Wikimedia Commons/Peter Hilgendorf
The Sonics’ Proto-Punk Revolution at Crescent Ballroom
The Sonics shook Tacoma in 1960, named after jets from nearby McChord Air Force Base.
Five local teens built their raw sound at the Crescent Ballroom, blasting proto-punk riffs and wild screams that no one had heard before.
They played twice monthly at teen clubs like the Red Carpet until Buck Ormsby found them in a garage and signed them to Etiquette Records…