest Four put its own spin on the song at Lestat’s Coffee House on San Diego’s Adams Ave.
Dave Fleminger, who provides vocals and guitar on the track, describes the inspiration for the DaveFest Four’s version of “Prison Walls”:
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:
(Charisse Sciuva and Dave Rinck describe hot times at Lestat’s Coffee House. The featured act: a warm-up for the Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend July 30-31 and a Che Underground supergroup that will feature San Diego music legends Dave Doyle, Dave Fleminger, Dave Klowden and Dave Rinck.)
On July 19, the DaveFest Four (actually two, Dave Rinck and Dave Fleminger, plus an “honorary Dave” — Lou Damian on harmonica), shut down a packed house at Lestat’s Coffee House on San Diego’s Adams Ave. after just two acts. The occasion was the second weekly night of the Monday night warm-ups at Lestat’s, the venue for Night One of the upcoming Che Underground Rock-‘n’-Roll Weekend on July 30 and 31. Due to an unplanned event that could be called a “mishap” by some, their performance set the standard for what is certainly going to be the event of the year!
Why “DaveFest Four”? Read Patrick Works’ history of Dave Fest!
After an intro by the master of ceremonies, the DaveFest combo took the stage in what was truly a Che Underground moment. Upon pulling in, a painfully loud intermittent reverb-laced blast was heard!
(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