Record Store Day: Featuring In Store Performances from Channel 3 and Chuck Ragan – Los Angeles – Bakersfield – San Francisco, CA

Independent Record Stores all over the world celebrated Record Store Day. Of course, Big Wheel Magazine staff and contributors were out enjoying the festivities all over California as well. Channel 3 played at Left of the Dial in Seal Beach, Chuck Ragan had a performance at Rasputin Music in Berkeley, and shoppers partied up all day long at Going Underground Records in Bakersfield, CA.

 

Record Store Day - Channel 3 - at Left of the Dial Records - Los Angeles, CA

The brainchild of Chris Brown (no, not THAT Chris Brown), and founded by Eric Levin, Michael Kurtz, Carrie Colliton, Amy Dorfman, Don Van Cleave, and Brian Poehner, Record Store Day celebrated its 5th birthday on April 21st. Each year there is an official ambassador for RSD and Iggy Pop was the chosen one for 2012. (Past ambassadors include Metallica, Josh Homme, and Ozzy Osborne.) With over 700 independent stores in the US participating, we had a lot of locations to choose from, but we went with Left of the Dial Records located in Seal Beach.

Many shops will have in-store appearances, on top of the special album releases made specifically for RSD, and Left of the Dial was no different. The special guests this time? Channel 3!

Left of the Dial is a small place, and I was curious how they were going to pack in the band and the fans around the stacks and stacks of awesome merchandise, but I needn’t have worried. After pushing some stand-up bins to the side and moving out some tables, Mike and the guys set up in the back corner. There weren’t a ton of people at the store when I arrived, but that soon changed as CH3’s start time drew near. The store was incredibly warm, due to the amount of people packed in, but that didn’t deter either the band or the fans.

They started off their set with “I Didn’t Know”. About halfway through the song, Maria Montoya showed up (apparently she was stuck on the freeway for 2 hours—gotta love that Southern California traffic!) and she and the band went into “It’s the Little Things”. In between their older and newer songs, Mike shilled for the neighboring shops (“Pavillions, only $16.99 for a 30 case of Coors Lite! It’s a great deal, you know you want to!” and “Next door, for a limited time, you can get a mani AND a pedi!”) Other songs included “You Make Me Feel Cheap” and “Separate Peace”.

There was no room to pit, but that didn’t stop one girl from showing two young boys how it is done. (Mike’s nephews, if I’m not mistaken.) Channel 3 will be playing at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach on April 27th. They apparently like Coors Lite, so buy them a beer after their set. Go check them out for the full experience and force of their always powerful, and fun, performance.

When the show was over, I stuck around and picked up some vinyl for my collection. Left of the Dial has a great selection of old and rare Punk, so don’t wait until April of next year to get yours.

You can find Channel 3 here:
www.chthree.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/CH3/109090763486

Left of the Dial can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/leftofthedialrecords
http://www.leftofthedialrecords.com/

-Anni Thyme-
Big Wheel Magazine Reporter

To see more photos of this event click HERE

Record Store Day - Chuck Ragan - at Rasputin Music - Berkeley, CA

On April 21, 2012, Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California was packed with throngs of people walking on the main drag of the street. And why? It was everybody’s favorite holiday – Record Store Day. (Note: It was also UC Berkeley’s welcome day for incoming freshman, but a person can dream and speculate, can’t they?)

 The ‘holiday’ in itself brought together many types of people of different ages, backgrounds, and creeds for one sole purpose: to support their local independent record store.

At Rasputin Music in Berkeley, California, the sound of protective jewel cases clinking together as people paw through the establishment’s CD collection is heard through out the store.

 A line of ten or more people develops as the cashiers at the front desk struggle to deal with the high volume of people record store day has brought in.

Rasputin Music, like many record stores across the country during Record Store Day, hosted a handful of performance acts. One of them was acoustic, Punk Folk-master, Chuck Ragan.

Only minutes before his act, fans and intrigued record store day celebrators filtered into the store to hear his performance. Well known for his Florida Punk-outfit, Hot Water Music, Ragan brought new and old fans alike. (Personal note: I heard the statement, ‘I’ve been a fan of his since Hot Water Music,’ more times in one day than any person should.)
 

Playing from an upper level balcony, Ragan’s gritty, Bruce Springsteen-esque voice thundered throughout the store to the dozens of spectators below. Those wishing to get up close and personal with Chuck Ragan and his band gathered on the upper level, packed tightly against CD racks.

 

 

Crowd favorites such as “For Broken Ears,” “Nothing Left to Prove,” and “Let it Rain” were played. The set had a folky, homespun feel with  fiddle and stand-up bass instrumentals. (Another side note: the man playing stand-up bass looked like a reincarnation of Greg Norton from Husker Du.)

The set ended, and the crowd forming around the store’s CD racks dispersed to other places in the store, seeing what their local record store had to offer on Record Store Day.

-Erin D.-
Big Wheel Magazine Contributor

To see more photos of this event click HERE

 

Record Store Day - at Going Underground - Bakersfield, CA

Despite the 90 degree heat wave that hit Saturday, many Central Californian music lovers made it out to local record stores to support the music scene, local business owners, and of course find some great deals on vinyl. Going Underground in Bakersfield hosted a large selection of new and vintage vinyl of all different genres and had some amazing deals. 

There was a live performance from a local Punk band and a couple of DJs that provided entertainment for the shoppers as they thumbed through boxes upon boxes of records.  

All in all, RSD was a lot of fun in Downtown Bakersfield, I could have hung out at the store all day if they would have had a keg.....On second thought, probably a good thing there wasn't, I would have spent all my money!

http://www.facebook.com/Goingundergroundrecords

Big Wheel Magazine salutes the heroes of the music scene, like Going Underground, that bust their ass running their business because of their passion for music.  Cheers to all the unsung heroes of the scene, and HAPPY RECORD STORE DAY!

-J.Moncrief-
Big Wheel Magazine Reporter

 

To see more photos of this event click  HERE

 

Go HERE to see all the latest show reviews

 

Send your comments to the editor HERE