Mabuhay Gardens’ return to music gave a Mill Valley middle-school punk trio a chance to play a stage with a long history in San Francisco music. The building began as a Filipino restaurant and nightclub before becoming a punk venue; after Mabuhay Gardens closed in 1987 and the space later hosted other uses, its 2025 return marked a revival of its musical roots, KQED reported.
At an album-release show there two nights after the Nov. 4 release of their debut, First Album, the Knights of Molino played with Go-Go’s guitarist Jane Wiedlin. The Mercury News reported that the trio comprised drummer and lead singer Tommy Birmingham, 12, guitarist Erik Birmingham, 14, and bassist Rowan Campbell, 12. Us.headtopics.com reported that the trio shared the bill with Wiedlin for four songs and performed the Go-Go’s song “Our Lips Are Sealed.”
The collaboration began after Wiedlin encountered the band on social media, according to the Mercury News. Us.headtopics.com reported that they rehearsed together once before the show. The group prepared to play one of Wiedlin’s protest songs. Her forthcoming solo covers album, ¡I Protest!, includes Bad Religion’s “American Jesus” and is scheduled for early 2027.
A local band on a storied stage
The Knights of Molino formed in 2023 after the Birmingham brothers met Campbell at their middle school, and took their name from Molino Avenue in Mill Valley, according to the Mercury News. The trio’s performance at Mabuhay followed its Aug. 21 debut at Berkeley’s 924 Gilman Street, the same report said.
The two venues represent distinct strands of the Bay Area punk scene, not a shared history. East Bay Express described 924 Gilman Street as hosting 25 years of cheap, all-ages, volunteer-run, drug- and alcohol-free punk shows. That account offers a separate example of how punk performance spaces can be organized; it does not establish that Mabuhay Gardens operates the same way.
Youth music programs provide another local point of context, though not evidence about how the Knights learned or formed. Bay Area Girls Rock Camp says its programs combine instrument instruction, band formation and collaborative songwriting, and conclude with a live-venue showcase.
There is also a legal distinction between young musicians performing and being employed in entertainment. California’s Labor Commissioner’s Office says minors aged 15 days to 18 years employed in the entertainment industry must have a work permit, and employers must have a permit to employ them; that general rule does not establish whether this particular performance qualified as employment.
