Los Angeles has a rich punk history and at the end of the 70s, the short-lived band The Bags was formed by Alice Armandariz (Alice Bag) and Patricia Morrison (Pat Bag). I have read their concerts were riotous and were featured in Penelope Spheeris’ punk rock documentary, ‘The Decline of Western Civilization’, which also featured The Germs, Black Flag, The Go-Go's, Catholic Discipline, X and other prominent L.A. punk band.
Punk rocker Alice Bag was signing her new book ‘Violence Girl, From East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, a Chicana Punk Story’ at La Luz de Jesus on Saturday night, from 7 to 10 pm, and when I arrived around 8:30 pm, the line was still long.
I knew nothing about her, and she may now be living in Phoenix AZ, but you could tell from the crowd of long-haired-tattooed Chicanos and Chicanas punk rockers around, that she is still well known in certain LA circles. Her book tells her story ‘from East L.A.'s musica ranchera to Hollywood's punk rock; from a violent male-dominated family to female-dominated transgressive rock bands.’
I looked at the book, which also contains lots of never-published-before pictures, it is difficult to realize that the scary angry girl on the cover is now this serene face signing her book!
Look at all these ex-punk rockers these days, punk rock is often born from violence and revolt (her biblio says that a certain violence was passed on to her from her Mexican-American father) but she is now living a total Hollywood happy ending as she is currently happily married with children, and teaches at inner city schools (although she said to someone she does not teach anymore).
That does not mean anything, punk from the beginning she has not changed as I noticed her hair still had some shades of blue and in a 2007 interview she declared:’ For many people who believe in punk, it is much more than a type of music or a clothing preference. Punks take things into their own hands, question authority, circumvent mass production, create, originate, and when necessary, annihilate. Real punks are a threat to the status quo, to corrupt governments and to multinational corporations.’
Quite the quote of the moment.