Alice Bag showed up at Doctor Strange promoting her autobiography, Violence Girl, on November 27th. In this book, she writes about her stages in life. She did not only sign the books for the fans, but she also read a couple passages off her book and sung three songs. She read a passage, then sung a song.
She decided to only read passages that incorporated punk, so the crowd could relate. She started off reading about her first punk show and her experiences throughout the night. As she read the passage, you could envision yourself going through the motions as she did when they occurred. The description of the Wierdos stage presence was vivid, and you could hear the enjoyment coming out of her voice as she spoke about their music and live performance.
Another passage she read was about her performing live. She also went in great depth describing the scenario. She enthusiastically read how she got the crowd energized, and how the crowd would feed her energy. She continued reading, describing how she did not want any spectators and got the people standing idly to actually jump and dance to the music. But wait, there was a person who did not agree with the sound and flipped her off. She tried to get a hold of him, but he would keep moving into the crowd. Suddenly as he got closer taunting her once again, she swung at him. He was able to dodge her attack, but she now had something in her hands; his glasses. She now held the power, as he stood there defenseless and weak. As he watched, she twisted and broke the glasses.
The first song she played was a Spanish ranchera song. She informed the crowd the meaning of the song. It basically was I am who I am, and there's nothing you can do to change it.She told the crowd when she first heard the song, she fell in love with it, and the message has been strong throughout her life.
Her second song of the night was a song by Elton John. She said during her high school years, she was into Elton John and Bowie. She jokingly stated that when she was young she always assumed she would marry Elton John, because Bowie was obviously gay.
The last song she played was a great song by one of her past bands she was in, Punkcoustica.
The readings and the performances were great. You could hear the passion coming out of her voice as she read the passages. It truly was inspiring. This is definitely why she is one of the most inspirational women in the punk scene. Her performance was lively, enthusiastic, and relaxing. Although, it was a small setting it was still great to see.
The night was filled with an immense crowd having an enjoyable time. Doctor Strange even threw in a raffle that had three rare out of print vinyls. Various jokes were cracked during the raffle, especially when a couple won two of the three prizes! The owners were yelling "rigged!" It was a good laugh and a fun way to end the night.
After the event was over I sat in for an interview with a journalist, from a punk magazine, as she was interviewing Alice Bag. The most notable responses she gave in terms of inspiring people was; it does not matter if you do not know how to play an instrument and if you do not think you are a perfect writer... if you have a message to portray or show the world something, do not let anything hold you back. Pick up an instrument and just play. If you do not know how to play just grab one, and mess around with it. You will find the notes, and the sounds you want out of it. The most fun is learning the sounds and what you can do with them.
With this topic she spoke about a group of young girls she had met earlier in the night wanting to make an all girl band, but none of them knew how to play an instrument. She told them if they had access to instruments to just get together and start jamming and figure out the sounds of them to make music. She told them to just look through libraries and the internet to find chords to get a small idea on what to do. In the end just start being creative and experiment.
She was also asked how she felt about the occupy movement. She responded that it was a great thing to have. This is one great step to commence change in the country, especially since no one thought it would go anywhere. Only thing is that it should not be taken by any party, it's great just being this grassroots movement and it should stay that way.
The major factors that drove her to write the book were her friends and her husband who encouraged her to do it.
Lastly, I asked her one simple question after the interview. What would she say to anyone who missed out on her event? She simply said you missed out on delicious tacos (veggie friendly sajtos tacos), and she hopes that they can come to the next reading. She looks forward to meeting any new people.
Full information on the punk magazine, the full interview, and the journalist soon to come.
The journalist is Libby Freeman. She writes for the Punk Globe Magazine.
Edited to include journalist's name.
