Went to Stereo Studio – a record store right in the heart of Copenhagen, after work. Mike Tramp was doing an in-store gig and a meet-and-greet signing session. I figured it could be cool to just go and check out.

Beautiful sunny, early spring-day, a little chilly but lots of people out strolling down Stroget, Copenhagens main pedestrian street. You couldn’t miss where the in-store gig was. You could hear it from miles away. Some people stopped and looked through the window, curious to see who was playing in there.

Walked in and there was a small crowd that had heard about the signing. The band sounded surprisingly good. I say “surprisingly” because I wouldn’t expect miracles from a small low-profile gig like that with a mini-PA and the band standing in a corner, still it sounded great. :)

[Keep your eyes on the KID in the corner, the aspiring new future guitarist who stole the whole show!]

What a wonderful feeling it was to be there. THAT is what music is all about! Just being in an actual record store, surrounded by CD’s, vinyls, merch, books…. like a music-temple. I remember what it was like going to record stores all the time. Flipping through albums, trying to discover something new, reading sleeves, or just checking out new versions of records I already had…

Music feels more…real. There was a band, there was a crowd, and there was a real record store. I forgot how cool it is to be in a record store, cause we live in the modern age of downloading now. You never meet other music fans like that, you mind your own business and download your music from your couch, you just lose that whole feeling of interaction.

The in-store thing was all about being part of loving music. :)

I miss all those record stores that used to be on every corner back in the good old days. This was almost a trip down Memory Lane and I really enjoyed it. Some things can’t be replaced by the convenience of downloading music from iTunes…