This weekend, coinciding with the public release of "All Things Must Pass," Colin Hanks and Sean Stuart's documentary about the rise and fall of Tower Records,
two of my former colleagues organized a
giant three-day reunion that saw over 500 members of team Tower descend upon
Sacramento. I've tried, with little success, to explain to non-Tower people
(yes, I do actually know a few) how it is that a job I lost nine years ago can
still have such an emotional hold on me. Well if you have to ask...
(Side note to my book industry pals, since I met you because of Tower, and you made me a part of your community, I consider you part of the tribe).
Humans have been organizing themselves into tribes since the
beginning. And though we may not realize it or think about it, we still do
that. We naturally seek out those with common values and interests, and band
together. Music, books and movies were the common interests that drew us to
Tower initially, but once there, we discovered an environment that encouraged
and fed creativity and welcomed being different. We often proudly referred to ourselves
as the Island of Misfit Toys, and in the documentary, Dave Grohl says that
Tower was the only place he could get a job because of his hair. Colin Hanks
spoke at our gathering Saturday night, and reflecting upon his experience in
the movie, "Band of Brothers," he likened the depth of the connections between
Tower colleagues to those of people who have served in the military together. I
don't think that's a stretch.
Anyone who was in the vicinity of 16th and
Broadway over the last few days saw the Dimple Records store draped with familiar
red and yellow banners reminiscent its former glory. I arrived late Friday
afternoon, when the press conference was already underway. Standing there with
my tribe, across the street from the Tower Theatre where it all began, I felt
an intoxicating mixture of nostalgia, pride and love. For the rest of that
night and throughout the next day and night, I reconnected with people I hadn't
seen in years, hung out and had a great time. We're all nine years older and
have gone on with our lives, but what a gift to be able to come together and
celebrate our shared history. Turns out we can
go home again, at least for a little while...
