Last Saturday, I went to see the Bye Bye Blackbirds in-store performance at Berkeley's Amoeba Music, the only show they've done so far to support their new album Houses & Homes.
This was the first time I'd seen a show at the Berkeley Amoeba, and it's a pretty good space to see a band. The stage is set up in the side space where the "non-rock" (folk, jazz, classical) CDs are, so it's kind of intimate and easy to see the band, but a good place to watch a show. The BBBs played a few songs from their album, and a few covers (Everlys, Byrds, Vulgar Boatmen) and rocked the room.
While I was there, I picked up a CD copy of their new album. This was only my third trip to the Berkeley Amoeba this year (I haven't been to the S.F. Amoeba at all), so it was kind of exciting to visit a real record store! I wanted to support the band and the store, so I payed full new price ($12.99) for a CD of H&H, even though I'd already downloaded the album from emusic. This gave me the credits of the album, to learn that Billy wrote "Leave a Light On" even though Bradley sings it, and Bradley wrote "Shed the Skin" even though Ian sings it.
I also know which songs feature Bill Swan and which ones feature Gil Ray, so the next time I see Gil I can say "great maracas on 'Original Lights', dude!" Plus there's the benefit of hearing the album in all it's audio glory, without any lossy mp3 compression!
The days of record stores are probably numbered, but I hope they stay around, because there's still benefit to having a physical CD purchased from a local store. For one thing, you can't see the Bye Bye Blackbirds playing on your iPod!
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