The Phoenix Theater sits on a corner in quaint downtown Petaluma. It’s a place steeped in history, though you might not guess that from its unassuming, gray exterior. The building dates back to 1904, when it opened as the Hill Opera House. In the early part of the 20th century, the theater hosted opera star Enrico Caruso and magician Harry Houdini before it transitioned into an ornate movie house in the 1930s. Today, 100 years later, it hosts shows every weekend — with help from Petaluma’s teenagers.
Since 1983, the Phoenix Theater — also known as the Petaluma Phoenix Center — has operated as an all-ages venue, earning a reputation for hosting raucous punk, metal and hip-hop shows, as well as the occasional WWE-style wrestling match. Its transformation included trading the seats of its grand auditorium for skate ramps, and allowing graffiti to cover nearly every inch of the building. It has the air of an anarchic, punked out fun house.
When I visited on a Friday afternoon, teens were everywhere: skateboarding in the auditorium, sharing secrets in empty corners and rehearsing in back rooms. One had his bike flipped upside down in the lobby while he stared intently at the gears. No one seemed fazed by this eclectic collage of activity. It’s just a regular day at the Phoenix Theater.
In a few hours, teen volunteers will sell tickets to this evening’s show of teen bands, where a teenage sound engineer will monitor the mix. It’s hard to find an adult around, but there is one very important one at the center of it all: Tom Gaffey.
Gaffey is the general manager, a job he’s held for 40 years. Born and raised in Petaluma, he first worked here when it still showed movies. He came back in 1983, as the theater was struggling to survive.
“What I found was that the kids were using it for the damnedest projects. Their bands were coming in, rehearsing on the stage when they could, and the kids were kind of skating all over the building,” he said. “It turned out that the only people that were really using it and really showing any love were the younger generation.”
Gaffey took over the lease and almost immediately a music promoter offered him $1,000 to bring in the Wisconsin folk-punk band the Violent Femmes.
“People were jumping off the stage and flying through the air and trying to beat up my staff. Oh my god. It was most incredible,” Gaffey said, with a laugh. “That night I was paid the entire month’s rent. The show sold out, and that’s when I realized this is going to be a rock and roll house.”
The momentum of that inaugural show led to Gaffey booking bands like Green Day, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime and Metallica. He also embraced hip-hop, booking Snoop Dogg and the Bay’s own Mac Dre and E-40, among many others.
Gaffey almost exclusively hires local teens to keep the building afloat, like the sound technician and ticket sellers, giving Petaluma youth not just a space to hang out but also a source of income. Some have even found careers working at the Phoenix. Gaffey says one of his old sound techs is now touring with John Mayer.
The theater’s long history has meant that some Petaluma parents grew up at the Phoenix, too. For 15-year-old Theo Landskron’s family, the connection runs deep.
“I’ve come here every day after school to have an escape from everything else. My mom grew up in Sonoma County and she came to the Phoenix when she was in high school, [so] when she found out I was coming, she was really excited,” he said.
Two decades ago, a Phoenix parent also saved the theater from shutting down. Back in 1983, when Gaffey took over the lease, the building was for sale. It finally found a buyer in 2000. The Phoenix even had a final show to say goodbye.
“A developer was going to turn it into an office building,” Gaffey said. “What happened is the father of two kids that grew up here in the ’80s came to me a week before escrow closed and said, ‘I’d like to help.’ He had just sold his company to Cisco Systems for a good amount of money, so he and his partner said, ‘We’re going to buy this place for you guys and give it back to you as a nonprofit.’ Which is exactly what they did, and it was all because the kids like this building.”
Riley Taylor Drake’s band, Wild Metanoia, was one of four bands on the night’s bill when I visited. He said that the Phoenix has been critical in the band’s progress. “How quick we got to playing here was always so cool to me, cause this was our target venue to hit by the start of this year, and we’ve played here five times now. I love it.”
The next day, Gaffey is back at the Phoenix. In the middle of cleaning up, a memory comes to him from his own teen years. “I remember maybe in ninth grade, I was standing on the apron of the stage and I said, ‘God, I want to come back and run this place.’”
“I couldn’t even have envisioned something like this,” he added. “However, we’re having a damn good time, so ‘Thank you, God.’ I gotta remember to do that every day.”
The Phoenix Theater in Petaluma is open every day at 3 p.m., with all-ages shows every Friday and Saturday night.