The Records, The People

Once a year I get to take a trip to London thanks to my job. I love this city and that trip is something I always look forward to. Last year the trip was even better than the years before because it coincided with the first ever European Burn show. Not only did I get to see an awesome band, I also got to meet some fellow collectors I'd only known from the Internet before. One of them was Marcus, which you probably know from his blog The Endless Quest. My wife and I got to meet him in person again a few weeks later when we travelled to London for a Bane show. We stayed in touch afterwards and when we got to talking about my next trip to London, he invited me to his home. An invitation I gladly said yes to. I was treated to a nice dinner, we talked about records, and I got to dig through his collection. If you think it's impressive based on his blog and his list on howsyouredge?, I can assure you it's way more impressive in real life. I got to see and hold some real gems. The highlight for me of course was his incredible Bane collection, but there were lots of other awesome records I'll never see again in person. I'm not even thinking about possibly owning some of them.

Prior to the trip we'd worked out a small trade and I got some nice extra goodies from him as well. I have a pretty good Dangers collection if I dare say so myself, and I always thought I was pretty knowledgeable on their discography, but when I was going through Marcus' records, sure enough I found a variant I didn't know existed. Dangers - s.t. on Old Guard - black vinyl with regular sleeve. Always cool to find variants you didn't know existed. Keeps collecting fun.

Thanks again to you and your girlfriend for having me, Marcus. Those were some fun few hours that went by much too quickly.