Tonight my band plays at a Musicians Co-op.

Area 52 is the name of the place. I suppose anything can be a co-op if you want it to and have the means... the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word Co-op is organic food retailers. In Minneapplesauce, we have 2 major food co-ops: Whole Foods and The Wedge - both of which I've been to numerous times to get my $6/gallon of organic milk with high hopes that I score one of the gallons that is laced with rocket fuel. No dice yet on that one.



With the knowledge I posses about organic food co-ops, my imagination starts to fill the gaps for me as I ponder what exactly goes on at a musician's co-op. I've never heard of such a thing, but glad to hear they exist.



My imagination tells me this: it's allll organic all the way, man. Guitar strings and drum sticks are recycled. It is safe to assume there are beer bottles and cans aplenty there (it's a musician's co-op.. DUH!), which are also recycled. New guitar strings and drum sticks are likely available for purchase there, but they're make out of recycled pop cans and wood computer desks. And they come with a price tag at an average of 40% above the retail price at other music stores, or if you pay $1,000 a year and are a co-op member, you save an extra 10%. I say this because every co-op I've been to is f*&king outlandishly expensive. Not that there's anything wrong with that, other than when you buy stuff.



The co-op "oppers" all probably smell like patchouli mixed with unshaven armpit B.O. and have pale complexions like the oppers in the food stores. Hey, I'm not ripping on them, just calling it as I see it. I happen to have unshaven stinky pits myself.



There are big bins of guitar picks that you bring your own reused brown bags in to fill up with as many as you need. $8 a pound sounds about right for those.



Okay... so this isn't getting anywhere and was way more amusing in my head than when I read it typed out, but you catch my drift. I must take off to get ready for the show... anyone seen my natural baking soda toothpaste and aluminum-free deodorant? Ah - there they are, over by the $40 2 pound bag of spelt noodles.



12.13.04 - UPDATE:



We played the show and it was a great time. Turns out that a Musician's Co Op is like a very large, cool living room that is very hard to find. So hard to find that a few band members and their guests ended up being very tardy.



It's a place for people to go, drink beer, eat summer sausage, and secrete or absorb music in every way, shape, or form. There were lots of keen folks there - it was really fun to play in such a small room.



Thanks, Area 52! We'll be back soon, I hope.





Joe, VomitGod, me looking all blurry and shit, & Sara T. (hidden by her pots and pans)