AL'S BAR

AL'S BAR
What: Club
Where: 303 Hewitt St., Los Angeles, California
When: 1979-2001
Who: Marc Kreisel

Situated in the Art District in the downtown of Los Angeles the Al's Bar was a pivotal venue for L.A. artsy punk during the early 80s and later for grunge in the 90s. Marc Kreisel, a visual artist, bought the Al's Bar in 1979. It was on the ground floor of the American Hotel, a residency for artists, musicians and weirdos and became famous for being raw  From 1982 to 1985 the Dustin Shuler’s installation “Pinned Butterfly” dominated the wall that sits at the streets of Hewitt and Traction, he nailed a Cessna 150 to it. It looks like they're doing a documentary about the American Hotel and Al's Bar, here's the website.

To feel the atmosphere around the art district I suggest you to check this movie: Young Turks by Stephen Seemayer. It includes footage, shooted between 1977 and 1981, among others the Al's Bar, the Party Boys and the performance duo Bob & Bob, it also featured M. Kreisler.

Here's a list of gigs 1980-83, it's incomplete, so please help me to fill!

1980
jan. 18 - meat puppets

1981
apr. 07 - the fall
may 23 - human hands / meat puppets
may 30 - 45 grave / ella and the blacks
may 31 - africa korps / ?
jun. 05 - the last / top jimmy
jun. 20 - gun club / dredd scott / the crowd
jul. 03 - bpeople / legal weapon
sep. 04 - kommunity fk / de de troit
oct. 02 - aphotic conversations
oct. 17 - africa korps / ?
oct. 31 - 45 grave / christian death
nov. 14 - middle class / wounds / shadow minstrels
nov. 15 - middle class / mnemonic devices 
nov. 21 - mnemonic devices / the crowd
dec. 11 - monitor / debt of nature / 100 flowers
dec. 26 - flesheaters / christian death / super heroines
dec. 27 - circle jerks / super heroines / social distorsion
dec. 28 - blasters / plugs / phast phreddie / thee precizions
dec. 29 - fear / the crowd
dec. 30 - johanna went / d.d.troit / mad actors / crown of torns
??  - wild kingdom / ?

1982
feb. 12 - birthday party of jeffrey vallance and michael (monitor)
mar. 19/20 - flesheater / top jimmy & the rhythm pigs
apr. 17 - minutemen / misfits / 100 flowers
apr. 24 - spk / nervous gender
may 02 - monitor / bpeople
may 08 - minutemen / descendents / meat puppets
may 21 - super heroines / christian death
may 29 - fear / ?
jul. 03 - dream syndicate / ?
jul. 09 red wedding / shadow minstrels
jul. 23 super heroines / nervous gender
jul. 24 christian death / beelzebub youth
aug. 03 - savage republic/ ?
sep. 18 - ron dumas
oct. 23 - nervous gender / super heroines
oct. 24 - christian death / gobscheit

1983
mar. 29/30 - savage republic / ?

Bands that played there but can't find when:
stillife, ella & the blacks, wall of voodoo, party boys, phranc...

A selection of flyers: