924 Gilman Street

The Alternative Music Foundation located at 924 Gilman Street, commonly referred to as 924 Gilman or simply Gilman, is a non-profit, all-ages, collectively organized music club. It is located in the West Berkeley area of Berkeley, California. Gilman is widely regarded as the springboard for the '90s punk revival and is known for its associations with punk bands Green Day, Operation Ivy, Rancid, AFI, and the Offspring, and playwright Miranda July.

924 Gilman remains an active club, hosting over twenty concerts a month, and remains a local hub for community organizing, graffiti, and performance art. According to National Geographic, "It remains the only venue of its kind left in California — a place with no owner, where takings are split evenly between bands and young children can watch their older siblings perform."

Jim Widess purchased the building that would become the club in 1984, converting a previously unprofitable supermarket into a boutique workshop for caning. Widess was befriended by Victor Hayden in 1985, who expressed interest in using his industrial storage space as a venue for live music.

In parallel, punk rock fan and Maximumrocknroll founder Tim Yohannan sought to found a local, all-ages music space where bands could play and interact with audience members free of the structure of conventional music promotion. Although Yohannan initially had misgivings about the 924 Gilman Street location spotted by Hayden, he was ultimately persuaded that the building was a suitable space for the project that was envisioned. Negotiations began with the landlord and in April 1986 a lease was signed.

The organizing circle was expanded with a view to raising the $40,000 needed for rent and remodeling and for generating the volunteers necessary to make the construction project happen. Yohannan made use of his political connections and experience gained as a campaign volunteer for Berkeley Citizen's Action Group, an organization that had won majority control of the Berkeley City Council, and was able to call upon friends sitting on various city boards, urging their cooperation with the new venture. Berkeley mayor Gus Newport was supportive and project organizers took care of every detail into winning the tacit approval for the project from businesses and residents of the area. The landlord also proved himself reliable and supportive of the goals of his new tenants.

Tim Yohannan later recalled:

We didn't know shit about construction, and people were coming out of the woodwork, just showing up and helping—people who had the skills we needed, carpenters, plumbers, electricians. We had to build new bathrooms, etc., and pass the inspections. We got our final approval from the city the afternoon of our first show, which was New Year's Eve, December 1986.

Rent on the 2,000-square-foot building was $2,000 per month at the time of the club's launch—regarded as a reasonable and manageable rate.