PORT TOWNSEND — A 12-hour marathon Uptown Pop-Up Show and Vinyl Party scheduled for Saturday at the Uptown Pub, 1016 Lawrence St. will go on, no matter what the weather, organizers said.
Audiophiles Nate Malmgren and Chuck Moses plan to play music and sell albums even if the snow is piling up outside.
“We do music trivia there every Thursday night and have created a little scene,” Moses said. “There are regulars who come in almost religiously to play music trivia.
“The neighborhood is like family around there. We’ll be open for them and anyone who wants to come by. We’ve never done this for this long, from [noon] to [midnight] , so it’s basically one long party. “
Malmgren said they held a sale last fall and “the owners, Rob and Jaclyn Connor, have been super supportive and encouraged us to do it again.”
The two are offering mostly 12-inch LP’s for sale, all genres, no compact discs.
“We set up eight tables of albums and Nate has his DJ stuff. We have several turntables and they can listen to any LPs that they are considering buying,” Moses explained.
“People come and have lunch and dinner and just hang out and stay warm and dry.”
The pair said they will put some records outside on the sidewalk priced at $3 so young people can buy them. Because the venue is in a bar, they can’t go inside to peruse the vinyl.
“This sale is our way of purging our extra stock,” Malmgren said. “We have turntables set up so if you find something and you’re not sure of it, we’ll put in on the turntable and play it. The whole bar can hear it. If it’s really bad, we can play just one song.”
They said there will be dancing and rocking out to the music when things really get going around 9 p.m.
“That’s when we put lids on the boxes that hold our collections and hope no one spills beer on them,” Malmgren said.
The most expensive album for sale Saturday is from Moses.
“It’s the ‘Beatles in Mono’ boxed set, which is 14 records priced at $650. New it was $1,400,” he said.
He also has a David Lynch soundtrack from “Mulholland Drive,” sealed and never been opened. It’s $450.
“I have hundreds of $20 to $50 records,” Malmgren said. “I don’t do the collector thing. That’s more Chuck. I sell music for people to enjoy it. People can afford almost every record I have.”
Malmgren said he has a mint copy of Bob Dylan’s first record, self-titled and very iconic folk stuff, mint condition, for $50.
All the records available are cleaned and the pair say they won’t sell a scratched record, unless it is in the $3 box — or they might give it away.
In addition to this pop-up show, the two said the American Legion Hall at 209 Monroe St., will be the destination for music lovers when they hold the fourth annual Port Townsend Record Show scheduled for March 2 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
More than 20,000 records and CDs, tapes, 45s and LPs will be for sale from 30 vendors from all over Washington and Oregon. Music equipment also will be offered. Buyers come from all over the Northwest and Canada.
“There will be everything from Christmas, Christian, comedy and collector sets,” Moses said. The place will be packed with everything a music lover could want.”
In the meantime, if the weather outside is dreadful, the music at the Uptown Pub will warm anyone, say Malmgren and Moses.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Jeannie McMacken can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jmcmacken@peninsuladailynews.com.
