The Final Dark Days of Don Caballero

July 7, 2012 7:38 AM

In November of 2001, Chunklet Magazine published Fred Weaver's tour diary chronicling the The Final Dark Days of Don Caballero (14 scanned JPGs). The final tour documented in this article marked the end of the collaboration between Damon Che and Ian Williams, the original creative machine behind the notable math rock band.

Damon conitnues to record and tour using the Don Caballero band name. Ian Williams is currently a member of the band Battles.

posted by bwilms (6 comments total)

Damon Che == Human-Octopus Hybrid.
Delivering The Groceries At 138 Beats Per Minute: the videographer mentions on one of these clips that it was his or her first exposure to Che so I can forgive the camera angle which neglects him on what are some of the highlights of this track. Youtube has more proof of this incontrovertible fact.
posted by safetyfork at 8:16 AM on July 7, 2012

I followed DC obsessively in the late 90s. A truly original beast. As technically ambitious and able as the most progressive of progressive rock, but delivered with the irreverence and fluid fury of a hardcore band. Battles have retained the goofy, nervy charm of DC and the DC-in-name-only band that Damon is touring with have retained the muscle, but the second and third albums of the original run were a magnificent pair of beasts.

In some ways, it's never really clear how much of a band they were. Only Che appears on all the material, and Williams would leave to play with other bands (most notably Storm and Stress) in Chicago or New York the moment DC commitments were met. Williams very vocally hated Pittsburgh and everyone in it while Che is a native and never wanted to leave. No source I have ever read had ever suggested anything except ferocious enmity between the two, with the band stitched together with duct tape for as long as it might hold. Their compilation Singles Breaking Up was a sly nod to the Buzzcocks' Singles Going Steady, but also to the fact that every completed show - hell, every completed song - was a minor miracle. I tried to get a copy of the Chunklet issue from their office with no luck. When I finally read a copy online, my first thought was, "Oh. That wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting."
posted by el_lupino at 9:38 AM on July 7, 2012 [3 favorites]

That was a fascinating read. Thank you for posting!
posted by Kloryne at 2:15 PM on July 7, 2012

A while ago I went through my CDs picking out ones that never grabbed me so that I could sell them or give them away. I decided to listen to each of them one more time before discarding it. The first one was What Burns Never Returns. It got retrieved from the pile pretty quick. I have no idea what I didn't see it in the first time.
posted by dfan at 6:18 PM on July 7, 2012

Yeah that was a great read. Thanks.
posted by safetyfork at 9:11 PM on July 7, 2012

Saw DC right around this time. Horrible show. Damon Che was constantly bitching about his monitor and saying the sound-guy (Charlottesville, Tokyo Rose represent!) sucked, and the sound-guy saying Che was being a fuckwit, which he was.

So yeah. Guess I picked the wrong night to see them live because it kind of killed any potential fandom I might have had for these guys.

Love Battles though.
posted by bardic at 9:17 PM on July 7, 2012