Les Sans Culottes are a French-language band who have been rocking the south Brooklyn music scene since the late 1990s. They were also the last band to officially play Hank’s Saloon—an event that, to my eternal discredit, I failed to document.

Come help me (kind of) redeem myself, with a very special outdoor appearance by the band, followed by a screening of my feature documentary, “Hank’s Saloon”. Plus a Q&A with the filmmaker (me) right after the movie.

Saturday, August 29

Les Sans Culottes – 3:30pm

“Hank’s Saloon” Film Screening – 6:30pm

Q&A with filmmaker Leon Chase after the screening

INDUSTRY CITY BANDSHELL STAGE
Courtyard 1/2 at Industry City
located between 36th and 37th Streets and 2nd and 3rd Aves.
Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Map

TICKETS:
$15 advance (plus fees)
$20 day of show
GET TICKETS HERE

Photo by Jamie Kalikow

For many years, a lot of people knew me better as “Uncle Leon”—a spirited (if sometimes unhinged) cowpunk singer whose band, Uncle Leon and the Alibis, was a regular attraction at many of New York City’s finer dive bars—including the place of our birth, Hank’s Saloon.

Recently I’ve decided to revive a few of my favorite songs—some famous, some by me—in a series of Youtube videos that I’m calling Uncle Leon’s House of Pancakes.

View the Playlist

Listen to Uncle Leon on Bandcamp

Watch More Videos

On April 8, 2026, we threw a live screening of my feature documentary “Hank’s Saloon” at the legendary Freddy’s Bar in Brooklyn, with special Guest Bartender (and star of the film) Jeannie Taliercio.

Journalist Stephanie Keith of the local news site Hell Gate was there to photograph the event, and to interview many of the old-school regulars who attended—including me and my wife/Producer Ashlie.

You can find the story (and photos) on the Hell Gate site.

If the link give you problems, you can view an archived version of the whole story here.

Thank you to Stephanie and Hell Gate for doing such a wonderful job documenting this momentous event!

More info about “Hank’s Saloon” here

Photo by Stephanie Keith

I recently had the pleasure of appearing on the wonderful arts podcast “More Light”, hosted by local Brooklyn artist Dan Gratz.

I love when an interviewer isn’t afraid to go deep. On the show, we discussed “Hank’s Saloon” (the movie and the place), as well as the changing face of New York City, the early 2000s Alt-Country scene in Brooklyn, and the future of creativity and culture in America.

“MORE LIGHT” is available on most major podcast platforms.

Listen to the Episode here

Last night, we brought my documentary “Hank’s Saloon” back to the block it was born on, with a special screening at the Hollow Nickel bar, located 400 feet from the original Hank’s.

In honor of the event, I slapped a few posters up on the site of the old Hank’s building. Which, by the way, is still standing there, and is still empty.

THANK YOU to the 50+ people who packed into Hollow Nickel just to see the movie.

If you want to receive emails about future secret bar screenings, sign up here.

More info about “Hank’s Saloon”