A room of their own

Don’t be told what you want
Don’t be told what you need
There’s no future, no future,
No future for you …

Oh God save history
God save your mad parade
Oh Lord God have mercy
All crimes are paid

When there’s no future how can there be sin?
We’re the flowers in the dustbin
We’re the poison in your human machine
We’re the future, your future

— From the Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen,” 1977

At the beginnings of punk rock, the Sex Pistol’s Johnny Rotten screamed into a microphone that youth would have its revenge on the adults who neglected them, even if only through failure — that a society which selfishly disregards the needs of its children abandons its own future and, essentially, deserves what it gets. So, for better or worse, youth will have the final say not just over their own lives, but everyone else’s, too.
Thirty years later, the idea that kids must help shape their own destinies is alive at No Future Café, an all-ages concert venue located in the most unlikely of places: an annex of Pasadena’s Foursquare Presbyterian Church operated by the Rev. Ralph Torres and a number of volunteers. But with its small carpeted stage, black-light-illuminated entrance and a cross nowhere to be found, you know you’re not at any stodgy church function.

From 8 to 11 p.m. most Friday nights, people of all ages can see shows by three local bands and enjoy free coffee or tea for a $4 donation towards keeping up the venue. What they also get for the price of admission is a safe place to express themselves among peers.

When Torres opened the venue in 1994, he took its name from “God Save the Queen” because many local youth he ministered to, especially those dealing with their parents’ divorce or “latchkey kids” left to fend for themselves most weeknights, connected with its independent and rebellious lyrics and sound. “That generation felt like they had no future,” remembers Torres, who found embracing the alternative rock scene could open up youth locked into their alienation.

Today, the No Future Café attracts a number of college-age concertgoers as well as its primarily high-school-age crowd, making it one of the few safe and accessible places for music fans in this age group to regularly hear music on the weekend.

Pasadena High School student Guillermina Nava, 17, has been a regular since moving to the area three years ago. “Where I lived before we never had the opportunity to listen to live music without there being problems. It was a totally new experience,” she says.

Creating a nurturing environment was a top priority for Torres, as not all nightlife venues catering to teenagers are safe places.

Last year, the city shut down The Underground — a hip-hop dance club on Lincoln Avenue that catered to minors but lacked city permits and pushed sexually explicit and gang-related images on its Web site — after the tragic August shooting death of 16-year-old John Muir High School student Ebony Huel, struck in the head by a bullet while waiting in line for the club.

One way to keep things on the up-and-up is parental participation, which Torres says has been on the rise. “It helps [parents] know there are adults around, and it shows they have an interest in their kids,” he says.

That the place inspires a positive sense of belonging was evident one recent Friday during a performance of The Handicapped Astronauts, a ska-influenced student band spawned in Palmdale. “This is my city; this is my town / This is where I belong,” sang 18-year-old Cal State Northridge-bound frontman and guitarist Andrew Petrovsky as the roomful of teen music junkies and casual listeners bobbed their heads to beats from spiky-haired drummer Vincent Beigel, 16. The song could have been an anthem for the very building it was heard in, played with such intensity that even from the back one could see beads of sweat forming on the musicians’ foreheads.

No Future Café booking manager Aron Gibson describes the venue as a place for cultivating future talent. For many area bands, the coffee-scented café has been a springboard to larger venues.

Indie rock stars Rilo Kiley played at No Future five years ago, not long before launching several successful records, embarking on national tours and attracting lots of TV attention. Since playing at the café on that same night, Pasadena-based rockers Ozma have gone on to release four albums. The Power Chords, who had a show at No Future in September, are currently on a US tour with two other bands, climaxing Sept. 6 at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood.

When he was 19, Gibson played in a band at the café on opening night. “This was the coolest place in town. I played here and all my friends’ bands played here.” As part of a mission to support aspiring local musicians, Gibson gives local bands first call on stage time. Interested performers need only drop off a CD sample of their work but should expect a little bit of a wait, he said, as demand is high.

Playing at No Future “has helped me polish myself as a performer,” said Pip Craighead, 25-year-old front man for the Altadena-based band Dandelion Council, one of the few Christian-oriented bands to play recently at No Future. “The people are cool. It’s a great Pasadena artists’ community.”

No Future Café is at 1500 E. Walnut St. in Pasadena. Visit nofuturecafe.com for concert and booking information. Pasadena rockers Anesthetic Frank and Ashore perform Friday. On Aug. 29 the café features three local bands playing old-school metal: Illuminati, Pirate Attack and Trigger Renegade.

Deputy Editor Joe Piasecki contributed to this story.