Inside the Liquor Box

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It's been so many years since a bar business at 1483 E. Fourth St. had live music, I can barely remember what local bands once played there. It's now the Liquor Box, but in the late 1990s, it was Area 51, a funky little dive with an art-deco-ish bar and a gas fireplace right in the middle of the floor.

It was one of the places in town for live music. I can definitely remember the Atomiks playing there, as well as the long-gone, but great Sacramento band Okra Pickles, although I'm pretty sure most good local bands of the day played there as well.

But when Area 51 closed around 1999, it became the Baron Lounge and its luster faded, as did its live-music schedule. Afterward, it became the Hispanic hangout El Patron.  

In April, the Liquor Box quietly opened up shop and brought live music back to its stage. There's room for about 150, and Reno bands like Mighty Surf Lords and Darque Carnival already have played there. Liquor Box co-owner Adrian Boily, 27, said that the Liquor Box wants to lure back the live-music crowd.

"We've had everything from hip-hop to heavy metal to oldies and surf music," Boily said, although she added that the hip-hop DJs have been more trouble than they're worth. "We wanted a completely different look than any bar in Reno had and be that bar on the outskirts of town."

Boily and her two co-owners had a lot of work to do when they took over the business and spent six months remodeling.

"It was a disaster in here," she explained, elaborating that there were beer bottles glued to the curved overhangs on the bar.

Calling the Liquor Box a dive would be harsh. It's clean and Boily said it's been drawing a friendly crowd. But it's on that portion of East Fourth Street that's got a bad reputation (and the carpet's a little nasty), but Boily, who spends many late nights at the bar and could easily be harassed with her good looks and petite frame said she's had no problems.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," she said. "I grew up in Reno, and I was scared of Fourth Street, but we've had no problems. We know all the neighbors, and the Mexican restaurant across the street will deliver.

Besides, there's so much of a police presence in that area that things tend to stay calm, and the Liquor Box is not a bars-on-the-window kind of place. So far, the Liquor Box has been drawing a polarized crowd of older folks and college kids.

"There's no real in-between," Boily said.

Live music at the Liquor Box will resume in October after a series of private parties.

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