The Orange County Museum of Art is showcasing its 2025 biennial, Desperate, Scared, but Social. On Saturday June 21st, the museum celebrated with block party and a performance by The Linda Lindas, Emily’s Sassy Lime, and Brontez Purnell. The block party had booths for kids and families to make crafts, a silk screen booth which gave a demonstration of silk screening and sold bags for the show, along with a workshop on risograph printers used for either posters or shirts.
The exhibit itself takes its name from the title of Emily’s Sassy Lime’s 1995 Kill Rock Star-released album of the same name. The display for the Linda Lindas took a decent portion of the exhibit and had cardboard cutouts of some of the images used on the shirts along with some of the shirts hanging in the museum, as they were designed by Eloise and Bela. Flyers and some of the outfits they have worn were also present, as they were also designed by the band. The next part also serves as a great record of Emily’s Sassy Lime, with pictures of the band and art pieces. There is a wall dedicated to Disneyland with pictures of the theme park from the 1990s, as well as shelves of relics from the decade like cassettes, VHS tapes, shirts, and other trinkets of the time.
The stage was set up outside on the museum’s second-floor terrace next to a bar where you could buy food tickets. On the terrace, there were booths that sold all types of food, from hot dogs and nachos to baked goods. While the arts have caught up to punk rock and recognize it as a valid form of expression (which it always was), it’s always weird when the suits get involved. It always feels like the people in charge have too many contracts with vendors rather than common sense to bring in something affordable.
Brontez Purnell opened the show with vodka and soda in hand. He revealed to the crowd no one was able to curse during the show, but he was able to keep his songs and banter in between just tongue-in-cheek enough to keep the organizers off his back. He played six songs from his albums *Confirmed Bachelor* and *No Jack Swing*, with songs like “He Never Knew What Kissed Him” and “Rudolph Valentino.” Singing to a backing track, Purnell’s set was a journey through a mind with great lyrics and a unique performance. I would like to see an unfiltered live set that wasn’t confined to the censorship limits implemented.
Emily’s Sassy Lime is a three-piece band formed in 1993 in Irvine, CA by Emily Ryan and sisters Amy and Wendy Lao. They were one of the essential early riot grrrl bands along with Bratmobile and Bikini Kill. They played a set that was a little shaky in parts as they just reformed for this, but was still great nonetheless. Playing songs like “Pineapple Boy Need Not Apply,” “1984,” and “Dippity Do-Nut.” At one point, everyone in the band traded instruments. I hope there are more shows in their future; it was a fun set.
Most of the crowd was there to see The Linda Lindas play. As always, they put on a great show. There was a lot of energy from the band and the crowd. They played a set that was heavy on their latest album, No Obligation, but managed to put in first album cuts, “Growing Up,” “Nino,” “Oh!,” and “Racist Sexist Boy.” During the band’s performance “All in My Head” Emily Ryan from Emily’s Sassy Lime came out and sang with Lucia. The highlight of the night was when the band closed with Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” and Kathleen Hanna came out to sing with the band. It made a special night so much better. After the set, everyone who performed stuck around to take pictures with people. It was a great night.
The “Desperate, Scared, but Social” exhibit is on display at the Orange County Museum of Arts through January 6, 2026. Admission is free. For more information, click here.