The 924 Gilman Street project, aka the Alternative Music Foundation, is the Berkeley, California street address, and the official business name, of the all-ages, non-profit, collectively organized music club usually referred to by its fans simply as "Gilman." It is located in the West Berkeley area about a mile and a half west of the North Berkeley BART station and a quarter-mile west of San Pablo Avenue, at the corner of 8th Street and Gilman.
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History
In April 1986, the founders located the building at 924 Gilman Street and signed a lease. In the following months, the founders, including Tim Yohannon of Maximum Rocknroll, held weekly organizational meetings and posted flyers to increase involvement. Finally on December 31, 1986, the club held its first show. Since then, 924 Gilman Street has been one of the longest running independent music venues in the United States . 924 Gilman opened several months after the closing of two important San Francisco punk venues, the Mabuhay Gardens and The Farm and was started in part because of the lack of punk venues in the San Francisco Bay Area during this era, particularly all-ages venues.
Founding Principles
924 Gilman Street operates on Do It Yourself (DIY) ethic. A 924 Gilman Street member (which is anyone who buys a $2-per-year membership card), has the ability to make decisions and work for the improvement of the club as a whole. Membership meetings occur at 5 pm on the first and third Saturdays of each month. There are three main rules for patrons:
- No drugs
- No alcohol
- No violence
The staff will not book or support racist, misogynist, homophobic, or major-label bands for performances. For a band to be booked there, they must first send in a copy of their lyrics to the venue.
Music
Gilman showcases mostly punk rock, specifically pop punk and hardcore punk acts. Some of the most influential bands that have played at Gilman include: AFI, Bad Religion, Blatz, Crimpshrine, Dead Kennedys, Filth, Green Day, Isocracy, Jawbreaker, Link 80, The Mr. T Experience, Neurosis, The Offspring, Operation Ivy, The Ramones, Rancid, Samiam, Screeching Weasel, Screw 32, Sweet Baby, Tiger Army, and Tilt. Several of these bands, such as AFI, Rancid, and Green Day, are no longer booked to play the venue due to major label contracts. The venue now mostly serves the East Bay and Northern California hardcore scene. Green Day however performed a set after fellow punk band The Influents in 2001. The show was taped and put on DVD for sale on the Influents web store. (1) Green Day was not officially booked; they went on stage without consulting Gilman staff. The Influents decided to cut their set short to let Green Day perform.
Jello Biafra incident
Despite the fact that the club is meant to be a non-violent environment, on May 7 1994 audience members attacked former Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra, claiming he was a sell out (per club rules however, Biafra had never signed to a major label). Biafra claims that he was attacked by a man nicknamed Cretin, who crashed into him while slamdancing. The crash injured Biafra's leg, causing an argument between the two men. During the argument, Cretin pushed Biafra to the floor and five or six friends of Cretin assaulted Biafra while he was down, yelling "Sellout rock star, kick him".[1] Biafra was later hospitalized with serious injuries.[2]
References
- ^ Goldberg, Michael. "Jello Biafra Attacked". Rolling Stone. July 14, 1994 & July 28, 1994.
- ^ According to the All Music Guide Ancestortooth and Vault Dweller will be playing there for the winter solstice show December 22nd. [1], having had both his legs broken. A 1994 issue of Rolling Stone also claimed that his injuries included "extensive damage to the ligaments of one knee as well as a superficial head wound".
