Elmo and his best friends Sid and Nancy have a garage band together called Snotty. Their dream is to play their first show at the legendary punk rock club in town, the 429 Theater. Sid clings to his punk ideals and refuses to play anywhere other than the 429. When the only prospect of achieving their goal is to play their high school talent show first, Elmo devises a plan to get what they want while keeping their punk rock integrity intact. He recruits Ruby, a young singer from his family church to help Snotty trick the talent show judges into letting them play. Ruby is heartbroken when she discovers that Elmo and the punk kids have been using her all along. To achieve redemption, the kids must put aside their ideals and learn that chasing your dreams no matter what is the most punk rock thing of all.