Los Angeles art-punk veterans L7 have seen it all, from playing Raji’s in Hollywood in the ’80s, to the grunge circuit in the ’90s, to huge punk and metal festivals all over the world.
“We feel at home in a lot of places,” said L7 co-founder Donita Sparks, “and we feel out of place in a lot of places.”
In many of those places, especially in the early days, L7 was one of the few bands — if not the only band — that was all female. So when L7 started putting together its own festival, the Fast and Frightening Takeover at the Belasco on Nov. 23, Sparks made sure women had a powerful presence.
“It’s called Fast and Frightening because that’s the kind of bands that I wanted,” Sparks said. “Bands with chutzpah and style, something kind of threatening and in your face.”
Joining L7 at the festival are groups with dynamic performers such as Surfbort, Adult., Olivia Jean, the Paranoyds and NIIS. “Each band has their own style,” Sparks said.
Surfbort singer Dani Miller called the festival “a dream come true” and was thrilled to be part of the lineup.
“It’s super heavy on the women band members, women bands and women-led bands,” Miller said. “I think that’s special because a lot of festivals, no offense, are kind of bro-centric. It’s cool to have L7 take the lead and mix it up.”
Once word got out about the festival, bands started contacting Sparks and offering to play, but “I really wanted that powerhouse second band,” Sparks said. “I wanted Redd Kross, our brothers in rock. We have such an L.A. legacy, the two bands, but we haven’t played together since 1991.”
That show was at the Hollywood Palladium with the Butthole Surfers headlining. In many ways, that gig embodied the eclectic mix of performers L7 wanted to emulate with its own festival.
“Each one of those bands was an island. Butthole Surfers, an island. Redd Kross, an island. L7, an island. We’re still islands. Redd Kross and L7, we don’t fit in any one particular category.”
Straight out of Hawthorne, Redd Kross is getting some long overdue attention with a new documentary, “Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story,” directed by Andrew Reich, and a new book, “Now You’re One of Us: The Incredible Story of Redd Kross,” written by founders Jeff and Steven McDonald, with Dan Epstein.
“We love L7,” said Steven McDonald, who joined his first punk rock band when he was in middle school. “In fact, Redd Kross used to share a rehearsal room with them.”
L7 frontwoman Donita Sparks.
(Robert Fagan)
McDonald had a front row seat to the birth of Black Flag in Hermosa Beach, but Redd Kross sounds nothing like that group — or anyone else, for that matter.
“I feel like L7 and Redd Kross share a certain sensibility,” Sparks said. “Not only that out-of-place kind of thing, but the way we look at the world. It’s serious, but it’s also ridiculous and absurd. Both of our bands make note of that.”
With L7’s Fast and Frightening Takeover, Sparks hopes to capture the spirit of the L.A. scene when punk was an impulse to create something new and not an aesthetic with rigid rules and an established sound.
“In true L7 fashion,” McDonald said, “they’ve curated a lineup that is uniquely thrilling, thoughtful and plain ol’ badass. We hope it goes on to be an annual event and are honored to be included on the maiden voyage.”
Speaking of voyages, L7 will be shipping out next spring on Little Steven’s Underground Garage Cruise with X and Social Distortion. But for now, the focus is on the festival, from figuring out the schedule to promoting it on social media.
“We’re from the art punk scene,” Sparks said of L7’s do-it-yourself origins. “I wasn’t from the L.A. hardcore scene or anything like that. I consider punk rock a really broad term, and I feel that this is a very punk rock festival. There’s goth, there’s electronica.”
And then there’s Detroit’s Schizophonics, which have built a reputation in the Motor City as a not-to-be-missed live act with explosive energy.
“Just you wait,” Sparks said. “The frontman in the Schizophonics is a madman.”
There’s nothing hardcore about the Mexican Standoff, but try listening to “One Way Ticket to TJ,” without it getting drilled into your head forever. These Mexican American ladies sing Mexamericana tunes in English and Spanish with sweet harmonies and lyrics that bite.
L7 is perhaps best known for the crossover hit “Pretend We’re Dead,” but magician Rob Zabrecky actually communes with the deceased at the Magic Castle’s Houdini Séance Room. The former frontman of Possum Dixon will be performing at the festival but is somehow not the most outrageous act on the bill.
That honor belongs to the Lou Man Group, whose members play Lou Reed covers in blueface. Sparks is the band’s drummer.
“We haven’t played in a very long time,” Sparks said. “It’s almost like a Lou Man Group reunion.”
The Fast and Frightening Takeover has been in the works for a long time and draws heavily from L7’s experiences playing a wide range of fairs and festivals — both around the world and right here in L.A.
“We’ve been asked to do these boutique festivals, and they’re not big, all-day things,” Sparks said. “They’re like block parties and more eclectic than some of these big festivals. So we figured there was a space to fill in L.A. for that.”
Sparks compared the festival, which takes its name from L7’s 2016 album of deep cuts and cover songs, to the Sunset Junction Street Fair, which shut down in 2011.
“Sunset Junction was very inclusive, freak flags flying, lot of different kinds of people,” Sparks said. “This is kind of like Sunset Junction in a bottle, all at the Belasco. You can drink, you can eat, you can rock and you can dance.”
Dancing at a punk show? In L.A.?
“It used to be more common, especially in Europe,” Sparks said. “The rock show would end, and then there’d be a dance club at the same location. We’d come out of the dressing room, and there would be a dance party.”
DJ Paul V. of Dragstrip 66 and DJs from Lesbian Goth Night will be serving up tunes to dance the night away.
“I think it’s going to be an epic night,” Miller said, “and a good place for all us all to get together and scream and cry and support each other.”
Sparks echoed those sentiments: “I feel that everybody needs a night off. I think we should all celebrate cool culture and come together. Let’s have some fun and dance the pain away.”
L7’s Fast and Frightening Takeover at the Belasco, 10500 S. Hill St. in DTLA at 5 p.m. Nov. 23. $43.23 to $75.50, fastandfrightening.com
Ruland is the author of “Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise and Fall of SST Records” and the novel “Make It Stop.”