Great Find: BookOff Store at Lakewood Center Mall

Aloha!

I had to head to the Lakewood Center Mall over the holidays to pick up a last minute gift and was surprised to find a BookOff store. I have seen a few others around the Los Angeles area, but had never stopped in to one before. It turned out that I was in for a big surprise.

BookOff is a huge chain of stores in Japan that deal in used books, DVDs, mobile phones, video games, and consoles. These stores buy and sell, which is a wonderful way to help connect people with goods that are no longer needed. I have stopped in to a few of their locations over the years, but their do not really interest me, as I do not read or speak the language. I do, however, frequent the HardOff chain of stores (also in Japan) that deals in used goods that do interest me, such as guitars, effect pedals, and goofy consumer electronics.

Well, the Lakewood Center Mall location is not like the typical BookOff operations that I have seen before. There are certainly plenty of books, Playstations, iPods, and phones, but this store is also like a HardOff. That means there are kitchen appliances, notebook computers, watches, fashionable bags, and a whole wall of guitars and shelves full of effect pedals and amplifiers. Boo yah!

With the instruments, there plenty of mid-level instruments that are in great cosmetic and working condition. In fact, there was a really nice Epiphone Les Paul in Silverburst that caught my eye and the price was certainly reasonable. And looking at the rest of their inventory, everything was priced fairly. Also, the staff is very friendly, and the 30-day return policy is a nice reassurance that if something goes wrong the buyer is covered. You are not going to run into this in a pawnshop, and Craigslist can certainly be a crapshoot.

Adding all of this together, I have to say that Book-Off is a great addition to the otherwise dreary Lakewood Center Mall, and it is great to have them in the neighborhood. Looking over their website, there are six stores in Southern California, two stores in Hawaii, and one in New York City. If you are a gear hound, it would be well worth your while to check one of them out!

Mahalo!

Stimulus Package: Local Gig Tonight in Lakewood, California

Aloha!

It is short notice, but if you are around the Southbay tonight you should try to catch Stimulus Package at the Regal Inn in Lakewood.

Stimulus Package is a Southern California based 4-piece band, and I have written about them before on this blog, plus had the joy of them performing at my house party last year. They have been “providing your Rock and Roll bailout since early 2009.”

They play covers from every kind of rock band from the 1960s onward, including The Stones, Bowie, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, STP, Badfinger, Judas Priest, Tom Petty, Black Crows, The Plimsouls, The Cars and Neil Young.

They are great musicians and put on a fun show, so make it out is you can. There is no cover and the drinks are cheap…

The Regal Inn is located at: 6763 Carson Street in Lakewood, just west of Los Coyotes Diagonal (behind the donut shop). Stimulus Package will be playing from 9:00PM until late.

I hope to see you there!

Mahalo!

Stimulus Package: Local Gig on April 29

Greetings!

I want to clue into a fun show if you are going to be around the LBC area this weekend: Stimulus Package will be playing on Friday the 29th at the Regal Inn in Lakewood.

Stimulus Package is a So Cal based 4-piece band, with Ben on lead vocals/bass, Eric on lead guitar/vocals, Maynor on lead guitar/vocals and Randy on drums. They have been “providing your Rock and Roll bailout since early 2009.”

I have known Eric for a few years, but got to know the rest of the band when they played my house party last year. Unfortunately I missed most of that show because I was cooking for my guests, but everybody said Stimulus Package kicked that mother out.

I finally got out to one of their shows last month (also at the Regal Inn) and had a great time. They play covers from every kind of rock band, including Bowie, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, STP, Badfinger, Tom Petty, Black Crows, The Plimsouls, The Cars and Neil Young.

Not to mention a no-synthesizer version of Gary Numan’s “Cars.” Fascinating!

But most of all, they played the Stones, who seems to be their biggest influence. And, if you are going to take inspiration from a band, the Stones are the best place to start.

And they are all very capable musicians. Randy was steady on the drums, and Eric and Maynor swapped some great lead guitar parts around, and I have to give it to Ben: he is a great frontman. A band lives and dies by their singer, and he did a fine job of working the crowd. And you know what? They all looked like they were having a great time too.

The Regal Inn is located at: 6763 Carson Street in Lakewood. This is just west of Los Coyotes Diagonal (behind the donut shop). By the way, they have an interesting crowd of regulars, so it should be a fun evening. Stimulus Package will be playing from 9:00PM to Midnight

I hope to see you there!

Mahalo!