Ok, so I've made the half-conscious decision to buy only vinyl from here on out. A lot of new releases are coming with download codes to get MP3's of the music legally, so it makes little sense for me to buy CD's any more.
Well, Sea of Cowards released on Tuesday. I was going to buy the regular edition but word got out through the Vault (Third Man Records subscription service) that Third Man was going to release 300 copies of Sea of Cowards on split color vinyl and sell them from the shop on Saturday. Well, living in Lebanon I had absolutely no excuse to not go. I've been wanting to see the store for a while and this was the perfect excuse. I spoke to a buddy of mine who has an "in" at Third Man who said line up at 9 AM (store opens at 12).
Well, I arrived half an hour early at 8:30 and this is what greeted me:
So getting there early was a good move. More people started rolling in and around 10 or so the line stretched around the block. People were pulling in with license plates from Missouri and Texas. People planned entire weekends around this. Anyhow, a few other buddies from another message board arrived and we patiently waited in the hot sun. During which time I grabbed this pic of a nearby dumpster which gives you an idea of what kind of part of town TMR resides:
Well, noon rolled around and they started letting people in. Initially only 5 at a time. The shop is incredibly small and could probably only fit around 10-15 with any sort of comfort.
Third Man Records was very wary regarding people buying these albums to flip. So much in fact that they apparently had been keeping tabs by looking at eBay and seeking out people in line to talk to them. By the 10th or 15th person there was already a listing up on eBay. They actively seek out these sellers on eBay and message boards and if they can find out who they are they will refuse service to them. Which is kind of cool in a way, but at the same time they're perpetuating this problem by doing these limited releases to begin with.
I got into the store around 1PM and here is the fruit of my labor. I got sunburned pretty badly but it was still worth it.
Made a few friends standing in line too. I'll definitely be rejoining the Third Man subscription service. They do shows at TMR for members and things like that. In fact just the previous week Dead Weather did a performance for about 200 members in this very place. You also are guaranteed a 12" album, 7" single, and some other thing like a print or t-shirt every 3 months that are limited to the premium sub members only.
All in all a great time. Glad I did it. Paid 25 bucks for the record and they're selling for much more than that on eBay.