The Punk Rock Museum Is Now Open In Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS, NV – The doors have officially opened on the brand new Punk Rock Museum located at 1422 Western Ave in Las Vegas, and it is definitely an exciting new addition to the growing music scene in the Vegas community.
I was given the opportunity to tour the facility with Sam King from the punk band Get Dead and the new punk project Codefendants, and he pointed out some of the oddities here and there.
He is not an official tour guide of the museum or anything, but he has been helping out as needed since moving to Las Vegas with fellow punk rocker Fat Mike of NOFX who spearheaded the creation of the museum with other collaborators like Fletcher Dragge of Pennywise, Bryan Ray Turcotte, and “a few other core members” as the announcement put it a few months ago.
To clear up some initial confusion about pricing, the general admission pricing is $30 to get in and check out the museum which has 2 floors with a bar, wedding chapel and tattoo parlor all inside just in case you are coming to Vegas to make some good times and bad decisions (ha!).
You can spend as little as 20 minutes inside the museum if you are just breezing through (for some unknown reason), or you can spend hours there by jamming in the jam room - a room dedicated to playing the actual gear (guitars, amps) that bands used to record or tour with from certain eras of their careers, or hanging out at the Triple Down Saloon.
The grand opening saw celebrities like Flea, Wee Man, and tons of punk rock legends grace the museum with their presence.
If you are looking for a unique experience that could land you an extended conversation with one of your punk rock idols, I would highly recommend the guided tours as you will hear stories directly from some of the bigger names in the punk rock scene such as Fat Mike, Stacy Dee (Bad Cop/Bad Cop), Angelo Moore (Fishbone), Louich Mayorga (Suicidal Tendencies), Chris DeMakes (Less Than Jake), Joe Escalante (The Vandals), Scott Schiflett (Face to Face) and so many more…just check the calendar on their site to see who you want to meet and take a tour with.
There are so many cool things to check out. Whether it’s the “Kurt Cobain Couch” or “The Pennywise Garage” (a full scale replica of the band’s early practice space) or the wall of leather jackets or all the concert flyers and the subsets of displays.
The photography is another thing that can be incredibly immersive, and it is odd to see some of the big names of punk look so young again after having played so many shows over so many years.
The museum has tons of awesome candid photos on their "Family Album" wall as well as tour props, costumes, the remains of smashed and otherwise destroyed guitars and so much more.
The museum is open daily from 11am to 10pm, and with some drink specials at the bar and some good company, you can check out some really cool pieces of punk rock history.