The record stores that changed my life

 My first memory of a music store is The Warehouse in San Diego. I know I went to some before that but this is the one I distinctly remember. It was so exciting going there and searching through rows of CDs. I would look for certain bands, laugh at some of the album covers and marvel at the awesome posters on the wall. I knew from a young age that I REALLY loved music and anything involved with it. This was also a time where "the guy behind the counter" at the record store was a well of knowledge, being the closest thing I've ever had to a cool big brother. This was also when certain comments began that I haven't stopped hearing to this day "You're too young to like that music."

 This remark always confused me because maybe I AM "too" young to like this music...yet here I am. All I could do was shrug, but this marked the beginning of that whole thing. Truth was being a kid I had little to no money to spend on music at the record shop so I had to plan and save. I usually ended up with something by Queen and I'd hide in my room with the CD on loud. As I got older my obsession only grew and I wanted to see more music stores. I forgot how but I heard of one called Blue Meanie Records in El Cajon and I was hellbent on going. After doing some convincing we finally drove to this record store. This record shop was like heaven on earth to early teens me. I was blown away by vast selections of music, rock book, posters and rock t-shirts which were actually hard to find.

 I ended up buying a lot of stuff from that place but mostly posters. They had the best posters I had ever seen and still to this day haven't seen any as unique as those. One of the first rock books I bought and still cherish to this day is "The Story of Tommy" filled with colorful collages and song lyrics from the movie. I could write a whole blog just on this book and maybe I will eventually.

 The first CD I bought there was Queen's "A Night At The Opera" and the first poster I got was a classic shot of the Monkees and the first shirt was "With the Beatles." It was a place with a lot of firsts for me. Sadly not long after I moved away the place closed down. So have all the places I went to for music when growing up. Thankfully moving to the San Francisco Bay Area got me planted between easily a dozen record stores: Dave's Records, 1-2-3-4 Go! Records, Amoeba, Rasputin, Hercules Records, Stranded Records to name a few. Now I am spoiled with lots of options but as I kid I really didn't have options. However I am super grateful for the places that I did have and the music that I got from there. I'll always remember them fondly.

Concert tickets: Mailed VS Printed

"Last night we bought tickets to see Elbow (British band) in November. Tickets could either be printed immediately at home, or for an extra $2.50 we could have the tickets mailed. I paid the $2.50. Anyone else feel like the ticket stub is an important part of the experience? A sheet of printer paper doesn't have the same feeling." a post from a friend.

This facebook post got me thinking about the differences between the two. For one a printed ticket doesn't look as good, and is of course printed on paper instead of card stock. The feel of it both physically and literally is different despite the fact that in the end they are the same thing. I've realized I look at a ticket as a concert memento and I want hang on to it. Mailed tickets are simply nicer looking and sturdier.

The Pros of a printed ticket: You have the ticket instantly. You don't have to pay for it to be mailed. If the show is soon you don't have to worry about it arriving on time. The ink the tickets tends to not fade away as much or as quickly as mailed tickets. For instance none of my printed tickets have faded but several of my mailed ones have.

The Cons of a printed ticket:  It doesn't look or feel as nice as an actual card stock professionally printed concert ticket. I've had a few instances where my printed ticket was just taken completely upon entrance to the show so I was left with nothing.

The Pros of a mailed ticket: Once received you have what I call 'the real thing'. I also consider these concert tickets to be meaningful souvenirs from the show with all the info from it. Waiting for the ticket to arrive and receiving it can be pretty exciting.

The Cons of a mailed ticket: You have to wait as long as a month to get your ticket. You have to pay $2.50 which is actually excessively high when you think about the price of postage for flat envelopes. Mailed tickets can easily fade over time.

And yes, there is of course tickets that can be emailed to you and scanned off your phone, but those are terrible and provide no hard copy whatsoever. Sure you could print out the page later, but it looks like shit.

Do you prefer mailed concert tickets or printed?

Mailed

Printed

Survey Maker

What do you think?

Smoking a joint with Iggy Pop in the mosh pit

 Preface: This is a story I only recently realized I have never told. I used to be pretty terrible at remembering to take pictures and write down my memories of what happened at shows. I do that now but didn't start with this tradition until I was over a dozen concerts in. It's a shame I never wrote about this concert before because it was really incredible and mind blowing performance. Since it's been 10 years I can't remember is as well as I used to be able to but I'll be doing my best.
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 Iggy Pop and The Stooges played at The Warfield in San Francisco on April 19th, 2007 with Sistas in the Pit as openers. This was my first Iggy/Stooges show and I was very excited. I took this guy I dated at the time who loved the Stooges. We both happened to have matching red mohawks which later came in handy when we needed to locate each other. The audience was filled with the usual suspects; adults from their 20's to their 50's donning leather jackets and band shirts. These are my people. We drank some over priced concert whiskey and got up to the front pre-show...the floor was filling up fast. 

 When Iggy and the Stooges hit the stage the floor of people began moving in waves with fists in the air. This easily separated my friend and I but we were each more than happy to be sucked into the pit. After a few songs still shirtless Iggy started to crowd surf. I was pretty impressed by this considering he was about to turn 60. He flowed across the crowd like a seasoned pro continuing to sing and shimmy. There was a point where I stopped dancing and jumping just to take the moment in. Within moments I am handed a joint by a guy standing to my right. Living in the Bay Area for a while at that point I didn't even hesitate to take a drag.  

 I pass it back and it comes down again. Iggy is still walking through the audience and singing. I noticed he was quickly headed to my left and people are clearing a path while they tried to touch him. Just as he gets to where I'm at the joint is passed to me again. I took a drag and Iggy reached out his hand, clearly wanting a hit of the joint. I complied and handed it to him and pretty much froze. Just watching what was happening but also afraid I'd do something stupid and look un-cool. He took a hit and handed it back to me. Instead of passing it back to the other guy I took another. He then walked back to the stage still singing and people were still clearing his path. 

  After that I was pretty energized by the show, especially when he welcomed everyone on stage to dance and sing. The audience quickly acted upon his invitation and before I knew it more than enough people had rushed the stage. That was one of the coolest things I've seen at a show. The sight of dozens of people dancing and singing with the Stooges on stage. Fitting them back into already pressed forward crowd was a bit of a puzzle. I couldn't believe the amount of energy, passion and authenticity of character Iggy was showing. Almost 60 and still a bad ass. It was one of the most intimate and genuine live concerts I've ever been to.