Rhino Records to celebrate relocation with weekend block party

By Shana Dines
Daily Bruin Contributor

The biggest music block party of the year will shake up Westwood
this weekend as Rhino Records, a time-honored establishment of
L.A.’s music scene for 29 years, moves into its new
space.

“Rhino was one of the original new and used record stores
in Los Angeles,” said Dave Crouch, general manager of the
Rhino Records store.

Just a few blocks down from the former location, Rhino Records
can now be found at
2028 Westwood Blvd. With 6,500 square feet, the new store will
be commanding more than three times as much space as the old store.
The extra space, of course, allows for three times as many new and
used CDs, LPs, 12″s, videos, DVDs, books and other
pop-culture- and music-related merchandise.

The new location is going to be equipped with traditional
listening posts for new releases and state-of-the-art red.net
listening posts that will allow shoppers to sample up to 250,000
CDs. In addition to the abundance of elbow room inside the store,
Rhino’s new home also offers shoppers a parking lot, which is
quite a rarity for any Westwood establishment.

Although the Rhino Records store is a separate entity from the
Rhino Records label, it has formed a community of its own over the
years. UCLA students have always been prominent members of this
not-so-secret society of true music fans. With the new and improved
store, Rhino execs are confident that Bruins will continue to help
in keeping the traditions of great music alive in L.A.

“We’re the kind of store where you’re going to
find a deeper catalog than you’re going to find at some of
the chain stores. We go after imports and vinyl, world music,
reggae, all the regular major label rock and pop, new and used,
that you would find anywhere else, but deeper on jazz vocals, blues
and country, all the specialist genres that make up a good record
store,” said Crouch.

Rhino Records will continue to be a cheap, accessible concert
venue in the Westwood neighborhood. Both obscure and popular bands
have played at the old store, including Nirvana and Soundgarden.
The new store should allow for more frequent concerts with a better
stage and a bigger area for the fans.

Rhino has also always recognized that one person’s trash
is another’s musical treasure. Customers can pay cash or
trade for old CDs. The opportunities are endless in the store.

“I got some records to trade in, so after I play, I might
trade in some of my records and get some new albums,” said
Peter Case, who will be performing Saturday.

Case, a recent Grammy nominee who has been shopping and
performing at Rhino Records since the beginning, said he is excited
to be playing at such an important event in the
establishment’s history. The party is scheduled to last from
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Other performers will
include the Von Steins, the George Sarah Trio, and the John Doe
Thing on Saturday.

Sunday’s festivities will include DJ Mogt of Nortec
Collective, the Wednesday Week, the Insect Surfers, and other local
favorites. A slew of Mexican Masked Wrestlers and a Championship
Golden Apple Yo-Yo Team will also be present for the
festivities.

Throughout the weekend, everything in Rhino Records will be on
sale. Over 30,000 CDs will be priced at one dollar, 30,000 LPs and
12″s will practically be given away at 25 cents a piece, a
wide selection of videos will be marked down to one dollar, and all
other non-sale items in the store will be 10 percent off.
Giveaways, treats and other miscellaneous free stuff are also on
the menu.

Case describes his performance, which will kick off the
grand-opening block party, as rock ‘n’ roll folk with
an edge.

“I play acoustic, but it’s not like a mellow,
“˜I-gave-my-love-a-cherry’ type acoustic music,
it’s more kind of rocking them out,” said Case.
“When I do a gig at Rhino it’s a little different from
my other gigs. For one thing, it’s a free gig, I just show up
and I might play weirder stuff … I’m liable to play just
about anything, but of course, a lot of my gigs are like
that.”

Local music lovers and makers alike have relied on Rhino Records
for almost 30 years to be their mecca of pop-culture musical
variety. In the new location, it will continue to serve as a
home-away-from-home style hangout where anyone can chill, listen to
lesser-known artists, and even make a few bucks off old CDs.

“I’m feeling kind of sequestered here in this
kitchen, drinking coffee and burning incense and writing songs, so
I’ll be happy to get out of here and go out and play
music,” said Case about Saturday’s performance.
“I’m really looking forward to it.”