the Event | The Che Underground

The rise of the Gravedigger Five

September 15, 2014October 2, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

(Gravedigger Five co-founder John Hanrattie recounts his side of the renowned San Diego garage band’s short but eventful history.)

I was 17 when I first played guitar for an audience. I was working as a roadie for a San Diego band called N/E One. They were a very good cover band that would occasionally write one of their own songs and include it in their set. They built up a loyal following among San Diego teenagers and started playing high-school dances and at a local “under-21″ night club called Headquarters.

They started inviting me on stage to join them in covering the Rolling Stones’ take on Bobby Troup’s “Route “ I was using a six-string Rickenbacker and playing rhythm guitar with Rob Glickman, the lead guitarist. I had been taking classical guitar lessons, but I really wanted to play rock ‘n’ roll. I switched teachers to someone who could teach me Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly licks. It was a long process, and I learned some chords, but my skills were limited.

During my senior year in high school, the ASB started booking bands to play in the quad during Friday lunch. They eventually got around to inviting N/E One to play, and I joined them on stage for their set. Afterward, several people approached me, asking if I wanted to start a band. I was flattered, but I held out, hoping to find people who wanted to play the same kind of music I loved. I refused to have anything to do with playing Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin covers. I wanted to play British Invasion beat and 1960s garage music.

New Sounds Festivals 1985-1991

March 27, 2019April 10, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

(Bart Mendoza describes the arc of an important San Diego music festival he co-founded.)

Helmed by myself and, at first, Ron Friedman, and later Matt Fidelibus (with huge help from Secret Society Scooter Club, Dimitri Callian and many others), there were seven New Sounds Festivals in all, always one big blowout event surrounded by a week of gigs by the touring acts.

I had been bringing groups to town for awhile anyway, so the idea of focusing efforts appealed; the chance to do these events as a benefit for SDSU’s student-run radio station, KCR, was even better. The motive for the New Sounds Festivals was simply to promote and showcase music influenced by Mod / ’60s/ Garage, in particular local groups like the Tell-Tale Hearts, the Nashville Ramblers, Donkey Show, the Trebels and the Event. With short sets and a backline, it was like a really, really cool jukebox.

Flyers from the Mendoza Collection

January 1, 2011July 9, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

(Bart Mendoza of Manual Scan and the Shambles contributes a selection of flyers from his capacious archives.)

1. One of my infamous paste-&-cut flyers, this one for Julie at 2581, when I helped promote a batch of shows in 1983 1988 — you can probably tell the numbers are from an old calendar.

I collected photos, and friends gave me old magazines to cannibalize into quick flyers, though this one is from my collection of vintage TV-show stills. That’s a pretty diverse calendar, from the Event to Claude Coma, with stops at the Nephews; Outriders (with Rick Wilkins); and Berkeley combo the Birminghams; as well as lots of others.

Later days at the Che

January 1, 2011July 12, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Like many Che Underground musicians, I left San Diego in the mid-’80s (February 1987 in my case). However, the Che Cafe itself continued to host music by a variety of acts, many of them related to the bands that staked out the turf in the earlier ’80s.

Generous donors including Bart Mendoza and Bruce Haemmerle have sent me flyers from late-’80s Che Cafe shows. I’m eager to start making connections between the gigs of 1983-’85 and those that happened (at the Che and elsewhere in San Diego) after many of us here had decamped to San Francisco or other ports of call.

Have you seen me?

December 11, 2017June 1, 2008 by Mmrothenberg

Here’s a mini-mystery for Che Underground irregulars: Who’s the kid in this picture Cyndie Jaynes shot in Presidio Park? A team of forensics experts has so far been unable to ID him definitively.

Ray Brandes’ best guess, with accompanying documentary evidence: “I’m pretty sure it’s Mike Therieau, who was in the Event–I didn’t think they were around yet, but then I found the attached flyer.”

Young mystery mod, the Che Underground salutes you! Step forward into the warm embrace of your peers.