Review: Rock of Ages Record Shop in Garden City, Michigan!

I used to watch movies as a kid and wonder where these “record stores” were. Empire records was a classic movie, where I wish I could go, instead of visiting just chains. While shopping in Garden City Michigan, I found such a place, at Rock of Ages.

Rock of Ages defies the current trend of only getting your music online, and brings back music to the record world. I remember buying Kid Rock tapes way before he ever made it big. Rock of Ages has an entire room just dedicated to local talent, and with an area that has produced Kid Rock, Eminem, Aretha Franklin, Bob Segar, Jack White and Marilyn Manson among others, we need to give local musicians a chance.

Rock of Ages has been around since 1984 and is still going strong. It holds annual events like the Gathering of the Juggalos, for ICP as well as local band concerts all over the area. From when I first went in there looking for a car decal for Kid Rock in 1997, to today, it still holds its charm. They don’t try to do too much, and stick to what they know, music and merchandise. If you want a certain CD, they will get it for you, even if they don’t have it in stock. Often you go in there looking for one thing, and find 15 other things that you didn’t even know about.

I took my nine year old niece there, to find a Miley Cyrus decal, and they had a classic Juke Box. She asked me what that was, and my reply was “a 950 pound IPod”. It’s a history museum of what music stores should be. Too often we only think the Wal-Mart’s of the world are places to buy music. That is a joke.

Rock of Ages makes you feel like you are in Empire Records, or High Fidelity. Its charm has last 27 years, and I just hope it lasts 27 more. These are the types of places that should be national landmarks.


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