Nicole CamposAny night is a bad night to do road work in front of Amoeba Records, but Thursday night in particular made for bad rush-hour congestion on a date where the Hollywood record mecca was about to play host to Quentin Tarantino, signing the soundtrack to Inglourious Basterds — available on CD or luscious, old-school vinyl — prior to a midnight screening at the Arclight next door. Thankfully for the 300 lucky fans who got their place in line days ago by buying the soundtrack and movie ticket package, they didn't have to worry about arriving late and missing the cut-off; nevertheless, a good number of them were lined up outside hours earlier. Better safe than sorry.
DJ Charisma drops the jams pre-signage; Credit: Nicole Campos
The street team are primed and ready to scalp some Nazis. Or at least give them nasty paper cuts.; Credit: Nicole Campos
With street team guys in Basterds military garb handing out flyers outside, the crowds began to gather in the store despite numerous warnings that no pre-purchase meant no autograph; it's never a bad time to linger up on the second-floor DVD section when a signing's about to go down. (Just don't stand on the staircase landing, or you're out!) With the ticket-holders snaking through the aisles awaiting QT's arrival, Power 106's DJ Charisma took over the mixing station to blast and scratch a series of tracks from the director's personal collection, from hip-hop to alternative to… Fleetwood Mac? Nice.
The wait's long, but they're used to it. Tarantino's films aren't known for short running times.; Credit: Nicole Campos
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“How many of you badasses saw Four Rooms when it came out?!”; Credit: Nicole Campos
As the event commenced, Tarantino took to the stage backed by the snarling opening riff of Dick Dale's cover of “Misirlou” (Would it have been thoroughly disappointing if he hadn't? Probably.) True to form, he quickly but profusely thanked the fans for turning out: “All of you Thursday badasses!” Indeed; for the faithful who still have a screening to look forward to, it promised to be a late night. Hands up, who's calling in sick Friday?
Behind them, the XBox enthusiasts are starting to wish they'd move already.; Credit: Nicole Campos
The fanny packs, however, are still available. They say 'Bad Mother Fucker' on them.; Credit: Nicole Campos
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