Some local record stores either had exclusives, deals, in-store performances, food, or hosted record shows. My first stop was at Fifth Element where a lot of great stuff went down. They had 15% off the entire store, free burgers and brats, gift bags, and in-store performances by DJ's and Eyedea & Abilities. I didn't stay for E&A (had some used records to hunt down), but I did swing by Fifth Element just as they went on. The place was filled to capacity and supposedly hotter than a mofo (I'm getting too old to risk my life like that). I saw Otto all hot and bothered outside trying to catch a breather from the inferno inside. And in case they're reading this, I also spoke with some lovely Norwegian exchange students and forgot to give them some promo CD's that I had in my bag. I totally forgot that I had them on me. If you ladies swing through a show of mine, be sure to say 'hi' and ask me for some CD's!After buying out Fifth Element and finally copping that Micranot's Return of the Travellah's I was off to a record show being held at Soo Visual Arts Center on Lyndale. I wasn't expecting much. The last time I went to a record show with the same hosts, it was a bunch of 50's & 60's rock-n-roll garbage. I was pleasantly surprised and ended up picking up 15 records for $14 (dude threw me The Supremes' Floy Joy for free because the cover was nasty).
I walked across the street to my favorite coffee joint, Bob's Java Hut, where I could take in the beautiful people and weather that were out and about in Uptown. After organizing my iTunes library, I walked a block to Treehouse. I dug through their recent used arrivals and probably paid too much for a few records that just looked interesting. I even paid too much for music from Miami Vice II. Really I just bought the record for the cover. Mmmmm, Testarosaaaaa. I heard that Treehouse got a bunch of the Record-Store-Day-exclusives, but they sold out with the hotness. Next year, I'm not staying up so late the night before.
It was an excellent day and appeared to be a very successful day for all of our wonderful record stores. All of them were bustling with action and, more importantly, had registers ringing off the hook. Viva la record stores!
I wasn't in the mood to snap any pics today which I regret now. Here's some examples of what lovely music you can find in the crates. Have a listen. That's what I'm about to do all night.
