Words by Spenser Russell-Snyder
Photos by Kaitlin Layher and Lori Katz


On Friday August 6th, Amoeba transformed a vacant storefront into a one-night only MINI-AMOEBA for The East Bay Express' BEST OF THE EAST BAY PARTY, which this year took over the entirety of Oakland's Jack London Square!


Amoeba Berkeley brought down a taste of each section of the store: selling LPs, CDs, and DVDs from each of our eclectic sections. We also sold all sorts of other accessories like T-Shirts, buttons, guitar picks too!


In addition to selling product, Amoeba also curated an East Bay Poster Artist show, gathering 4 stellar artists from Oakland and Berkeley who brought with them some legit Rock and Roll street cred with them.


Our pop-up store didn't stop there! Also at the party, we kicked of a raffle to benefit The Bay Area Girls Rock Camp where you can donate one dollar to the music camp for future Riot Grrrls and get entered into a drawing to win a custom Amoeba Guitar (here being shown off by Amoeba owner Marc Weinstein).

                                  Free Gold Watch's Matt & Dr Goldstein's Amoeblog interview

If you attended this year's wonderful East Bay Express Best of the East Bay Party at the Oakland Museum of California last month and stopped by the series of Amoeba Music info & merch booths, you would have no doubt seen the crew from Free Gold Watch busy operating their manual hand-operated silkscreening press, making various Amoeba Music T-shirts right there on the spot. It was a cool set up and all the more impressive considering that it was the first time that the guys from the San Francisco clothing design company had ever taken the large machine out of their hand-operated press. Free Gold Watch custom make other folks' designs on T-shirts, sweatshirts, baby size outfits and more, in addition to creating their own designs.
 
I had heard a bit about Free Gold Watch here and there, including from the folks over at the Giant Peach, who distribute some of their designs but I really didn't know too much about this up-and-coming Bay Area company, so, impressed by their work and also by what cool, down-to-earth, genuinely nice people they are, I decided to follow up and find out a little bit more about this Free Gold Watch.

Addressing the clearly appreciative audience that packed the outdoor area of the Oakland Museum of California on Friday night (August 7th) for the East Bay Express' (EBX) mega 2009 Best Of The East Bay Party (BOEB), Goapele perfectly summed up the positive vibe of the entire evening.

"It's so good to be in Oakland and to have something positive like this going on," sincerely spoke the hometown soul singer between songs from the Amoeba Music Main Stage, articulating what many people must have been thinking at this huge, culturally diverse and uplifting event.

Accurately subtitled Subcultures and only in its second year, the Oakland Museum staged happening has fast become an important local cultural event, this year attracting 20,000 people -- more than double the expected number, according to Jody Colley, the publisher of the independently owned and operated alternative weekly.

After making her observation, Goapele, along with her tight four piece band, launched into the artist's new song "Milk + Honey" -- a song that incidentally appeared on the 15 track Best Of The East Bay Party 2009 CD Sampler, the free CD that was being handed out at the event that free to the public.

Once again this summer weekend in the Bay Area there are a wealth of wonderful happenings, many of them free. One of the biggest events is, of course, the mega, must-attend East Bay Express' (EBX) big annual Subcultures Best Of The East Bay Party at the Oakland Museum of California featuring the Amoeba Music Main Stage with such acts as Goapele, Souls of Mischief, 7th Street Band, C U Next Weekend, Maldroid, Fracas, and Social Unrest. The above video is of Jody Colley, the tireless publisher of the independently owned and operated weekly, taking a break from setting up for this evening's big event to talk briefly with the Amoeblog about what to expect at the event that starts at 5pm sharp today (Friday August 7th).  That's exactly when, on the Amoeba Music Main Stage, The Thrill of it All -- the first of 13 acts scheduled to play on that stage -- will prompty begin. Social Unrest, the closing act, will hit the stage at 11pm for their half-hour punk rock set.

Same as last year's party, Amoeba Music will again have a booth set up (stop by and say "hi" to Naomi S. and the rest of the Amoeba crew) where you can spin the wheel of fortune and win goodies and get free stuff. But that is just the tip of the iceberg at this event, which, as Jody says in the above interview, is expected to draw 10,000 people. The diverse mix of entertainment includes a Kids Zone, Gearhead Garage, Professional Contact Sports, plus much more in the museum's outdoor garden area. Of course, the Oakland Museum's exhibits -- alone worth the trip -- are also all open to the public. As Jody stresses, since a lot of people are expected to be converging on the big, free party (especially after word about how dope last year's party at the same venue was), try to get there earlier rather than later to ensure admission and leave your cars at home (valet bike parking provided).