924 GILMAN - compiled by Brian Edge
Bloody hell - this is definitely a case where less would have been a whole heap more.
924 Gilman, for those who do not know, is a club in Berkeley, America. It’s run strictly on a volunteer basis and has stringent rules dictating no drinking on the premises, no violence, no sexism etc etc. It is a club that only allows bands to play that have no major label connections and play predominantly original songs. It was founded by Tim Yohanan, founder of Maximum Rocknroll and has faced adversity on adversity, but has continually come through it all and usually stronger than before. It’s the club that saw founding shows of OPERATION IVY, GREEN DAY, RANCID, JAWBREAKER, NOFX, AFI... The list is a virtual who’s who of Punk and Hardcore since 1986 when the club opened.
The book compiles essays from just about everyone who has ever been involved in the club since its inception. Some are genuinely entertaining reads (notably Jesse Luscious, Ken. S, John. H, Jane. G and a few others). Unfortunately, too many offer the same story of Gilman ‘changing their life’ and the importance of such a club. That’s all interesting enough, but after reading about 200 pages of similar stories, it gets a bit tiresome. The most interesting pieces were from those who had something objective to say; the people who could observe the club’s negatives as well as its positives and even ridicule some of the more conservative issues discussed at various 'meetings'.
Of individual stories, there are the infamous - Frank Discussion of THE FEEDERZ bring dead animals to a show, Jello Biafra’s beating, YEASTIE GIRLS simulated sex show - and the not so infamous including personal stories of discovery, after show basketball matches, trash parties and more. As stated above, those with an individual story are well worth a read.
Of all the bands frequently mentioned, I was surprised at the lack of discussion about JAWBREAKER, MTX & early AFI - bands that I have always considered an intrinsic part of Gilman. ISOCRACY and OP IVY are, as expected, both mentioned frequently as are specific events - the DIY Festival, No More Censorship benefit, Gilman benefits etc.
Among all the written pieces are a profusion of photos. Fantastic - but rather than captions about who took them, the subject matter IN the fucking photo would have been waaaaaaaaaay more interesting. As it is, the opportunity to put faces to the names of various Gilman workers is missed; as is the identity of some truly interesting looking bands.
A neat positive of the book is some of the reprinted artifacts of the club’s past. There are reprints of flyers, Gilman Newsletters, various legal documents relating to a veritable encyclopedia of issues, various MRR columns, the best bits of the special Gilman issue of Cometbus zine and a great listing of every single Gilman show.
Incidentally, dunno if I have a crap copy, but the binding is shit! About 30 pages fell out almost as soon as it was opened and the spine is coming away from the book toward the latter third.
The whole book could have benefited from some selective choosing and concise editing of just who to include and indentification of the photographs. As it is, it’s the proverbial over-weight - if entertaining - tome that will appeal only to all those directly involved in Gilman instead of an incisive, riveting, confrontational slice of inclusive Punk journalism that would appeal to all.