This book is a tribute to Tom Guido’s Purple Onion, a tiny basement club in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood that served as the epicenter of Northern California’s wild and wonderful garage-punk scene of the 1990s. This time capsule of a counter culture, documenting an oral history of memories from regulars, along with photos, flyers, and interviews, conveys the magic and madness that made the Purple Onion — and Tom himself — so special. Assembled in homage to that beloved local character, original Charmkin, and staunch supporter of sixties sensibilities, Tom Guido. RIP, 1960–2019.