Che Cafe

Ché Café, a haven for underground music and radical politics on the UCSD campus, will host a three-day benefit concert series in January to raise funds to keep the venue running next year. The lineup hasn’t been confirmed yet, but organizers say that headliners will include Three One G Records-affiliated hardcore band Retox and L.A. noise-rock bands No Age and Health.

The Ché will have to shut down if it isn’t able to come up with $12,000 in insurance fees due in March. To cover the expenses, fans of the all-ages venue have been hosting benefit shows and taking donations on checafebenefit.tumblr.com. Gregory Prout, one of the venue’s owners, says they’ve raised about $6,000 so far.

“We’re about halfway there,” he says.

The concert series happens Friday, Jan. 6, through Sunday, Jan. 8. Two other benefit shows are planned before then. Portland punks The Taxpayers will play with seven other bands on Friday, Dec. 10. And cover bands playing the songs of blink-182, Green Day and others will play at the twoday xBLINKFESTx on Thursday, Dec. 22 and Friday, Dec. 23.

***

Singer-songwriter Kevin Martin and his bandmates had some of their gear stolen from a van last week while it was parked in Martin’s driveway in Vista. Lauren Scheff, Martin’s manager, says the musicians noticed on Thursday, Dec. 1, that thieves had gotten into Martin’s van and made off with a 1989 Les Paul Heritage Cherry Sunburst guitar, a 1986 blue Fender Stratocaster, and a Lakland Vintage P bass, among other items.

Anyone who might know what happened to the gear can reach Scheff at scheffmusic@gmail.com.

Indie-rockers The Mashtis will celebrate the release of their new 7-inch at Whistle Stop Bar on Friday, Dec. 9. The New Kinetics will also perform, and Robin Roth and Jaime Ali will DJ.

Email peterh@sdcitybeat.com or follow him on Twitter at @peterholslin.