About me:
Welcome to the First & Original 924 Gilman Myspace page ! I am a Co-Founder of the Gilman Street Project located at 924 Gilman St. at 8TH, Berkeley, CA. I became a member of the Gilman Street Wherehouse about a Month and a 1/2 Before the 1st show, Circa November, 1986 when it was still in the "Planning Stages". We held meetings and set up commities to help get the club up and running. These commities consisted of things such as the actual building of the club(which is what I did), Building new bathrooms, building the stage, etc., membership commitee, booking commitee, security, etc. The 1st show at The Gilman Street Wherehouse was New Years Eve 1986/87 and was Christ On Parade, A.M.Q.A(Apple Maggot Quarantine Area), Silkworms, Soup & Impulse Manslaughter. The Gilman Street Wherehouse was started by MRR(MAXIMUMROCKNROLL) Magazine/Radio Show(MRR put up $40,000) to get the club open), and Volunteers including Myself & Friends of Mine. Members of bands such as Operation Ivy, Crimpshrine, Blatz, Isocracy, Filth, Sweet Children(Pre-Green Day), Rancid, Sam I Am, Mr. T Experience, Kamala & The Karnovores, Etc. are all friends of Mine that also helped build the Club. Over the course of the 1st 3 or 4 years of Gilman's existence, I attended well Over 500 shows there easily. 924 Gilman St. Wherehouse only gave out the Lifetime Membership Cards for the first year or two. Now days you have to pay $2 Every year for membership. This page is about a venue that I helped create and build. I actually nailed nails into the stage, in addition to attending the initial Membership/Planning meetings. The Gilman Street Wherehouse was More than just a venue, it was/became more than just a venue a place to see bands play at really. In reality it had become a SCENE of it's own, The basic idea of the Club and the way it is ran is entireally done by VOLUNTEERS, based on a MEMBERSHIP. It's now been Over 18 years since I 1st attended the 1st Club Meeting, when we 1st began to talk about how the Club would be ran, and Now Over 18 years later 924 Gilman at 8th, Berkeley, CA is still running strong. 924 Gilman is now the longest running volunteer ran punk venue in the World.
Becoming A Member & What It Entails: This whole GILMAN STREET PROJECT is based on some principles, reaching back to before we opened the doors. For months, meetings were held to develope the guidelines for how such a club would function, & committies were formed to come up with the best way to promote a situation where bands, fans & promotors would all have something in common - An equal stake in maintaining a clubhouse. We wanted an environment free from many of the problems that have plagued most previous venues - Violence, Vandalism, & Police Problems. So, the committies(Membership, Booking, security, Construction) came up with their proposals, & after much discussion, the guidelines were enacted. The Membership idea was foremost(more on that in a minute), but the criteria of membership won the most approval. So, in becoming a Member, You are agreeing to respect the democratic process which developed(and constantly ferines) the criteria, this being: No Violence, or Vandalism In Or Around the wherehouse. These two agreements form the basis of being able to keep the environment friendly, as well as keeping the law off of our backs.
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Hope everyone can join us for this night at Cafe Du Nord:
Performance of Riley's In C, The Lickets, Julianna Barwick, and DJ Stereo Steve (spinning ambient sounds) Monday, Nov 16, 2009 8:00 PM PST (7:00 PM Doors) $10. at Cafe Du Nord >Details here and Tickets Here or at the door.
The legendary/Notorious record label Alternative Tentacles turns 30 years old ! Giving Art a Bad Name Since 1979~ Throwing a kick ass party to selebrate with tons of great band like MIA Citizen Fish, Jello Biafra's new band, Ludicra to name a few. I'm going to all threee days of this celebration. Its going to be awesome. So many great bands. heres a link to the line ups and show times http://bit.ly/3gN5Dm
Come out! Its going to be fun. When my band THE BANNED from Woodstock was on tour in 1999 we came to california and I tried hard to get to play the 20th anniversary show but well that didnt happen.
So its been ten years since i came to California. Its been a great run. the bay area ROCKS and my favorite band for about the last 5 years has been LUDICRA they play the show friday nov 6th at Great American Music Hall with Munly, Knights of The New Crusade and Jello Biafra and the Guantanimo School of Medicine.
I'm psych'd to be a part of it . I am not playing but I am working the merch booth . hahah. see you there !