While all of San Francisco (in fact, even all of the rest of Haight Street, seen here), looked like this at 9 AM Saturday morning (4/21/12), the corner of Haight and Stanyan was already accomodating a line for Record Store Day 2012 which stretched to the back of the Mickey D lot and onto Waller.
Mind you, these pictures were taken a full 90-60 minutes before the team at Amoeba SF, showing their tightly knit record store day management skills, began easing the throng into the building.
I admit that I had never seen the opening moments of Record Store Day before. I was a little skeptical of the almost hyperentilating level of strategy and tension that built in line over exclusive releases by Shabazz Palaces, Animal Collective, Grateful Dead, Flaming Lips, White Stripes, Small Faces, even Fleetwood Mac (the 1975 “Fleetwood Mac” album in a box set – bow down to vynil, ear bud nation!) But sure enough, by 10:37 AM, some of the more coveted prizes were already stripped from the shelves.
[nggallery id=170]The great irony here – after you stand in a huge line to get in, you stand in a huge line to get out. But, again, the Amoeba team kept it moving incredibly fast.
The Buck Owens replica 1970 coloring book with the colored flexidisc and digital download was a sleeper hit. I’m so grateful I wandered past them and grabbed one.
And good schwag this year, too – I will cherish my Jennifer Hudson compact.
