I have often considered strating this thread because it is subject near and dear to me but have also hesitated because of not wanting to draw undue attention and L&I hassles to certain of these venues. Fakehouse, Killtime, Stalag 13, the Cat Box, PiLam, the old Surrealist House to name some spots from the not so distant past. The C.O.D.E. Space also known as the Church of Divine Energy in the present. More legitmate venues like the Rotunda next to the Bridge or the CEC on Lancaster in Powelton Village. Adventurous jazz and improv shows at various locations on the Penn campus and at the Slought Foundation gallery space thanks to the Ars Nova Foundation. Exotic world music concerts at Calvary Church thanks to the Crossroads Music Series

University City has a surprising number of non-commercial music and arts venues. I thought it would be interesting to talk about the events at some these many fine and diverse venues. One caveat - out of respect for some of the more "alternative venues" please post only basic intersections to avoid any permit issues they may be seeking to avoid.

Yeah, right. I used to live across the street from the Philadelphia Radical Surrealist Front. What a nightmare that was. One Halloween we had to call the cops because a guy with a chainsaw was chasing a man playing an accordian up and down the street. :no_hitti:

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Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. - Robert Orben

What about A-Space?
Anarchist Community Center, Meeting Hall & Gallery

4722 Baltimore Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19143
215.727.0882

http://defenestrator.org/aspace

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Be prepared! That's the Boy Scouts' marching song, Be prepared! As through life you march along.
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Yeah but the Surrealist House also had film screenings, etc. besides the music shows and parties. I understand that its pain to live next to a basement loud music venue. That house was a rental and got sold, I believe. Some of those folks bought a house over by the A-1, not too far from you, BG. They still host fabulous themed parties occasionally, just no loud music events. i was thinking more of the Church of Divine Energy, who has no neighbors to annoy, but could possibly get hassled by people questioning their form of "worship".

Those places sound really neat...I'll have to head down to one of them sometime.

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"If these walls could talk, I'd listen to the floor."--Rev. Horton Heat

CODE Space seems to like broadcasting their place ...

http://www.lostfilmfest.com/lff9/schedule.html

http://upcoming.org/venue/3149/

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Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. - Robert Orben

One of the really cool things about CODE space events is that they like to have "skills classes" before the music, films, etc. Like some of the folks from the Firehouse Bikes did a basic demo for bicycle maintenance, or they have had kntting and brew your own beer demos.

While I haven't lived for very long in Philly, I have to say that the Fakehouse is the best thing I have found here. Really fun people throwing great parties for good reasons. I was there this weekend for a fundraiser for a film being shot in UC...it was amazing.

Good point, I often think of that as strictly a "community" or "activist" space rather than one for "culture" or "art" but those lines do tend to blur don't they?

The A Space at 4722 Baltimore has transformed itself from an Anarchist Space to an "anything" space. When it was founded around 1991 it had a firm rule, disallowing any political party, large or small, from hosting an event. now there are events held by some the very same groups that the early collective had in mind when it banned parties: Uhuru, Revolutionary Communist Party, and who the hell knows.

The old rule was made because there were a lot fewer anarchists in those days, and they had a hard time getting public space to use for events. Political parties of any kind are specifically anathema to anarchism, while cultural events such as dance performances, puppet shows, poetry readings, historical lectures, or even porn films are not. Activist related events or meetings (by non-partisan groups) were always welcome as long as they were not presenting some nasty idea that was offensive to anarchists, such as sexism or racism. I guess the word "anarchist" is now more or less a brand name on Baltimore Avenue. Maybe the anarchists should buy it back.

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