Live at the Masque: Nightmare in Punk Alley

by Brendan Mullen, Kristine McKenna (Foreword), Roger Gastman (Editor)

‘The Masque’ was Brendan Mullen’s grimy basement club in late 70’s Los Angeles where West Coast punk first coalesced.

A haven for “weirdos, nerds, borderline sociopaths and assorted misfits with attitude problems” and home to bands, such as The Germs, X, The Weirdos, The Bags, The Plugz and so many more, who managed, in the two short years ‘The Masque’ was open, to make history.

The book is filled with classic photos and ephemera by Jenny Lens, Alain Saint Croix, Michael Yamplosky, Al Flipside and many others, showcasing the influential fashion of an era with no rules. This massive volume features large scale photographs throughout, many of which have never been seen before.

Live at the Masque – Nightmare in Punk Alley is an impressive document of the most notorious punk scene ever. Text by Brendan Mullen and Kristine McKenna.

Genres: Music, Photography, Punk, Nonfiction

326 pages, Hardcover

First published December 7, 2007

About the author

Brendan Mullen was a Scottish nightclub owner, music promoter and writer, best known for founding the Los Angeles punk rock club The Masque. Through Mullen's support at various nightclubs in California, the scene gave birth to such bands as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Go-Go's, X, The Weirdos and the Germs.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

An indispensable look at ground zero for L.A.'s underground punk movement in the late '70s.The Masque was a microcosm for the scene and, to an extent, all punk scenes: wild, raucous, short-lived and fun while it lasted. I had the honor of interviewing Brendan Mullen for 3AM Magazine a long time ago and he was impressively smart and unexpectedly candid. I learned a lot in the hour or so I spent talking with him. This is a great model for the kind of book I'd like to make about Vermin on the Mount someday.

[Willy Boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential for the LA punk obsessive

[Kime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredible big book featuring all kinds of color pics and stories from the nights of the club MASQUE in L.A. Sort of the early days of this music scene that a lot of legends started hanging out at. It has some cool fashion style pics. My pal Roger Gastman helped put out this book that chronicles The Masque a grimy Los Angeles basement club where West Coast punk first took off circa 77-79. The book boasts 300 pages of photographs that show graffiti, art and crazy groupies. Lots of band flyers too! Bands like X, Go Go's, Dickies, Bags, Eyes, Black Randy & the Metro Squad, Plugz, Skulls, Controllers and the Deadbeat. Also included are pre-Masque bands like the Germs and Black Flag

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hardcore my generation and location type of book. But strange enough for a guy who was in punk culture and went out to see music - I never been to the Masque - and I can't remember why?

It may have been that I was more into the music than anything else. So therefore I was more intuned with the Starwood or the Whiskey or even the Anti-Club to see L.A. bands.

But I am off the subject here, this is a great document of a time that won't happen again. Great sounds, great people, and great memories, at least for me.

Also for currrent and future stylists, do get this book.

[Ettore Pasquini · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a photography book about the early punk scene in downtown LA. The photos are huge (letter-sized, sometimes spanning two pages) and often shot from the middle of the action. It's easy to lose yourself in them, you can almost hear the music, smell the odors and feel the dirt.

Pretty much everyone is portrayed: Germs, Bags, Weirdos, Fear, Screamers, etc. My favorite is the photo of a young Michael Gira with Curtain / Strict Ids. I did not expect to see Belinda Carlisle, either.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Photo book with occasional essays from the seminal 70s LA punk hangout. Some awesome pictures in here - I liked the fact the audience are as much of a feature as the bands and it does a good job of capturing the energy, humour, stupidity and creativity of ripe period in music history.

[Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

an amazing look into the punk rock heyday of Los Angeles in the late 70's - early 80's. Capturing the TRUE essence of LA punk & it's stars.

a must own for any LA local that is looking for the history of this piece of shit city.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing pics. and some really good memories of my earlier days

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shitloads of awesome photos of the seedy underbelly of the early West Coast punk scene. Sexy!!!