Legendary Los Angeles punk rock figure Alice Bag will be joining us at the Book Beat on Wednesday, June 20th from 7-8pm to discuss and sign copies of her recently released memoir Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, a Chicana Punk Story.Violence Girl details her rise from an East LA barrio to punk figurehead as a member of the groundbreaking group The Bags, to her current role as a mother, author, and punk feminist. This event is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be for sale at the event. If you have any questions regarding this event, please call Book Beat (248) 968-1190.
“Violence Girl is not some sentimental look back at how great it all was. Alice [Bag], without exaggeration, allows the reader to understand how exciting and in-the-moment things could be—but also how quickly and easily things can go bad and come to an end.With The Bags in the middle of it, it was a time of incredible innovation, explosive creativity and recordings that stand the test of time.”—Henry Rollins for LA Weekly
The Bags was formed by Alice Armendariz and Patricia Rainone, who had met at an audition for Venus and the Razorblades, Kim Fowley’s next attempt at creating a band after The Runaways had left him. Alice and Pat decided to form their own band and from this The Bags were born. They took the band’s name and their stage names “Alice Bag” and “Pat Bag” from a gimmick that the band used during early performances where they would perform with grocery bags over their heads. Alice Bag was the vocalist and Pat Bag played bass. The band was rounded out by guitar players Craig Lee and Rob Ritter, and Terry Graham played drums. The Bags played their first show at The Masque on September 10, 1977. By 1979, they had released their first record, a single called “Survive”, backed with “Babylonian Gorgon”, released by independent record label Dangerhouse Records. “We Don’t Need The English” was included on the Yes L.A. punk compilation released by the same label.
After this, Pat left the band. In 1980 the group, minus Pat, was filmed by Penelope Spheeris for the seminal punk rock documentary film, The Decline of Western Civilization, which also featured The Germs, Black Flag, Catholic Discipline, X and other prominent L.A. punk bands. However, at the release of the film in 1981 the producers billed the group as Alice Bag Band to avoid any conflict with
ex-member Pat. By then, however, the band had broken up.
Alice Bag went on to join Castration Squad, which included Phranc and Dinah Cancer among its many members. In the 1990‘s she would form Cholita! with punk rock drag queen Vaginal Davis and the band released several
videos. After this, she performed with Las Tres and then formed Stay At Home Bomb, her most recent musical project.