Grown-Up Punk Rock Kids Document Their Community's Underground Musical Legacy

Nostalgia and community pride filled Riverside Art Museum Thursday night as more than 1,200 gathered for the opening reception of "60 Miles East: Riverside's Underground Punk Rock, Hardcore & Ska Scene."

The gallery was packed wall to wall by the time speeches began, with the room buzzing with anticipation and excitement. The “who's who” of the local punk and hardcore scene filled the space, including influential musicians, venue operators and other key figures from the era.

The exhibition, which runs through April 12, 2026, in the Art Alliance Gallery, chronicles the vibrant underground music scene that thrived in Riverside from the late 1980s through the early 2000s.

Co-curators Ken Crawford and Zach Cordner, who attended Riverside Poly High School together in the 1990s, addressed the crowd of former musicians, venue operators and scene participants who had contributed memorabilia and photographs to the show, along with younger attendees and community members curious to learn about this influential chapter in Riverside's cultural history.

"Nostalgia is the toughest drug to kick," Crawford said early in his remarks, acknowledging the pull that brought so many back to celebrate their shared history.

"These things only exist because you guys are hoarders," Crawford jokingly told the gathering, acknowledging the community members who preserved concert flyers, photographs and other artifacts from the era. "We could absolutely not have done it without you."

The exhibition's title references Riverside's location 60 miles east of Los Angeles, a distance Crawford said was crucial to the development of the local scene's identity.

"We're not from LA. We don't live by the beach. We're from the smog and the heat. 60 miles east," Crawford quoted from lyrics by Donax, his former band, explaining how the distance from Los Angeles shaped Riverside's music culture. Unlike LA's segregated micro-scenes, Riverside shows typically featured diverse lineups mixing punk, metal, reggae and other genres.

Cordner described the year-long process of assembling the exhibition, which included sorting through thousands of his own concert photographs stored in his garage since the 1990s. His first music photographs were taken at Harry C's in 1993, launching what would become a career in photography.

"I didn't go to my high school reunion. This is officially my high school reunion," Cordner joked to the crowd of familiar faces.

The curators emphasized the importance of all-ages venues like Spanky's and the Showcase Theatre in nurturing the scene. Crawford noted that many attendees had described these spaces as places where they "felt they fit in", a recurring theme in conversations about the exhibition.

Looking forward, Crawford announced plans to continue the 60 Miles East project as a platform for documenting Riverside's cultural history. He also issued a call to action for establishing a new all-ages venue in the city.

"Right now in this room, there's probably never going to be again collected in a single room the resources, experience, abilities to give these kids a venue," Crawford said, urging the community to come together to create performance spaces for the next generation.

The exhibition was presented by Travis Barker and 98 Posse.

More information: "60 Miles East" will be on display at RAM through April 12, 2026, visit riversideartmuseum.org and follow @sixtymileseast on Instagram.