TH stopped by the north side of the river on Friday, 5/30, to check out the Concepts shoe release that had the city going wild. Check below for an audio slideshow and interviews.

As hundreds of sneakerheads began to converge on Harvard Square, residents stared at one another, wide-eyed. The only Cambridge native who could explain the commotion outside of Concepts was pushing a cart full of his belongings down Church Street, and no one thought to ask him.

“Friggin lobsters,” the bum muttered. “A whole line for friggin lobster shoes. There’s gonna be friggin lobsters tonight!”

By Friday afternoon, the horde of eager shoe aficionados waiting to stake their claim on a pair of special edition Lobster Dunks had reached 100. Campers who tried to post up that evening learned a harsh lesson about supply and demand– only 200 pairs were released Saturday morning and hundreds walked away empty-handed.

The event was easily the biggest sneaker release in Boston’s history, complete with catered seafood and live music, and Concepts co-owner Jim Fitzpatrick said he was “blown away” by the turnout. Customers arrived as early as Wednesday night and from places as far-flung as California, Chicago and New York to wait out a pair of the coveted SB’s.

In keeping with the Lobster motif, the first fifty sneakers were packaged in wood crates that came with t-shirts and other memorabilia. The remaining 150 boxes also included specialty items that are sure to drive up the resale value of the packages. What remains to be seen, however, is how prices will fair after the shoe is released internationally next month.

Interview with Concepts’ Jim Fitzpatrick

TH: Can you tell me your name and your relation to the store?

JF: My name is Jim Fitzpatrick. I am the assistant manager and skateboard buyer for Concepts.

TH: How did this all start– who had the idea, who approached who?

JF: Basically, this just started as a concept. We were trying to think of something that we could tie into New England and have it represent the region. We kind of came up with it all as a team and put it together and approached Nike with it. They seemed to really like the idea and that’s where it all started.

TH: How did the design stuff happen? Was that Frank?

JF: Well, that was actually a guy who used to work with us but is not here anymore (Rob Heppler). He pretty much came up with the whole design itself of the shoe. He used to work for Concepts, but he got an opportunity out in Portland and then he ended up moving out there. He’s credited with the physical design.

TH: Did you expect it would get this big this early?

JF: Wow, man…to be honest with you, we are incredibly blown away by this. Wednesday, we were out and we got a call saying that there was already people lining up, so we came out here to check it out and there was like 10 people or so. Then I came into work Thursday morning and the line had grown to almost 30, and by yesterday there was almost 100. I never in a million years thought it was going to be a turnout like this, but we’re more than happy with [it] and grateful for everybody’s support.

TH: Yah, this is like a NY-style event out here.

JF: Honestly, I’ve been in the sneaker thing for a long time and I can’t recall Boston ever having a lineup this big, so it’s very exciting.

TH: Bodega’s doing there thing tomorrow too. What was the deal with that? Did you guys have your date first or did they?

JF: We just picked a date– the earliest date that we could possibly release it. We didn’t even know till after the fact that they were releasing the shoe the same day. I mean, I like the shoe that they’re doing and it came out well, so I wish them the best of luck with all that too.

TH: Is tomorrow [May 31] the biggest day in Boston’s history for shoes?

JF: It sure seems like that. I hope it does go down that way because I’d love to be known as a part of that. I really hope so.

TH: And you have Legal coming out tomorrow?

JF: Yup, Legal Seafoods is coming out and they’re gonna be catering the whole event for everybody in line: lobster rolls, clam chowder, and some drinks and stuff like that. It’s really cool and it seems like the kids are super-stoked that we’re giving them a little something back too.

TH: I talked to the kids from New York and it seems like they really appreciate what you guys are doing.

JF: This is honestly the first time that we’ve ever had something of this magnitude, and they were saying that we’re super-nice to them and they just appreciate everything we’re doing. Small things, like letting them use an outlet to charge their phone, you know? Just the little things like that. They’re saying they don’t get treated like this in New York, and they want to come back up for every release we have, so I guess we’re doing something right.