The last man in line...Happy Record Store Day!

"Holy crap. This sucks." I am the last man in line at Amoeba Records in Hollywood. What the hell was I thinking?" I went through this last year and it took me four hours to get through the line. I didn't get half the records I wanted. "This year will be different." I told myself. "I will get up early or sleep out the night before!" Over and over again.

Waking up at 9:00am on Record Store Day I figured I'd be screwed. And I was. I rounded the corner after parking about a mile away and then I saw it. The mother of all lines filled with vinyl junkies waiting to get their fix. The one good thing that Amoeba does on Record Store Day is keep a list of all the releases on a white board out front of the shop. This allows them to cross things off as they sell out of them...and when Brand New releases a vinyl press of their "break out" album and it’s limited to 1,500 world wide...chances are I'm not getting it when I'm standing in line 3 miles away.

I stood around for a few minutes chatting with a few of my fellow slackers who slept in before I decided to wander up to the front of the store to see what was already sold out. What do I care if I lose my spot in line. As I expected...every release I wanted was sold out. I heard people in the front of the line saying they had been camped out since 7pm...the day earlier. Watching happy folks walk away from Amoeba toting their prize record purchases just adds insult to injury. These people were the smart ones…or crazy ones…who slept out all night. Bastards.

So. I left. Broken. Beaten. And bummed.

I gave it one last-ditch effort and decided to hit one more record store before I went home with my tail between my legs. Record Surplus on Santa Monica, less than 2 miles from my house, had ALL the releases I wanted and NO LINE. The record gods shined down on me after all. This place is an oasis. I couldn't believe it. This is truly a neighborhood record shop and I will be shopping there before I cross the 10 any day. It just goes to show…if you sleep in…you win.