The one that jumps immediately to mind for me is Neutral Milk Hotel, just before (after?) Aeroplane came out. I'm sure I've brought it up before, but I want to know who you saw in the comfy confines of your local record store?

Oh, and I also saw Richard Thompson solo/acoustic at the local Tower Records around the same time.

balkan beat box at borders is probably the best in-store i've ever seen. it was pretty awesome to see them use every imaginable piece of gear during a half-hour set.

Doves at Waterloo in Austin, 2005.

- Ted Leo/Pharmacists at Gate City Noise (Greensboro, NC), with 15 other people in summer of 2001
- Matt Pond PA at Gate City Noise (Greensboro, NC), Spring 2001

- Frank Black in the basement of an HMV in Montreal, maybe in 1993?

- Roots Manuva, at Soundscapes in Toronto last year. There was hardly any bass, which is basssically his reason for living. It was crazy. Poor guy. He was such a good sport and did a great job. F*ck, his voice really does soound that low and rich naturally. Crazy stuff. I love him.

the X-ecutioners at Recycled Sounds in Kansas City

Yay!

<---"Second album slump!"

i assume this would be the best in store that i missed....

i was in chi with my family when i was a senior in HS. i beleive it was during the week (wed or thursday). radiohead was doing an in store performace at tower records (for the bends record).....

and i couldnt go...BOOO

anyone go to this?

I've only attended two in-store performances and they were both good despite running late. They are Rilo Kiley and Sleepy Jackson at the "O" Street Homer's location in Lincoln.

I haven't been to enough to have a "best" really.

The only ones I've ever been to are:

Drive By Truckers - Tower Records, Atlanta
The Thrills- Tower Records, Atlanta

The Glands - Wuxtury, Athens
Vigilantes of Love - Wuxtury, Athens
Jucifer - Wuxtury, Athens

Pearl Jam - week after 'ten' came out.

I would say RT is, by far, the better one there.

Easy Street Records in Seattle runs a great in-store series concurrently with Bumbershoot. I've caught quite a few of those, the best there was probably Eddie Spaghetti, or maybe (surprisingly) Pete Droge.

And I saw Jolie Holland give a great in-store at Zulu in Vancouver. She even did a cover of local dude Geoff Berner's "Clown and Bard".

But the best Zulu in-store show has gotta be when the wife and I went to check out the Minus 5. I knew that REM was in town recording that last album of theirs, and Peter Buck is involved in the Minus 5, so I expected at least a Peter Buck sighting. What we got instead was a surprise in-store by REM, as a warm-up act for Minus 5. Totally facking awesome.

Elliot Smith at Newbury Comics, Boston in 1998ish? He was so drunk he was falling over

Kid Koala -Cambridge, Newbury COmics 2001 - unexpectedly walked in and he was amazing

Liz Phair- Tower Records on 4th Ave in NY 1994
I almost died.

Sleater Kinney

Imperial Teen

both at Amoeba in SF, both great

Great sig, Seafoam - but, maaaaan, does that guy ever sound like a dick.

Man, this one time David Crosby came in the store and just started shooting up heroin in the cut-out aisle. So he gets on his cell phone, and in about five minutes Grace Slick comes through the door. She sees a Joan Jett album in the cut-out bin and totally freaked, ripped off her shirt dumped a bag of coke all over the carpet and proceeded to get down on all fours and snort it all up. It wasn't until Crosby whipped out a gun a shot the Ticketmaster machine that the manager finally threatened to call the cops.

I've only seen a few good ones, but they were very good.

Robyn Hitchcock (before I knew who he was)
Smog
Trail of Dead (played a nice cover of "The Night They Old Dixie Down" and a mostly acoustic set)

wow..i bet that was interesting

It was pretty good. I'm not really a fan, but the set as a whole was really good. They played some other covers that I recognized, but I can't remember what they were. I don't think I knew any of their own songs that they played since they were all off of Worlds Apart or something else I didn't know.

Elvis Costello - Tower Records, Chicago
Liz Phair - Tower Records, Chicago (she hugged me!!)

i've only seen one -- joseph arthur. he vas pritty goud

franz ferdinand on amoeba la's tiny ass stage. don't know if that'll ever happen again.

ash at the wherehouse promoting area 1 also.

Yeah, I randomly came across it on a SEARCH mission. I laughed out loud and had to use it as my first sig. I can't for the life of me remeber what the hell I was looking for, but that thread sure was a fun distraction.

Oh, and I was wondering when I sigged it if you'd notice, hence no name references. You know yourself well.

The only in-store I've ever seen was Fastball at an FYE near Albany.