Ceremony - Rohnert Park lp

At the top of many "Best of 2010" lists, Ceremony's - Rohnert Park lp was one of the few breaths of fresh air in the punk/hardcore world last year. The instant the lead track "Sick" was released online as a teaser, people were stoked for this new direction the band was taking.

There were lots of online reviews and articles written about this record with many people thinking that the slowed down pace and doomed American Dream lyrical content had the band poised to be the next Black Flag.
I don't know about all that, I just want them to be Ceremony. I think they have carved their own place out in the scene and have earned the respect to be the band new groups are compared to.

More than anything else, I think that the band pushes the boundaries of what hardcore can be, and make no mistake - they are doing the pushing.

Bridge Nine has once again released a great record for collectors. We get a record release version, pre-order package color and multiple colors tying together the American themes of the album.

First up, the record release version.

This was released on blue vinyl which was the most common color, but limited to 99 with the special covers.

A quick word on getting this record. I have to give a special thanks to Mike from the One Thing That Still Holds True blog. The auction I won this on was for shipping in the US only. I got Mike to bid on the auction for me and then send it to me up in here in Canada once it was shipped to him. Above and beyond my man.

The funny thing is, this was the second time I won the damn thing. The first time the seller flaked on shipping it to me and I had to go through a whole ordeal with ebay and paypal to get my money back. I took my refund and put it towards getting it again. This second time I won the record for half the price. Sometimes shit works out. I think it has to do with US only auctions. Euros throw down hard for rare records, oh and I guess I do to.

The next color is the rare pre-order color that was only available in the package deal.
Red vinyl out of 300.
The pre-order package came with a poster and the vocalist Ross Farrar's book "Society Verse". This color disappeared pretty damn quick and the demand is such that it last sold on ebay back in January for over $110.

As luck would have it, I was sent two red copies in my pre-order package and then went and ordered the missing color separately. I'd say that worked out for me. If anyone is interested in the second copy, hit me up soon as I am planning on putting it up on ebay this weekend.

The next color is clear out of 700. The color was supposed to be white (USA theme again) but B9 got clear vinyl back from the pressing plant. They would rectify that problem on the second press.

Third and most common color of the first press is blue. There were a 1000 pressed. As discussed earlier, 99 were used for the record release.

A second press was released not long after on white vinyl out of 1000.

The two times I have seen Ceremony play at Sound and Fury, it was a highlight of the weekend. Now I am beyond excited to get a chance to see them again this summer at the Chaos in Tejas Festival in Austin.
Al from Hardcore Shirt fame and I are heading down in June for what will most likely be my final road trip to a festival. Come say hi if you are going.
I will be the 41 year old guy standing in the back yelling, "I've got problems, I'm a fucked up kid." I know. The irony isn't lost on me.