Happy Record Store Day 2010 to the masses
Weatherfolk were predicting storms for this morning and then changed their minds. Good thing they did because we had beautiful weather for Record Store Day, and we needed it. Met Meghan at Crooked Beat in Adams Morgan half an hour before the opening and found the crowd.
We arrived at 10:30. The front of the line, pictured? Five hours earlier!
Bicyclists circled in the middle of 18th to watch the crowd. We stood in line for the next two hours, talking and people-watching. We saw men with fishing poles. We saw Almost Jesse Ferguson from Modern Family. We saw gawkers pass with empanadas, and that decided our lunch.
Just behind us in line, not shown, were the future Mr. and Mrs. Record Collector 30-Somethings. He was the Comic Book Guy on the outside. She was hot and Comic Book Guy on the inside. She'd made her mom get in line at another record shop. They started talking in hour two — about how every record has its own crackles, about her computer he could fix, and so much more — and ended up trading e-mail addresses. They didn't know it, but Meghan and I were planning wedding toasts.
We finally made it inside, just as they put on the London Calling album.
When I start taking pictures of signage, you know I'm happy.
I got the two items I'd come wanting — the Stone's new Plundered My Soul, unreleased from Exile (on repeat on my iTunes earlier this week) and the young, live, fired-up Elvis Costello. When I flipped through the stacks and saw the War boy staring back at me, I had to get him too.
We were among the last five customers to get free grab bags. Who doesn't love a grab bag? Meghan picked up the Black Keys release for her brother and reported the latest from our Casey: "I celebrated by going to Tower Records. Fun fact: they have been closed since 2006."
Three hours into RSD, Meghan introduced me to Julia's Empanadas.
Amazing. I had spinach. It felt like a piping hot reward for a successful Record Store Day. She went off to an Algonquin-ish roundtable, and I headed for home and then to some live music. Marah was in town…
April 18th, 2010 at 8:59 AM
Very exciting and entertaining post! Thanks for putting it out there sir.
April 18th, 2010 at 10:58 AM
Crooked Beats followed by Julia's spinach empanadas? Throw in Idle Times used books and you've described what I do every Sunday. Religiously.
Good stuff!
April 18th, 2010 at 9:01 PM
Glad a couple serious music fans like yourselves enjoyed!
All, if you haven't met them, Kellen is one of the more serious sub-30 record collectors I know, and Thom battles with John Roberts for the title of best disc-jockey-turned-CNN-journalist. On a related musical note, he also wrote those Nevermind-baby pieces you read last year.
May 15th, 2010 at 8:34 AM
[...] best add to Exile on Main Street's re-release is Plundered My Soul. Previously bought on Record Store Day and played in this space, the song has gotten love from Casey and other friends. When's the [...]