Guitars, books and T-shirts display history of punk music at Las Vegas museum

“The Punk Rock Museum” opened its doors in Las Vegas, United States, on March 10, after some delays. Unlike other exhibitions in various parts of the world, where the exhibitions are temporary, the infrastructure has a permanent exhibition, and aims to document and highlight the history and trajectory of the movement, in all its expressions.

The museum was the idea of ​​”Fat Mike”, leader of the American band NOFX, who had the idea of ​​exhibiting, in a store, the pieces that he himself had been collecting over the years. But the concept eventually turned into a museum.

heard by TSF, Lisa Brownlee, who is part of the museum’s founding collective, explained how the idea of ​​opening a museum came about. “During the pandemic, everyone was home from concerts and could look back at the stuff they’d accumulated over the years. I’ve worked in the music industry for many years, and Fat Mike called me up and told me. “He said he wanted to open a punk store in Las Vegas. I suggested, why not a museum? And then we started calling people and collecting stuff,” revealed Lisa Brownlee.

The space has more than 1100 m2 of exhibition. For Lisa Brownlee, who has been associated with the movement for many years, this place fills a void that she, in her opinion, was missing. The American stressed that “all over the world we have temporary exhibitions related to the punk movement. But there is nothing permanent. And we ask ourselves: why not a house, a building, that is like a permanent home for the punk movement? instead of having an exhibition, like other museums do?

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The museum will have various pieces on display, from guitars, posters and books. One of the highlights is a T-shirt worn by Debbie Harry, the iconic Blondie lead singer. But, in true Las Vegas style, there is something you cannot miss in this museum. “We have a chapel where people can get married, they can get tattoos. We are going to have guests who are true legends of the punk movement as guides in the museum. It is possible to buy tickets and be accompanied by the lead singer of Nofx, L7, Suicidal Tendencies from Anti-Flag,” concluded Lisa Brownlee.