Help Liz & Melanie fight Marc Geiger & Save Live 4justice

The Alibi was the premier independent venue for live music & arts in Palm Springs owned by Liz Garo and Melanie Tusquellas. Then came COVID and new partners Save Live LLC—a company started by Marc Geiger and John Fogelman formed purportedly to save independent live music venues from the ravages of the pandemic. Instead, Save Live LLC bullied and slandered Liz and Melanie, destroyed the venue and forced it into permanent closure. They even falsely accused these veteran businesswomen of using the #MeToo movement for personal financial gain!

It was a devastating loss, not just for owners Liz Garo and Melanie Tusquellas but also for countless musicians, music fans and the entire Palm Springs and Coachella Valley communities.

Help Liz and Melanie fight back as they approach a jury trial on August 4th, 2025, as the Plaintiffs against Save Live LLC/Gate 52 LLC & Alibi Venue Operations LLC in Los Angeles Superior Court.

This GoFundMe campaign is raising money to help pay Liz and Melanie’s ongoing and mounting legal fees in their complex case and upcoming trial against Save Live LLC/Gate 52 LLC and its founders Marc Geiger and John Fogelman. (Curiously, Save Live recently announced they were rebranding and changing their name to “Gate 52 LLC.”)

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The Alibi Palm Springs A Visual History

Read about The Alibi Palm Springs’ lawsuit against Save Live LLC here:

IQ MAGAZINE ARTICLE ON LAWSUIT AGAINST SAVE LIVE

POLLSTAR ARTICLE ON LAWSUIT AGAINST SAVE LIVE

Save Live forced The Alibi to close in 2022, just four months after its (post-pandemic) reopening, then subjected Melanie & Liz to a relentless campaign of bullying, slander, and false accusations attempting to malign & destroy their reputations - they even baselessly claimed these veteran businesswomen of exploiting the #MeToo movement for personal profit. Save Live’s actions forced The Alibi’s owners to file a lawsuit for fraud and breach of contract. The case is coming to jury trial in LA Superior Court, Santa Monica Courthouse on August 4th 2025.

Liz and Melanie have spent their lives nurturing the independent arts, music, film, and restaurant scenes in Los Angeles. Liz Garo has been a well-respected talent buyer and promoter in Los Angeles for the past 30 years. She worked for Restless Records, The Knitting Factory, and helped start Spaceland Presents. She has worked with numerous festivals and institutions as a talent buyer, including The Getty, The Natural History Museum, The Santa Monica Pier, The Hollywood Bowl, The Echo Park Rising Festival, and The Desert Daze Festival, to name a few. She has booked and promoted hundreds of artists, DJs, and bands and played a key role in helping shape the live music scene in Los Angeles.

Melanie, a third-generation Los Angeleno, comes from a family deeply embedded in the local food scene. Her grandfather established Tusquellas Meats, Los Angeles' pioneering full-service butcher shop, and her father went on to own Tusquellas Seafoods, Tusquellas Oyster Bar, and the popular Bob's Doughnuts in the historic Farmers Market. Building on this legacy, Melanie also successfully owned and operated The Edendale Grill in Silver Lake and El Chavo in Los Feliz.

They expanded their vision in 2018 to The Alibi Palm Springs, pouring their experience, hearts, and savings into creating an intimate, welcoming space for musicians, comedians, theater artists, and filmmakers to showcase their talents. Then the pandemic happened, and everything crashed to a halt. Save Live LLC first emerged as a beacon of hope in 2020 for struggling venues nationwide, promising to rescue them from the financial abyss caused by pandemic closures. But this well-connected Hollywood based entity simply took advantage of a vulnerable situation, engaging in fraudulent practices that have permanently closed and destroyed The Alibi. It was a blow to both the owners and the entire community that came to the club for entertainment, culture, and connection.

Having secured $138 million in funding from Jordan Moelis of Deep Field Asset Management, along with other venture capital and hedge fund investors, Save Live LLC claimed to provide necessary capital to sustain vital cultural hubs like The Alibi. At a time with limited alternatives, the partnership initially appeared promising: Save Live offered financial support in exchange for a 51% ownership stake and a commitment to respect the venues' autonomy. However, this collaboration quickly transformed into a detrimental situation characterized by corporate greed and destructive tactics. When Liz and Melanie resisted these actions, Save Live utilized its influence to disseminate malicious falsehoods aimed at discrediting them and damaging their reputations.

Now Liz and Melanie are fighting to expose the truth, clear their names, and prove that Save Live LLC breached its contracts with The Alibi, engaged in fraudulent practices, colluded with other companies for deceitful purposes, and exhibited predatory behavior in a calculated attempt to force them out of their own business.

Liz and Melanie need your assistance with the mounting costs of this lawsuit. Your donation will help level the playing field, directly covering legal fees associated with the case and the upcoming jury trial on August 4th, 2025. All donations will go directly to the law firm representing Melanie & Liz and 369 Palm Inc. (their company). Please support Liz and Melanie as they stand up to this assault—and send a message to all greedy companies that they are not untouchable. Together we can ensure that The Alibi’s legacy lives on.

Donate today and make a difference! Any amount will help. Thanks for your support.

All donations go directly to Sergenian Law, a professional corporation, and lawyer David Sergenian.

Any money raised over what is needed for Liz and Melanie’s legal fees will be donated to the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA), a nonprofit law firm whose mission is to help the underserved gain access to the justice system.