The future of the long-threatened Ché Café now looks promising. But Soda Bar booker Cory Steirs, who booked many shows at the Ché over the years, says the on-campus club would not have made it …

The promise of San Diego as “the next Seattle” was never fulfilled. But that creatively fertile time was saluted with the release of the feature film It’s Gonna Blow: San Diego’s Music Underground 1986–’96. Many …

The first time I saw the Executives play was when I hired them to open for a Penetrators show I was promoting at the La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas. Lead singer Mike Jenks explains 35 …

The long awaited return of Lucy’s Fur Coat planned for this Friday and Saturday at the Casbah has been postponed. The first Lucy's show in seven years featuring all original members has been canceled due …

Today’s U-T full-page-headline: LIVE MUSIC SILENCED AT KRAKEN NIGHTCLUB. Bands booked to play the seaside nightspot were told on Tuesday that their shows were cancelled indefinitely because the owner was “worried that a series a …

“I played All My Friends three times,” says guitarist Aris Chagoya of Tijuana-based San Pedro El Cortez about the annual music fest, which was held in June near Rosarito. “Usually, it was half electronic and …

“All these people said they would use our music on their comps. The problem is, those comps never came out.” That’s why longtime punker Ugly Lenny of Inciting Riots became Ugly Lenny record producer when …

“You’re killin’ me,” says Brian Witkin, founder of Pacific Records, about the news that the venue that gave him his break in the music business was ending live shows. “I met my wife when we …

Progressive rock, the complex, jazzy instrumental music that flourished with King Crimson and Return to Forever didn’t weather as well as other genres from the ’70s and ’80s. “I think those bands got hit with …

In what could be a major development in keeping the Ché Café alive, UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla has for the first time agreed to meet with key members of the Ché Collective 2 p.m. Wednesday. …

“I’ve been stabbed. I’ve been shot. I’ve stabbed people. People have stabbed me.” Rafa Reyes says he proudly claims the Sherman Grant Hills Park gang he joined at age 13. His street-savvy tattooed choloness mixed …

Does reggae not matter in San Diego or should the folks who run modern-rock station FM 94/9 stay out of the reggae concert business? Those were the questions being raised on June 29 when Lincoln …

What is Imperial Beach famous for? “I don’t know, [HBO’s] John from Cincinnati...Lords of Dogtown was shot at the pier,” says Bassics lead singer Sam Martinez about his hometown. “Sand Castles, I guess. But there’s …

As Mousiky, guitarist for Tijuana’s Glasmus, sees it, there are a couple reasons gringos should consider spending the Fourth of July in Mexico. “I hear [fireworks] all the time down here. In September, when we …

The winner of Friday night’s Battle of the Bands at Soma wins a slot in this year’s San Diego Warped Tour show, August 5, in the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot. The pop-punk Snykes are one …

Dave Matthies, the singer/guitarist for the psych-tinged indie band the Gift Machine decided he needed a cyclops monster and colorful swirls coming out of the mountains for the music video for their song “Telemetric Mayhem.” …

While the Bruce Jenner story leaves many confused, Nick & Mel, a music and comedy duo, try to demystify transgenderism by breaking it down into song. “Our music is unapologetic acerbic androgyny,” says Nick Walker, …

La Jolla publicity maven Marc Paskin has remade himself into the pied piper of pot on the public airwaves and he says he will eventually do the same in San Diego. Published reports have said …

“I think he just scammed me.” Agent Orange founder Mike Palm was talking about the New Mexico highway patrolman who pulled him over on Interstate 10 in the middle of our phone interview. “He said …

When UCSD administration had an eviction notice posted on Ché Café in March, images of supporters getting hauled off by sheriff’s deputies drove four TV crews to the 35-year-old food co-op and music venue to …

Although there is no obvious connection between Oceanside and Las Vegas, a housing tract that was built in the early ’60s was laid out on nine streets named after Las Vegas casinos. Last month, Riviera …

When Fallbrook Hospital closed in December, it was kind of an “I-told-you-so” moment for Nathan Kaufman, a San Diego–based expert who has a 35-year career consulting over 80 hospital districts nationwide. Of Fallbrook’s demise, Kaufman …

As Hadi Fever sees it, having a drum machine is more punk rock than having a drummer. “A lot of original punk had the attitude of experimentation as opposed to conformity, which a lot of …

In a July 2014 Blurt, Aaron Dean was introduced as the La Mesa landlord behind a redevelopment that meant the end to a Fletcher Parkway strip mall and its neighborhood bar. Dean mentioned at the …

The California Theater hasn’t hosted a show since 1989.

First came the band. Lucky Lucifer is a well-traveled P.B.-based “gothic Americana, garage-rock” band. Then came the label. Lucky Lucifer front man Joe Luciano, 29, launched Legend Records in 2012 so that unsigned local bands …

Although it is advertised as a Reason to Rebel record release, Saturday’s Casbah show will not have any new vinyl pressings for sale. “We were going to release a split seven-inch with [L.A.’s] Mothers Anger,” …

“Yes, it’s gone. I hear it’s going to be a shoe factory.” Erik Reed was proud of the shows he promoted at the Stronghold, the Barrio Logan art collective and music venue that has hosted …

On Thursday, just after Marcus Mariota became the second pick in the NFL draft, nationally syndicated sports talk radio hosts threw out some fun facts about the Hawaiian-bred quarterback/celebrity. They noted that the 21-year-old quarterback’s …

Weekend Coachella tickets carried a face value of $375. Some resold on Craigslist for twice that amount. Then you have this weekend’s Lupepalooza Chuckfest on the grounds of a Calexico Swap Meet. It’s named after …

Scott Szikla did what most singer/songwriter/guitarists do — he started a band. First it was the Shattered Hope, then Silent Lune. But it was because of his entrepreneurial spirit and outgoing personality that he got …

Singer/songwriter Caroline Corn, who sang the national anthem at last Thursday’s Padres home opener, can be forgiven if she doesn’t recall the Padres’ most famous anthem rendition. She was only four when Roseanne Barr sang …

Lemon Grove Punks hustle for venues. Tattoo salons, rec centers, taco shops, ice cream parlors. “We played at a local donut shop. It was an awesome show but it started to get wild,” says PSO …

Unlike Harsh Toke, Soft Lions, and Prayers — San Diego bands that headlined at this year’s South by Southwest music festival — the Donkeys were one of many bands who made the trek to Austin …

“When they wanted someone to talk to the TV cameras, no one was dressed for it.”

“We won’t go easily.” Raquel Calderon and about 50 other Ché Café volunteers were on hand at 5 a.m. for a meeting at the Ché building to discuss Miranda rights, anticipating the arrival of the …

As far as radio songs go, the new “Psycho” by Muse ain’t no “Hey There Delilah.” The accompanying video has an oppressive drill sergeant screaming “You’re ass belongs to me now…I’m gonna make you a …

The North County toke board tally changed today, March 18. It’s now City of Oceanside, 3. Pot dispensaries, 0. Oceanside city attorney John Mullen said last week that the future for the two remaining medical …

Many bands thought the worst thing about the collapse of the major-label music industry was that there was no longer anyone to pay for music videos. Orange County’s Terminally Ill, making their San Diego debut …

Insiders say they expect Ché Café’s eviction notice will be posted as soon as St. Patrick's Day. Once it’s up, the Ché Collective and its supporters will have five business days to get out. If …

“A band never really truly breaks up until someone dies.” That is how bassist Mike Jones describes Saturday’s first smART Teens show in almost 25 years. All four original members — Jones, guitarist Joe Comacho, …

Singer/guitarist Elias Avila of Groms learned about 1960s-style garage rock at the border. “For about two years, me and my dad lived in Tijuana. It was a good two hours to get across the border …

On Sunday, March 8, 19 days after St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Carlsbad was broken into and robbed of dozens of silver and gold chalices, cruets, and ciboria, the items were found by a sheriff’s …

What makes a music fest work in San Diego? Ten-thousand pounds of crayfish. That, plus accordions, those metal washboard things you wear on your chest, and Mardi Gras beads. Many San Diego music fests have …

The Ché Café Collective must get out or the sheriff’s will lock them out. That was the bottom line of a letter sent to the collective and distributed Tuesday evening from UCSD Vice Chancellor of …

"There’s definitely not enough venues, especially with the closing of the Ché [Café].” Singer/guitarist Joshua Kmak laments the fact that while the scene is plumping up — thanks in part to garage-rock combos such as …

Soma did not serve alcohol when it opened in downtown San Diego in 1986 or when it moved to a Bay Park warehouse in 1994. The all-ages/no-booze policy continued when Soma moved to a remodeled …

On February 23, Roger Hedgecock, announced on the air that March 27 would be his last day hosting his nationally syndicated three-hour talk show on KFMB (760 AM). He started his career as a radio-show …

Like it was for most Episcopal priests, Ash Wednesday was a big day for Rev. Doran Stambaugh. He arrived at St. Michael’s at 7:40 a.m., 20 minutes before his first of three services that day. …

“Five years ago here in Tijuana and all of Mexico was in a cartel drug war. Order has been restored.”