05.23.1996

"Cheekopalooka" at Downtown Plaza Park Chico, CA

The name of the show was a play on words of Lalapalozza, Chico and Palooka (which is a type of Buffoon)

• A humble thanks to the promoter of this show, Greg Kempton, for not only saving promotional items, but also being kind enough to share them with the SublimeWiki.

Artist Performed:

• Hucksalt Hepspeed
• Kai Kln
• Captain Don of the Jim Rose Sideshow

All Ages Show

Songs Performed (in no particular order)

1. Hope
2. Scarlet Begonias
3. House of Suffering

• From memories of multiple sources; (thanks Sherman, and everyone who helped with this)

The day started off with Hucksalt Hepspeed opening the show. Between bands, there was a sideshow entertainer swallowing swords and sticking nails into his nose. Next Kai Kln played one of there best sets to many peoples memory. Brad and the crew were not familiar with Kai Kln, and didn't particularly care for them much. One of the members from the KK crew was having beers behind the stage with Brad while KK was playing. Brad mocked Gene's voice a few times in a falsetto voice, without realizing the person was a part of the band. Then, Kai Kln played their Black Sabbath cover and the Sublime crew really started digging them. Then, Sublime went on that night playing an awesome set which gained some new fans who had previously only been there to see Kai Kln.

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• From Dave:

"I was there, more or less... Celebrating the end of my first year of studying mechanical engineering at Chico State, those damn dollar pints all across town got the best of me as they always do. My buddy and I finally stumbled to the show only to realize later on that we had missed Kai Kln's set completely. Once Sublime was done, all I could say was 'who the hell are they' and 'what the hell was that'. A few months later, after some heavy radio play, I finally picked up 40 oz. to Freedom, and Sublime was instantly one of my all-time favorite bands, right up there with Kai Kln. It has been almost 14 years now, but for some reason I still remember that the opening band on the bill was Hucksalt Hedspeed..."

• From Gregory:

"Most likely Kai Kln was the last band to play with Sublime. The singer died on May 25th, according to Wikipedia, and chicopalooza was on May 23rd. There was a rumor that found my ears that the heroin was purchased in Chico, not surprising at that time - there was rumors that it was stronger than Nowell might have been used to. The show was awesome, let me tell you about my trip...

It started as most things did back then, in Santa Cruz. Good friends of mine were Kln heads for a while and had turned me onto them quickly and easily. This was probably my 7th show or so and the road trip to Chico (the number one party school at the time) sounded too good to miss. Packed in a rusty-yellow Hoda (Honda, but the 'n' had fallen off) the three of us journey to Chico. Upon arrival we were somehow not able to meet who we planned and pulled off onto a side street and parked. Being smokers, we exited and smoked. While smoking, beautiful college girls stuck their heads out the window and (being drunk and going to the show too) and invited us up. There was Sublime on the CD player, which I found out when the cover of 'Scarlet Begonias' was playing and I asked who they were.

The night came, Kai Kln RIPPED it to pieces and we joked about who could follow that. Wisely, there was a strange freak-show type entertainer who swallowed swords and pounded nails into his nose. Sublime played and I was highly impressed with the groves they brought out in their songs. I remember chuckling at a number of the lyrics I heard. One great trip, one great show. Sadly, I can still see Kai Kln now and then, but whatever Sublime might have done in the future is lost to dreams. I hear Sublime to this day - often."

• From Kevin:

"I still have my ticket stub from that awesome show. I gotta say that I was there to see Kai Kln and they killed it. There was some circus sideshow guy swallowing swords and sticking nails up his nose and such. I wasn't a huge Sublime fan and for me the best part of their set was a when they covered an old Descendents song. History was made and the kids all had a good time. "