In May of 1989, Tim Armstrong and Jesse Michaels of Operation Ivy had purchased some beer over on Telegraph Ave and walked to the volleyball courts at this intersection. As they sat, they agreed to end the band.

As Tim Armstrong recollected: "Me and him talked about how the band wasn’t really what it was when it started. It was like a mutual thing. That’s one thing that’s not usually told, it wasn’t like he quit, it was like, ‘Yeah, we’re not really into it anymore.’”

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In June of 1988, after a show that featured Op Ivy, Crimpshrine, Isocracy and the Lookouts, the members of Operation Ivy were sitting outside this burrito joint when they announced wanted to make an album.

Op Ivy tried to record Energy at 924 Gilman Street but recording and engineering difficulties, they recorded at Sound and Vision in San Francisco, California in January 1989. After many different attempts, Energy was released in May of 1989.

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Tim Armstrong (junior high photo)

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Tim Armstrong (vocals, guitar) and Matt Freeman (vocals, bass) of Operation Ivy and Rancid went to high school together at Albany High School. They performed together for the first time at the school variety show, The Cougar Follies, by performing a version of Elvis tune Blue Suede Shoes. They did not win, but kept working together in bands like Noise and Basic Radio, then eventually Operation Ivy and Rancid.

Armstrong was involved in the high school theater, working as lighting technician: “I did the lights for ‘South Pacific’ and ‘Oklahoma!’...Spots, blue gels, everything. I wanted to be involved with the performing arts even before I was playing shows."

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924 Gilman St has operated as a volunteer-run, all-ages independent music venue since December 31, 1986. Primarily a pop-punk and hardcore venue, many other genres have been featured at "The Gilman" in its 25 year history.

Also known as as The Gilman Street Project or Gilman Street, the venue has a strict rule against any band playing there who has ever signed to a major label.

Notably, the bands Operation Ivy, Green Day, and Rancid have been associated with this venue (all from the Bay area). Operation Ivy played their second show here, and their second to last show here (with Green Day opening), and a whole lot of other shows in-between. They also recorded their 7" EP '69 Newport here (named after their tour vehicle).

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