Valencia Tool & Die
Encyclopedia
Valencia Tool & Die, abbreviated as VT&D, was a 1980s San Francisco music venue
Music venue
A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music...
and art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
that presented punk, new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, and new music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
performances, as well as performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
, film, and visual art shows from 1980 through 1983.
Valencia Tool & Die (VT&D), which to a passerby appeared to be an empty store front with no signage to identify it other than the street number, was located in the Mission District at 974 Valencia. The interior space consisted of a street level gallery/performance space and a subterranean cellar performance space. The cellar space was reached through a trap door and a narrow stair case, which led Damage Magazine publisher Brad Lapin to label it "the black hole of Calcutta." Performances often took place on both levels simultaneously, and usually featured Bay Area talent. VT&D was often open after hours and many of its best performances took place after San Francisco's 2 a.m. curfew in the cellar performance space which had been insulated with sand to dampen the sound. VT&D's location was only a few blocks from the Valencia police station, but the after hours performances continued uninterrupted for the first two years. During the third year the club was overrun by hardcore punks who made the location more conspicuous with graffiti and the club was closed for fire code and alcohol violations shortly afterward. Although VT&D did not exclusively book punk shows, most of the artists that appeared there ascribed to the DIY (do it yourself) philosophy of punk.
By mid-1981 Valencia Tool & Die had begun to book hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
and thrashcore
Thrashcore
Thrashcore is a fast tempo subgenre of hardcore punk that emerged in the early 1980s. Thrashcore is essentially sped-up hardcore punk, with bands often using blast beats. Songs can be very brief, and thrashcore is in many ways a less dissonant, less metallic forerunner of grindcore...
shows featuring three bands for three dollars, a policy which had disappeared years before [elsewhere in San Francisco]. The Die was a street-level storefront with a semi-sound proof basement, a seven-foot ceiling crossed with pipes, and brick walls. The bands stood on the same floor face to face with the crammed sweltering audiences. Beer could be had for a buck, and gigs would last till the wee hours when bands like L.A.s Social Distortion
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...
or the DKs (Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
) would appear unannounced. Upstairs people would drink, smoke, socialize, graffiti the walls, scream, fight or curl up for some sleep. Outside on the sidewalk there would inevitably be a dozen or two skulking kids in the nearby doorways, or leaning on parked cars while catching a breath of smokeless air."
Bill Mandel in his article "In defense of punk rock: It's the liveliest art-form of the '80s" went on to say of the Bay Area punk scene: "The clubs aren't cushy, to say the least. Such venues as Mabuhay Gardens
Mabuhay Gardens
The Mabuhay Gardens was a San Francisco nightclub located at , on the Broadway strip of North Beach, an area best known for its strip clubs....
(still the purest), Sound of Music (heavy-duty punk), the (I-Beam, Dreamland, California Hall, the Russian Center, the American Indian Center, Valencia Tool & Die, and Berkeley Square, among others, are raw and industrial."
Tim Yohannon of Maximum Rock and Roll described VT&D several times in reviews of shows in the basement venue. In an article in August 1982 bemoaning the lack of hardcore shows being produced on Broadway Yohannon wrote "Outside of Ruthies (probably the best venue for H.C., the "guerilla" shows remain the most true-to-form punk. Gigs at Barrington Hall in Berkeley, New Method Industries in Oakland, and the occasional party at Valencia Tool & Die are the rowdiest (the heart of the scene) with a full cast of day-to-day regulars." In another article reviewing a show at the Die he wrote "Great show! Lot of yahooing downstairs and lots of yakking upstairs. Plenty of people at this gig arranged by MDC, and the crowd was pretty friendly - no real fights (which seem to be on the decline), and a lot of women thrashing."
Venue performers
Some of the punk bands and new music musicians that performed at Valencia Tool & Die included: Black FlagBlack Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
, Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü
Hüsker Dü was an American rock band formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1979. The band's continual members were guitarist Bob Mould, bassist Greg Norton, and drummer Grant Hart....
, Faith No Man (the first incarnation of Faith No More), Flipper
Flipper (band)
Flipper is a punk band formed in San Francisco, California in 1979, continuing in often erratic fashion until the mid-1990s, then reuniting in 2005. The band influenced a number of grunge,, punk rock and noise rock bands...
, Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
, Toxic Reasons
Toxic Reasons
Toxic Reasons are an American hardcore punk / punk rock band.-History:Toxic Reasons formed in Dayton, Ohio in 1979. The founding members were Bruce Stuckey , Joel Agne , Ed Pittman , and Mark Patterson . In 1980, Joel Agne left the band and was replaced by Greg Stout on bass, and Bruce Stuckey...
, Social Distortion
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...
, Minor Threat
Minor Threat
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1980 and disbanded in 1983. The band was relatively short-lived, but had a strong influence on the hardcore punk music scene, both stylistically and in establishing a "do it yourself" ethic for music distribution and...
, DRI
Dirty Rotten Imbeciles
Dirty Rotten Imbeciles is a thrash metal/crossover thrash band from the United States that formed in Houston, in 1982. The band currently comprises founding members, vocalist Kurt Brecht and guitarist Spike Cassidy, as well as drummer Rob Rampy and bassist Harald Oimoen.D.R.I...
, Verbal Abuse
Verbal Abuse
Verbal Abuse is a hardcore punk band, originally from Houston, Texas, but which became successful after moving to San Francisco.Verbal Abuse was started in Houston, Texas in 1981 after singer and songwriter Nicki Sicki quit the band Sick Pleasure and moved to Virginia, then back to Texas when he...
, The Units
The Units
The Units are a defunct, early electronic music/punk rock/New Wave/synthpunk band founded in San Francisco in 1978 and active until 1984.One of America's first electronic New Wave bands, they are widely cited as pioneers of a genre now known as "synthpunk." The Units were notable for their use of...
, The Nubs featuring Lisa R. Fredenthall-Lee
Lisa R. Fredenthall-Lee
Lisa R. Fredenthal-Lee, also known as Lisa, is an international recording artist. Known for her Hi NRG, Synth-pop and Disco style, she released her first singles Jump Shout and Rocket To Your Heart in 1982. The self-titled LP Lisa was released in 1983, cover art by Lisa and Robert Lee...
, The Job featuring the beat generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
poet Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, the girl groups The Contractions
The Contractions
The Contractions is an early-Eighties all-female punk power trio based in San Francisco. The band consists of Mary Kelley on guitar and vocals, Debbie Hopkins on drums and vocals, and Kathy Peck on bass and vocals....
and The Varve, Vancouver's Pointed Sticks
Pointed Sticks
Pointed Sticks are a Canadian punk rock/power pop band from Vancouver. Originally active from 1978 to 1981, they reunited to perform in 2006 and have remained together since then....
, Translator
Translator (band)
Translator is a San Francisco rock band that had success during the 1980s. They created a sound that spanned updated British Merseybeat and stripped-down punk-like rock to psychedelia. Inspired by the Beatles and 1960s California folk-rock bands such as The Byrds, their guitar-based music was...
, Code of Honor, The Tanks, The Lewd, Timmy Spence, Clocks of Paradise, Barry Beam, Los Microwaves, The Symptoms, The Neutrinoz, The Dickheads, The Invertebrates, Mr. E and the Necromantics, Ribzy, Executioner
Executioner
A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...
, Los Olvidados
Los olvidados
Los Olvidados is a 1950 Mexican film directed by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel....
, Crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
, PLH, UXB
UXB (band)
UXB is a punk band based in the West Midlands, England. The band comprises Dom Roche , Mark Read , Colin Bennett and Mick Turner . Between 1978 and 1981 the band toured extensively around the Midlands and released one single, "Crazy Today" in 1980 which was played several times on BBC Radio 1...
, Red Kross, Social Unrest, Bad Posture, Fang
Fang
Fang is a mammal's canine tooth.Fang may also refer to:* A snake's poison-injecting tooth: see snake venom* Fang people, in Central Africa* Fang language, spoken by Fang people...
, Rebel Truth, Intensified Chaos, The German Shepards, Arkansas Man, Ultra-Sheen, Nervous Gender
Nervous Gender
Nervous Gender is a punk band founded in Los Angeles, California in 1978 by Gerardo Velazquez, Edward Stapleton, Phranc and Michael Ochoa.Their use of heavily distorted keyboards and synthesizers made them, along with The Screamers, one of the original innovators of what is today called...
, The Zeros, The Appliances, Henry Kuntz, Loren Means, John Gruntfest, Steve Ruppenthal, Bonnie Hayes
Bonnie Hayes
Bonnie Hayes is an American singer/songwriter/keyboardist from California, USA.-Late 1970s and early 1980s:In the late 1970s, she founded a New Wave band called The Punts, who released a 45 RPM single, "Shelly's Boyfriend" , b/w "Rochambeau," which received considerable airplay in the SF market...
and The Punts, Voice Farm
Voice Farm
Voice Farm is a music and video collective based in San Francisco known for their outrageous live shows and videos. Vocalist Charly Brown and sound designer Myke Reilly form the core of the group. Voice Farm's musical style has evolved from their influential early 80's synth-pop sound into what...
, and Indoor Life. Tommy Tutone
Tommy Tutone
Tommy Tutone is a New Wave band, best known for its 1982 hit "867-5309/Jenny", which peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although it is usually referred to as a San Francisco band, it was actually based in Willits, California, at the time that "Jenny" was released...
spent several days at Tool & Die in 1982 rehearsing and refining their hit song 867-5309/Jenny
867-5309/Jenny
"867-5309/Jenny" is a song written by Alex Call and Jim Keller and performed by Tommy Tutone that was released on the album Tommy Tutone 2, on the Columbia Records label. It peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one on the Billboard Top Tracks chart in 1982...
shortly before they recorded it.
Shortly after Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
's appearance at Valencia Tool & Die, this short piece appeared in Herb Caen
Herb Caen
Herbert Eugene Caen was a Pulitzer Prize-winning San Francisco journalistwhose daily column of local goings-on, social and political happenings,...
's column in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
. "I have a punk pen pal who signs herself Pheno Barbidol and tries to keep me clued in to what's happening on the new wave scene around here. I assume Pheno is a she since the letters, generally chiding in tone, include a red lipstick imprint under the signature. Of course, in San Francisco, one never knows, but in my mind, Pheno is all girl and also literate. Her latest screed begins: "Well you did it again, you culturally disoriented old reprobate. You really missed the boat with your weekend activities. What did you do … go to some incredibly boring cocktail part? Or maybe you hobnobbed at another one of your mindless middle class galas? Ugh. What you could have been doing instead — if you'd pay attention to the fliers you see splashed like pimples on S.F.'s fragile face — is see history in the making on Friday night at the Tool & Die on Valencia. That's right, bucko. History! … Allen Ginsberg was there singing his own new wave song, 'Capitol Air,' with new wave band extraordinaire, The Job."
In its April 1983 issue San Francisco Magazine's Michael Goldberg wrote in his article "Punk Premises": "If you want to see hard-core punk, the place to go is the Valencia Tool & Die, sometimes simply referred to as the Die." Later in the article Goldberg continued: "With its low ceiling, wooden posts (running down the middle of the room to provide support) and brick walls, this place reminds one of the hideaways devised during the Nazis' reign of terror. The smell is beer and smoke and dust. (Beer is sold out of a closet.) There is no stage. The bands set up on the floor at one end of the room, with no barrier between audience and the performers, so band members can move easily into the crowd and join the slamming if they want to."
Diverse Audiences
During the Western Front Festival of 1980, Valencia Tool & Die mounted a show of poster art that originally promoted punk shows in San Francisco, the highlights of which were later published in book called StreetArt: The Punk Poster in San Francisco 1977-1981StreetArt: The Punk Poster in San Francisco 1977-1981
StreetArt: The Punk Poster in San Francisco 1977-1981 by Peter Belsito, Bob Davis and Marian Kester, and published by Last Gasp, was the first published effort to attempt to document the punk rock poster in the U.S....
,1981, Last Gasp
Last Gasp
Last Gasp is a book and underground comix publisher and distributor based in San Francisco, California.- History :Founded in 1970 by Ron Turner to publish the ecologically-themed comics magazine Slow Death Funnies, followed by the all-female anthology It Ain't Me Babe, Last Gasp soon became a major...
. The poster show which featured over 500 posters and flyers was curated by Peter Belsito, Susan Pedrick, and Bob Davis.
In 1980 Valencia Tool & Die hosted Mainstream Exiles: A Lesbian and Gay Men's Cultural Festival which included visual art, film, performance art and poetry by gay and lesbian artists over a six day period from November 4 through November 9. Artists who participated in Mainstream Exiles were: Leonie Guyer, Bill Jacobson, Kim Anno, Will Roscoe, Beth Rose, Blackberri, Swingshift
Swingshift
Swingshift is a live album released by Australian band Cold Chisel in 1981. It was their first album to reach No. 1 on the Australian chart, debuting there in its first week.-Details:...
, Avotcja, Inner Peace Rainbow, Susan Griffin, Randy Johnson, Cherrie Moraga-Lawrence, Emanuel Ro, Karen Brodine, Steve Abbott, Judy Grahn
Judy Grahn
Judy Rae Grahn is an American poet. She has written many lesbian / feminist works.-Activities:Judy Grahn is a poet who writes about women's lives, including lesbian experience. She was a member of the Gay Women's Liberation Group, the first lesbian feminist collective on the west coast, founded...
, Robert Gluck, Canyon Sam, Tede Matthews, Rose Mitchell, David Arndt, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Jan and Vicki, Brown Bag Theater, Chris Tanner, Ruth Schoenbach, Carol Roberts, Michael Barry, March Thomas Armstrong, Lesbians Against Police Violence, M. J. Lallo, Gay Theater Collective, Adele Prandini, Whole Works Theater, Canyon Sam and Genny Lim of Unbound Feet, Marilyn Curry, Marc Huestis
Marc Huestis
Marc Huestis is an award winning filmmaker, camp impresario and social activist. He is best known for his motion picture Sex Is... and his in-person tributes/benefit events feting celebrities from Hollywood's Golden Age and cult personas at San Francisco's Castro Theatre.- Early life :Huestis was...
, James Armstrong, Ann Hershey, Connie Hatch, Michael Brayton, Allen Page and Susana Blaustein.