Palm Springs-area nightlife scene gets injection of life with 2 new music venues and a club

After two of the industry's darkest years, Palm Springs-area entertainment and nightlife is getting a boost: two new music venues and a nightclub.

The owners of these new spaces hope to attract international touring artists, bands and DJs while offering locals and tourists an exciting experience in a setting that can only be found in Palm Springs or the High Desert.

Palm Springs nightclub Pretty Faces, owned by Bart Lounge proprietor Michael Murphy and his father Kelly Murphy, opened in July and is already packed to capacity several nights a week.

Michael Murphy said the difference between Pretty Faces and other local nightlife spots is "we have fairies and mushrooms painted on the wall and it's like a 'Pee Wee's Playhouse' kind of nightclub."

The space — including both restrooms — is decorated with Michael Murphy's artwork, as well as quirky items such as a miniature dinosaur display at the entrance and a statue of a Tyrannosaurus rex standing on the bar.

Adding to the ambiance, the space features a DJ booth built by Coachella Valley artist Ernest "Hoodie" Salinas. The structure features a head and eyes made of tree logs and artificial roughage that has a feel of something out of a jungle adventure film.

"When that thing showed up, I was like 'I don't know about that,'" Michael Murphy said. "But whenever you see it in here, it's like 'OK, it's growing on me.' People take photos of it all night and it's cool."

Kelly Murphy said after the pair did some research visiting local gay bars on Arenas Road, they noticed several bridal parties in those establishments. They decided a goal for Pretty Faces was to bring similar groups to a new club with top-notch lighting, world class entertainment and the same hospitality — with bottle service starting at $250.

"We just wanted something that was a little happier, more fun and heavy on the dance that anybody can come to, have a good time and feel safe," Kelly Murphy said. "That was what we thought was needed here, and when we saw the location, we said 'OK, we can make this work.'"

In a letter sent to the city in support of their application last March, Michael Murphy detailed several of his plans for the club, which he predicted would become a social hub for tourists in Palm Springs. He included planned offerings such as a male dance show aimed to bridal parties, comedy shows and a drag brunch.

The club was thrown some curveballs when the stage came in larger than anticipated, becoming a permanent fixture in the space. But right now, the plan is to continue hosting DJs who play regularly in Los Angeles or at events such as Splash House. The grand opening featured duo Bones and Lee Wells, and DJs such as Francis Davila, Kyle Walker and Trappea have also performed.

"Driving it with good DJs playing the kind of music people want to listen and dance to right now is the mode ... and I think we're just going to stay at that," Michael Murphy said. "That's our lane and there's nobody else that does it out here, unless it's Splash House or Coachella."

If you go: Pretty Faces, 150 S. Indian Canyon Drive, Suite B, Palm Springs. prettyfacesnightclub.com

A Yucca Valley venue gets a new name and makeover

During the pandemic, AWE Bar president and operating manager Clark Fyans approached the previous owner of Gadi's Bar and Grill in Yucca Valley to purchase just its liquor license, but the ownership refused and insisted he buy the entire building. That included two bars, a restaurant and music venue.

Investor Craig Atkins purchased the building, and Fyans acted as a visionary to transform the entire space. The restaurant and bar areas have been updated with three-dimensional mirrors, new tile and a lighting aesthetic. A new menu includes burgers, tacos and chicken sandwiches, as well as some vegetarian options.

The music venue, with its well-known wooden wave-like ceiling that extends across the entire room and down the back of the stage, also received an upgrade with a boosted stage and the latest in sound technology. Wooden seats removed from the Hollywood Bowl's renovation a decade ago have been added as fixtures on the stage's security fence and in the bar area.

But the grand opening, which was supposed to happen in October, was pushed back due to required modifications to bring the building up to code, including a new sprinkler system throughout the building. The restaurant opened in April, and the music venue hosted its first show on Saturday featuring the Paul Chesne Band.

"This building came with so much history and it's so old," Fyans said. "The history is cool but when you start tearing into the building, you start to realize it's a Pandora's box of vastness. But bringing things up to code is important."

The restaurant side of the business opened in April, and a lobby area leading into the music venue has been redecorated with added seating and rented for small wedding receptions. Fyans said the response has been positive, but many have asked him and the staff when music events will start.

"I didn't do this to start a restaurant, and sometimes I'm like 'What am I doing?' because I'm doing this to be in the music industry," Fyans said. "It started backwards, which is probably good. This can make a lot of money and it's an integral part of all of it, and I'm excited for the future."

And about that name, "AWE": Fyans said he and some friends used to play around with the acronym coming up with slogans like "Are We Ever?" and "Are We Experienced?"

"It's an acronym for a number of different things we experience," Fyans said.

If you go: AWE Bar, 56-193 Twentynine Palms Highway, Yucca Valley. awe-bar.com

A space focused on live music

In April, former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould performed a show as part of the grand opening at The Alibi in Palm Springs, a venue that had a soft opening and a handful of shows in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Owned by former music executive Melanie Tusquellas and former Spaceland Presents talent buyer Elizabeth Garo, the venue has also hosted performances by Afrobeat band Seun Kuti and the Egypt 80, Los Angeles all-female rock band La Luz, queercore band Pansy Division and local bands such as Slipping Into Darkness and Fever Dog since opening.

One contrast between The Alibi and other local music venues is the bar is outside on a spacious patio with ample seating, while the indoor space is focused exclusively on live music.

"When we first opened, we served cocktails, food and had some music, but now by the kind of booking we're doing, it's more music and that's our umbrella," Garo said "There's a lot of cocktail bars in Palm Springs but not a lot of music venues. That's our way of standing out."

There's also a nod to the building's former history as General Telephone on the wall near the restrooms with the wallpaper used in the original space and a vintage phone. It was also a former Palm Springs fire station.

"There's an old picture the Palm Springs Historical Society has where all the ladies (from General Telephone) in the '40s are posing on the balcony in their beautiful dresses and their hair all done up," Tusquellas said. "Then there's a photo of the fire station where all the firemen are wearing their uniforms looking pretty handsome. We have a theory there must be a child between them."

The Alibi hosts touring artists, but also wants to balance its programming with the local community and has also featured a yacht rock day party, a local comedy show, a one-night throwback of local DJ Alf Alpha's "World Famous" party and similar events.

Garo said he wants to keep locals in mind.

"I don't want it to just be touring artists and we're here for the community," he said. "Our previous businesses had community in mind."

Before it was a live music venue, the space was home to the restaurant Georgie's Alibi Azul, and went through several name changes until it closed in 2018 while operating as Azul Palm Springs. Garo liked the idea of keeping "Alibi" as the name and its familiarity with local residents.

"We liked 'Alibi' because it's kind of like your getaway and it's old school, film-noir and vintage," Garo said. "It's always hard to find a name and we kept coming back to The Alibi, so we stuck with it.

If you go: Alibi Palm Springs, 369 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs. thealibipalmsprings.com

Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment for the Desert Sun. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Springs-area nightlife scene gets 2 new music venues, nightclub