Location: Los Angeles
Active: 1979 – 1989+
The Anti Club was run by Russell Jessum, Jack Marquette and Jim Van Tyne, booking some of the more obscure and avant-garde bands that developed in the Los Angeles early punk, electronic and dark punk music movements. Kommunity FK and several of the Independent Projects Records bands like Red Temple Spirits and Savage Republic were regulars, as well as 45 Grave, Nervous Gender, Christian Death, Super Heroines, Wall Of Voodoo, Catholic Discipline, Debt Of Nature, and so many more instantly recognizable names like The Fall and Sonic Youth.
It was hosted at Helen’s Place at 4658 Melrose until 1986 when the founding bookers were ousted and the venue owner took over. This created a schism with effectively two versions of the Anti-Club going at the same time, as the aforementioned original creators (responsible for club events like The Theoreticals and Brave Dog) continued to use the name at alternative venues such as lofts, open air spaces such as parking lots and other bars. Anti-Club events continued to be held into the 1990s. The bar Helen’s Place was demolished in 2010.
There is a FaceBook group dedicated to the memory of the time and place at the AntiClub, run by those who remember it in one way or another, sharing stories, recollections, photos and histories.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/17oQRZWqbb/?mibextid=wwXIfr