BACK IN STOCK! These flyer zines sold out quickly at the museum, so we made one more batch. Get ‘em while they last! There’s one zine of 1980s flyers, and one of 1990s flyers — all from Sonoma County shows and bands. Each zine contains 56 rare punk flyers, printed by a locally owned business on ridiculously high-quality paper. Zines cost $25 each, with proceeds going to the Museum of Sonoma County. Available at the merch table near the museum’s front desk. Don’t sleep!
📫 I WILL SHIP TO YOU 📫 if you live outside the Bay Area and can’t make it to the exhibit. Venmo, PayPal, CashApp all work. Shipping is $10. Estimated arrival one week. DM me for the hookup! I expect these to sell quick.
It’s happening! We’re working around the clock to make this one special. Opening reception on Friday, April 17, 5–7pm; tix available at door. Exhibition runs through Aug. 23.
Tix for the April 17 opening reception at the museum (5–7pm) will be available at the door! The Victims Family show (8pm–11pm) is sold out, but a very limited number of tickets will be available at the door. Get there early.
Back in the 1990s, Gabe Meline rode the bus across Sonoma County, skateboard at his side, scanning telephone poles for punk flyers he had yet to claim. When he spotted one, he would hop off at the next stop and skate back — sometimes half a mile — to retrieve the xeroxed sheet. Then he would wait for the next bus and continue on.
“I’m not a hoarder,” he said. “But I think, in the moment, I knew that it was important.”
When bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day and Bikini Kill came through the North Bay, Meline was ready to grab a hand-scrawled set list the moment the final chord rang out. At venues like The Phoenix Theater, or at backyard house parties in Roseland, he collected not just artifacts but fragments of a fleeting culture. He saved everything: cassette tapes, T-shirts, vinyl records, VHS tapes, each carefully boxed and stored.
So when Jon Del Buono, exhibitions manager at the Museum of Sonoma County, began searching for a guest curator to assemble a deep dive into the region’s punk scene of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, Meline’s response came quickly.
“The boxes in my garage have been waiting 35 years for this phone call,” he said.
Word spread. Musicians and longtime fans began dusting off their own collections. The result is “Disturbing the Peace: Sonoma County’s Early Punk Underground,” opening Friday, April 17, at the Museum of Sonoma County. That same night, Victims Family — the county’s longest-running punk band — will headline a sold-out show at the nearby Barrel Proof Lounge.
See the link in our bio to read more.
Story by John Beck
#sonomacountypunk #sonomacountyhistory #sonomacountyexhibit #museumofsonomacounty
This week on The 707 we chat with veteran of the Sonoma County punk scene, Gabe Meline, and hear how he transformed a personal collection of demo tapes and ‘zines into a museum-grade exploration of local history. We examine how the punk mentality translates to the challenges of today - and turn up the volume with tracks from the bands that fueled the North Bay’s early punk movement. Listen now at krcb.org/the707 🤘🎸
music by: @Victims_Family
Announcing the opening reception for ‘Disturbing the Peace: Sonoma County’s Early Punk Underground’ at the Museum of Sonoma County. Comprised of photos, flyers, zines, shirts, tapes and more, the exhibition shows how the local punk scene from 1978–1999 carved out its own identity in the Bay Area and addressed issues still relevant today. Curated by Gabe Meline, the exhibit opens April 17 with a reception at the museum from 5–7pm, followed by Victims Family playing ‘Voltage & Violets’ in its entirety, plus The New Trust and New Low, down the street at Barrel Proof Lounge. Tickets are $28 for both the reception and afterparty, available at KQED.org. ✌️
