Who said the record industry's dead? On Record Store Day, you would not have believed a word of it, as there were long lines of people checking out the discounts on the new releases at Vacation Vinyl and Amoeba music where a colossal line was running outside, around the building. So I guess not everyone was at Coachella.
I stayed inside the store a few hours and it was busy as hell. Starting at 2 pm, the main attraction was Helen’s favorite, Henry Rollins, spinning records and being the poser boy of the hour. There was another long line to meet him, take pictures with him and make him sign about anything, Black Flag CDs and vinyl albums, arms and tee-shirts, ugly dolls, dollar bills and books.
Wearing a Devo tee-shirt, Henry was very popular, he could not keep up between the hand shakes and the next vinyl to put on the turntable. People have stuff to tell him, stories and even CDs to share with him, and I guess a few of these sharpied arms were probably turned into tattoos the following day.
A sharpie pen between the teeth, he span the Ramones, Bad Brains, Queen, Janis Joplin, some oldies and lots of punk, but I could not recognize many things as he has a real encyclopedic knowledge of music. His contact with people of all age was genuine and direct, and before leaving the store he did a little shopping.
A little later after Henry Rollins, Damian Abraham and Jonah Falco, from the punk hardcore band Fucked Up, took his place behind the turntable, and they couldn't look happier and more satisfied to be there. Damian was still wearing his ACE hotel wristband from Fucked Up's Coachella side-performance on Friday. They were celebrating the release of the second of four singles from their upcoming album ‘David Comes To Life’, and were about to play at the Echoplex the same night with Audacity, Catwalk and special guest OFF!
With the Foo Fighters playing at Fingerprints, and DJs or bands in every store of the city, Record Store Day seems to have been a huge success.