Record Store Day 2011

And they say the physical music product is dying... Yesterday I went out for the fourth annual Record Store Day (RSD), and more importantly, the first time I could enjoy it to its fullest. My wallet was open and my schedule was clear. Yes, RSD was priority number one. For weeks I had it all planned out. I would run up to Vintage Vinyl in northern New Jersey at 7:30 to be there an hour before opening, after that I would drive down to my local record store which opened at 10:00 - aptly named The Record Store, and if I was still eagerly searching for records, I would head over to Hold Fast Records which opened at 11:00. Well, as they say, when you make plans, God laughs, and since I am pretty convinced Jack White is God, it was Jack White who was laughing at my plans.

As the day began, everything was going according to plan. I had arrived at Vintage Vinyl at around 7:30 - an hour before opening. However, the crowd was not as expected. Even arriving around an hour early, I was at least one-hundred people deep in the line. Definitely not a good thing considering the records I wanted most were two White Stripes singles that I figured would be tough to pick up even if I had been the fifth person in line. My RSD high was quickly becoming grounded, and frustration was setting in. Would anything be left by the time I entered the store? However, what was even crazier than being one-hundred people deep in the line, by the time the store opened, there was probably another two-hundred people behind me. Unbelievable!

The weather was cold, the line was long, and even worse, the line moved slower than the DMV. Ironically, as the crowd in the line became increasingly impatient, the friendliness also increased. Everyone in the line began to relate their musical interests and their RSD desires, complaints and thoughts. One of the greatest aspects of the record store was being brought out by this supposed gloomy situation, the sense of musical community was blooming. What could have been a miserable experience ended up being quite enjoyable. In fact, the two and a half hour wait to reach the check out felt more like an hour.

By the time I walked up to the counter to recite my list, Vintage Vinyl had quite a dent in their stock, but not quite as bad as I had expected. They were obviously out of The White Stripes singles, the live Pink Floyd album was long gone and the Nirvana EP Hormoaning was devoured by the crowds and The Bad Brain "Pay to Cum" 7" was nowhere to be seen. On the bright side, I was able to pick up The Velvet Underground "Foggy Notion" 7", The Red Hot Chili Pepers/Ramones "Havana Affair" split 7", Regina Spektor Four From Far 7", Off! "Compared to What" Tour Edition 7", An Introduction to Syd Barret 2LP 12" and the massive Omar Rodriguez Lopez Telesterion 4LP 12" with a beautiful color photo book. Not a bad group of vinyls for waiting in such a long line.

By 10:00 I knew my chances of picking up the Stripes vinyls were slim-to-none, but I still was holding out hope for the remainder of vinyls on my list. So I headed over to my local record store an hour after it opened and luckily, they still had a bit in stock. From them I nabbed the Pink Floyd live London 66/67 12" pressed on a nice white 180 gram slab of vinyl, Bob Dylan Live at Brandise and The Bad Brains "Pay to Cum". So in the end, I had only missed out on The White Stripes and Nirvana vinyls.

In the end, RSD was quite enjoyable to say the least. Even after being stranded in the cold weather for two hours, I spent it with some cool people, and ended up pulling in most of the albums I had been searching for. Throughout the week I plan on giving some more thoughts on RSD, the good, the bad and the ugly.