Growing up in the Bay Area and a fan of punk rock, it’s only a matter of time before one learns about the rich history of music that was created over the decades, specifically in the East Bay. I can relate to this because I grew up a fan of this music scene, needless to say I was excited to hear about the release of a new music documentary called “Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk.”
Produced and Directed by Corbett Redford, the documentary covers the history of punk rock music in the Bay Area, from the San Francisco scene in the late 70s to how that scene evolved and expanded to the East Bay in the early 80s through the mid 90s. With this expansion came the formation of many iconic bands that defined the East Bay punk rock sound and how members of this scene opened 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, a non-profit music venue that became home for these bands to play at.
As many of you know, my all-time favorite band is Green Day. I first started listening to Green Day when I was 10 years old, as I entered my teenage years that’s when I began researching more about Green Day’s history and learning about the music scene they were apart of during their early years as a band. Over that period I started collecting all the albums from these bands that were on Lookout Records. From that period on that’s how I became a fan of all these bands.
What I love about this documentary is that it’s a love letter to the all the artists and bands who made up the East Bay punk scene and what they mean to everyone, along with the importance of 924 Gilman Street. I can’t say it enough how happy I am to see this documentary come to life because everyone involved is getting the proper attention and respect they deserve.
For a two hour and thirty eight minute documentary, it flew by fast. The soundtrack was amazing which consisted of all the bands featured in the movie. I felt like I was in High School all over again, which was when I was introduced to most of these bands. This was the soundtrack of my life and most of the time I found myself either head banging or air drumming in my seat.
I was surprised how many people were in this movie, it’s the who’s who of rock royalty featuring members of Green Day, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Operation Ivy, Rancid, NoFX and all the bands from Lookout Records. I loved hearing all their stories about the formation of their bands and what was it like to play shows and what the scene meant to them. I was also introduced to even more bands that I didn’t know about before.
After watching this documentary my immediate reaction was that I was proud to be from the East Bay. Even though I wasn’t going to the punk shows in the 80s and 90s, it made me appreciate my time of going to underground punk shows in the late 90s and 2000s.
An observation of mine is that this documentary shows how Green Day’s rise to success in the mid 90s is what helped bring attention to the East Bay punk scene and bring a lot of new fans to the other bands on Lookout Records and 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley.
Thank you to everyone involved in making this documentary. I can’t wait to see it again.
Listen to Baby Huey’s review of “Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk” during an episode of “The Second Shift.”
Watch the trailer for “Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk.”
Check out Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk’s website: www.eastbaypunk.com
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