March 10, 2006

Amoeba vs. Jeff Tweedy: Smackdown!

I thought this was a hilarious story, and bitingly well-written, from the CrazyTalk blog by Howie from San Francisco. It is part of his review of the Jeff Tweedy show at the Fillmore in February. He writes:

“Tweedy told a hilarious story about his experience the day before at San Francisco’s famous Amoeba Records. Apparently he had bought a used cd there, only to discover when he got back to his hotel room that the cd wasn’t in the case. He called Amoeba about it, to see if someone could bring him the cd at his hotel, and the clerk basically said “sucks for you.”

When Tweedy suggested that maybe if someone from the store was coming to the show, he could put them on the guest list and they could bring it to him. The clerk replied, “There’s like 100 people who work here and I’d have to find like the 2 people who MIGHT be coming to your show, so no – I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

(For those of you uninitiated in Amoeba, it is ground zero for indie-hipper-than-thou-ennui. I think the criteria for employment there involves being in seven “in” bands concurrently, at least 3 of which are signed to nearly-defunct indie labels, 2 of which are scheduled to tour Japan with a band from Merge or Barsuk, and 1 of which got a positive review on Pitchfork; plus some combination of tattoos, mental ward hair cuts (shampoo is a definite no-no), and near-wikipedic knowledge of psych-prog rock. The application process culminates in a 100 yard dash where entrants must wear tight jeans with white belts. I got on the 5 year waiting list last week when I bought my first Members Only jacket). Anyway, determined to get his cd, he walked to the store from his hotel, but when they still couldn’t find the cd, he accepted a handy record tote bag in lieu.

I guess Tweedy had told this story at the first Fillmore show (the night before our show), and the clerk at Amoeba got such amazing shit from her co-workers that at the 2nd Fillmore show, Tweedy found an Amoeba hoody (signed by the offending clerk) in his dressing room. He came out for the second encore wearing said hoody.”

Now *that’s* a good story to tell. It’s classic, especially the response from the clerk on the phone. I wish I could be as cool as the Amoeba hipsters, although I did have quite a good time sifting through the vinyl section the last time I was there, coming home with some gems (Jimi Hendrix & Otis Redding at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967, REM Dead Letter Office, Jerry Lee Lewis “Breathless” double LP, Sly and the Family Stone, and The Cure . . . Happily Ever After). Aaahhhh.

3 Comments

  • i have that very same otis redding/jimi hendrix vinyl and its one of my absolute favorites.

    Don't Need Anything — March 10, 2006 @ 2:22 pm

  • oh man I want otis at monterey, hehe.

    nice score

    Mike — March 10, 2006 @ 2:27 pm

  • The people who work at the Hollywood Amoeba are so nice… that one? Not so much! Sounds like it’s not that she was just clueless about Jeff Tweedy being awesome, she was rude. At least he got a great story out of it. And a hoody. ;)

    trill42 — March 10, 2006 @ 3:33 pm

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Bio Pic Name: Heather Browne
Location: Colorado, originally by way of California
Giving context to the torrent since 2005.

"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel."
—Hunter S. Thompson

Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.

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