Each year everyone who shows up at Record Store Day is prepared for two sure things. One is that, in a nod to the classic song by the Rolling Stones, sometimes we get what we want, and other times we get what we need. Record Store Day can break your heart.
It's not the fault of your local record stores at all. They place a bid on what they think their customers will want and then hope, out of the more than 400 new vinyl titles slated to be released this year, that the great vinyl genie in some far off mythical village called Recordland will deliver what they want to their bins. Seriously, after each year, I have that little voice over my shoulder say, "Never again."
But you know what? Even with all the negative energy that the industry places on the tiny vinyl presses racing to fill the orders to the local shops where you will discover them, it is still one of the most amazing shopping experiences you will ever encounter as each of our three record shops will feature their own brand of programming and an amazing inventory of LPs and other offers for all of us to enjoy.
So if crowds are not your scene, avoid the early first-hour rush to the bins to discover what was delivered. Saunter in later in the day to hear some live music, enjoy some food with some new friends and, most of all, spend a little cash on your local record store that is somehow, for all the changes in the music delivery system, finding a way to survive.
(Hint: You are the reason they live or die…so get out here and visit them on Record Store Day. You can thank me later when your bruises heal.)
Participating Record Store Day venues are:
Corner Record Store, Grandville, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Dodd's Records, Grand Rapids, 2 - 8 p.m.
Vertigo Music, Grand Rapids, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Admission: Free