.philly punk rock flea market 2016

This was the first time I attended. Around 250 vendors packed into a decent sized warehouse. Jewelry. Vintage. Art. Records. Books. Cassettes. Basically any music lovers paradise of quirky / arty finds. What was great about the flea market? You can also buy tickets for Union Transfer or Boot and Saddle shows free of those evil fees! I bought my tickets for Adult Mom, Hinds, Ladyhawke, and Belly. All for a bit under $60. Day 1 of the Flea Market was fantastic. My friend and I walked over from her house as the weather was perfection! First major find was tons of great 80s and random pins. I added a bunch to my current collection...

It was amazing to find a PIL pin on top of the pile. Forever I've been meaning to find one / buy one so the PIL gods were clearly in my favor! These two girls had a great mix of Empire Records, Beetlejuice, Clueless, Golden Girls, and feminist pins. That's where I got the Rex Manning and Day-oh! ones from.

In terms of tees my brother lost my Ramones shirt so I bought a new one. The Nine Inch Nails was a vintage find of $5. The Nirvana shirt however was a bit pricey since it was from 1992. They are carefully washed now and free of musty funk ;) In terms of records I had severe ADHD looking through EVERYTHING. This stand from Iris Records had a "Riot Grrrl" box. Filled with Sleater-Kinney albums I already own but was super happy to pull out Corin Tucker's "Kill My Blues." Then I found a red copy of Sonic Youth's "Goo" that I snatched up. When I first walked into the warehouse there was a table filled with rad night lights. Broad City is my favorite as I grabbed one for me and a surprise one for a friend. Who can resist Wayne and Garth earrings? The Breakfast Club ones were in the $1 bin so why not! Towards the end of our venture we stopped at Crust which is a vegan bakery. We both grabbed a cookie sandwich that was just excellent and extremely thick to bite into without tasting like rocks / sand ;)

Day 2 consisted of all new vendors minus a small handful that were there from the day before. Pretty much most of the same record vendors were there. I didn't really find any albums and didn't dig too deeply. Since I love Transparent and Heart I bought "Dreamboat Annie." A woman close by sold rock n'roll pillows but her Sex Pistols tote took my interest instead. I saw Patti Smith at New Yorker Festival last October and she performed "Because the Night." I bought the 7" single. A man sold candles for $5 as I eyed up the Bowie / Labyrinth / Jesus one. The feminist tables were awesome. Originally I bought a shirt that said "Feminism is not a dirty word" but traded it for the "Girls Just Wanna Have Fundamental Human Rights" instead. Another woman was selling empowering quotes that were on post-cards and prints. I liked the "Fuck Your Beauty Standards" one the best. Plan to frame that in the bathroom. Adding to my pins I found a few Bowie, one Pearl Jam, a Stone Roses, The Clash (I gave my first Clash pin to Carrie), and a Blondie. My last stop before leaving was random as I took one more walk down the first row. Within eye shot I spotted PJ Harvey's "Rid of Me" on cassette for $4! That was a great find!  I also bumped into my other friend who got a 7 Year Bitch album. She always finds great stuff too.

One of the record merchants handed me a flyer which advertised Punk Rock Flea in Asbury Park on June 4th. Guess what? I'm there! I highly recommend PRF and want to take as many friends as possible next time. There's one around Christmas so woohoo! Bring lots of cash though, many vendors do not accept credit cards.