Gilman St. In Trouble

by Mr. Bad

1999-01-15 23:02:00

Too Punk To Fuck

OK, so, if you're not from the San Francisco Bay Area, you may not know about the Gilman St. Project. It's the seminal club around here for the punk resurgence of the late 80's/early 90's. Hell, it's where GREEN DAY started! Woo-hoo! Anyways, it's in trouble.

I know, you're probably thinking, "Who the fuck cares? Another stupid club comes and goes." Or maybe you're like Flesh, and you're so Old Skool Punk that you don't think any club since the Ingrown Asshair in 1978 is worth even pissing on. [Flesh rebuts: "I not only helped raise money for [Gilman], I was one of the very first people through the goddamn door."]

Well, what makes Gilman important is that it's a) member-owned and -run, b) cheap and c) all ages. The people who wanted to hear music in Berkeley, but didn't have a venue, made one themselves, and they've kept it open through constant adversity, playing some pretty decent music in the process. It's another cool example of people making the shit they like happen for themselves and for others. It's like Free Software, or Burning Man, or whatever. And that's why it's worth saving.

Anyways, Gilman's in trouble with the City of Berkeley. Apparently the area they're located in -- a crappy industrial slum -- is zoned for "re-development", and the City and some of the high-teck businesses moving in are unhappy about having a bunch of punx walking around their new office parks on the way to the shows. So, they're trying to get the permit for Gilman revoked.

The Gilman St. site has a petition you can sign to tell the big bastards to keep their hands off small, non-profit venues. You should go do it, even if you could give a rat's ass about punk music or Berkeley or whatever. Just go sign the fucking petition, eh? SIGN IT!!!!!! OK? OK.

Check it out yourself

zales@pigdog.org