The Politics of Gilman Street

Recently it was announced that Against Me! were booked to play a show at 924 Gilman Street, only to have it announced shortly afterward that they would not be playing. On Against Me!'s website the band posted in response to this:

"Unfortunately the 924 Gilman Street show is no longer happening. We're not sure exactly why. We're looking to move the show to another venue in the Bay area, as soon as we have details we'll let everyone know."

It would seem that Against Me! are playing dumb with this statement, as anyone who knows anything about Gilman Street would know why this show is no longer happening, and I couldn't imagine Against Me! is that out of the loop with the punk scene. In fact they even appeared as the closing band in the Gilman Street documentary, which made a point to outline the clubs ideals. These ideals of course refer to Gilman Street being historically known not to book bands that play on major labels, and having blacklisted one-time regulars like Green Day and AFI. Despite this the rules seem to be some what undefined. Pinhead Gunpowder had an album released on Adeline, which is owned by Warner, yet after moving to Recess Records played Gilman last year.

Does this mean that as long as you are not currently tied to a major label you're okay? Rancid put out the album "Indestructible" through Warner, yet the majority of their sales come from albums released by Epitaph, and they're back with doing stuff for Epitaph under the Hellcat Records label. Yet Rancid are known as one of the bands blacklisted for "selling out" who are no longer allowed to play the club.

According to the Gilman Street website:
"We are generally willing to consider most bands, within reason. However, we do not book racist, misogynist, homophobic, or major label bands. Our “no major label” rule also applies to bands that are on record labels where 95% of their sales are done through major labels or major-owned distributors within the United States."

So if a band like Pinhead Gunpowder hypothetically got 90% of their sales through their albums on Adeline (I'm sure they don't as they only did a few releases with them, but let's play devil's advocate) as long as they're currently not with them they're okay to go? The line seems to be blurred, but having Against Me! play seems like a clear step across it.

I'm glad that the club has stuck by their rules and axed this show. It's amazing that this club has been able to stay open for 20+ years as a volunteer run, non-profit, and non-alcoholic venue, when other legendary places like CBGB have gotten shut down. I guess they know what they're doing, which has been re-iterated by not letting Against Me! play, and I guess they're doing it right.