To hell with the weather. Rain wreaked a little late-night havoc on Record Store proceedings on Saturday (fortunately not as much as it did for the Superstar Duets over at Globe Life Park), but that wasn't enough to dampen the spirits of the Dallas' faithful vinyl-heads. Now in its eighth year, RSD has grown into one of the music industry's staple events and here in North Texas it was infused with plenty of new life, including the first-ever RSD parties for newcomers Josey Records and Spinster Records. We were on the scene throughout the metro area and here's what we found:
See also: The Ultimate 2015 Dallas Record Store Day Guide The 10 Best Record Stores In Dallas
My RSD experience was a pleasant one, even though it got off to a very early start. My friend Joel wanted to hit up Dead Wax around 6 a.m., so despite getting home late from the Matt Pond PA show, I was game. We came to find three guys hanging out in front of the place and proceeded to chit-chat until the place opened at 8. A line had eventually formed behind us by then, but it was manageable to get in and out. Despite Dead Wax's size, they had a healthy amount of RSD exclusives. I came away with the Foo Fighters' 10-inch, the Lees of Memory's 7-inch and Guided By Voices classic LP, Bee Thousand.
We visited Josey next, and despite not picking up any RSD exclusives, I was happy to find a rare LP by the Tams and a Marshall Tucker Band record. Between the two visits, I saw familiar faces and met a couple of new people I hope to see again. Say what you will about the cons of Record Store Day, but I see nothing wrong with people coming out, supporting local establishments and talking about the love of music. Eric Grubbs
Doc's Records
I had one goal for record store day, and that was to buy Metallica's reissued No Life 'Til Leather demo cassette. Of course, I overslept, and I got to Doc's around noon when it was already crowded, and when I saw a line to the register that was about 30 people long, my hopes started to sink. The line itself was an interesting cross-section of Fort Worth music fans, and because I was prepared for the worst, I assumed each person waiting in it had snatched up every copy of the Metallica tape, from the trio of impossibly cool middle school kids to the lady with a couple Commodores albums under her arm. Frantically scanning the room for a Doc's employee, I saw my buddy Dave making his way through the soul section and pestered him accordingly. "We might have one left," he said. "I'll go look."
About two minutes went by, and he returned with the store's last copy. "Here you go, bud," he said. "The last one." I felt triumphant, and later, when I was browsing the other Record Store Day exclusives, I was careful not to set the tape down unsupervised, lest someone cagily grab it when I wasn't looking. All this for a piece of media I don't even have a means of playing, unless I want to cobble together $2200 for an '89 Toyota Cressida with a working tape deck.
Such is the joy of Record Store Day, I guess, scoring exclusive releases that may or may not find their way to the bottom of my music-listening queue, or possibly warp with unplayable parabolic bends in the heat of my car. If there's one gripe I have about Record Store Day at Doc's, it's that there is no good spot to safely leave your treasures so you can have both hands free for beers and hotdogs.
Doing that responsible "I have to work six hours at my job to buy all these records" calculation kind of went out the window, because I ended up going back for seconds, and the assorted impulse buys lining the counter top on the way to the cash register quickly added up to a sum I'm embarrassed to disclose while still owing what I do on my VISA. TBlowing a bunch of cash to prolong the life of local businesses and aging media is part of the fun. Steve Steward
While many music enthusiasts feel that Record Store Day has veered more towards the corporate side with many major labels trying to take a piece of the pie, Good Records cut through the bullshit to deliver a local celebration that made Lower Greenville proud on Saturday. With a plentiful amount of beer and bands booked up until midnight, Good Records proved why they are the best place in the metroplex to go to in what has become their annual block party for vinyl fans.
The line started at 11 p.m. the previous night to grab hot commodities like Brand New's elusive Deja Entendu and the White Stripe's Get Behind Me Satan, which resulted in a line that wrapped a block away around Lewis St. But no matter how vulturous the crowd was when the shop opened up at 7 a.m., the local community came together once Dallas Observer contributor DJ Wanz Dover started his DJ set all the way to when alternative '90s rockers Sixteen Deluxe performed 12 hours later.
Good Records celebrates its 15th year in business this year and they deserve another 15 for how long they've been selling records for even when it wasn't the popular thing to do amongst Crosley-playing Urban Outfitters tweens. The most beautiful thing about the store was not all of the flair that came with the event, but how organized the actual albums were. There was literally a card for every RSD title that was in stock, and the staff was there to precisely answer every inventory question. Why not share the wealth? Juan Vargas
Josey Records
Josey Records can feel cavernous (the former Western Warehouse store is a giant space) and while the owners have done their best to maximize the space with listening stations and art, it can be a little overwhelming at times. Saturday was not one of those times.
The store and parking lot of the new addition to North Dallas was bustling with activity as people filed in an out of the the shop's doors to peruse the vast selection of records, CDs, tapes, laser discs, DVDs and even 8-tracks. The Record Store Day special releases were pretty picked over when I got there, and the crowd was abuzz with praise for a rather energetic Black Dotz set that had one of the owners of the shop fawning over Wanz Dover (who was clearly doing the rounds himself that day).
There was barbecue in the parking lot, kegs and cocktails inside, and the most diverse crowd in the area partaking in it all while taking in a line-up of acts that cater to a variety of taste. This is more than what you can say about other parties taking place in the area.
-Topic owned the crowd with a set that had people cheering, as his sophisticated flow touched on a variety of topical subjects. This was just barley topped by the bemused look on the face of the DPD officer hired for security while Jessie Frye wildly gyrates on stage. It was a hilarious sight, and perfectly summed up the day: Everyone had some fun, even the cops. Jaime-Paul Falcon
On any given Saturday, you can count on Denton's town square to be the platonic ideal of a buzzing small town hub. Wandering Dentonites orbit the courthouse carrying ice cream cones, candy bags and, on this particular day, an iconic cerulean plastic bag -- the unmistakable vessel that holds records from Mad World within.
All around Mad World were familiar faces, coming out of the woodwork for the reverie of Record Store Day. Even four hours after opening, Denton's shop had customers elbow to elbow, shoulders deep in the record stands cheerfully sifting through the wares. Adorning the front display case were lime green crates housing RSD exclusives, including a reissue of Grizzly Bear's Horn of Plenty, Guided by Voices' Do the Collapse and several Springsteen records. They even had special presses of Midlake: Live in Denton for the big day, which might be the most Denton Denton to ever Denton.
All this is to say that Mad World is undeniably the city's defining record store; and if you don't believe me, Denton's own artists will corroborate that fact. Within five minutes of stepping in, I ran into Denton musicians Claire Morales, two members of Pearl Earl and the lead singer of Sundae Crush -- half of whom have their own music stocked at Mad World. Whether you're the person buying the albums or writing them, we're all a bit Mad here. Matt Wood
Flying under the radar for its inaugural Record Store Day event was Oak Cliff's Spinster Records. The underdog vinyl shop has only been around since the fall of 2014, but since opening, it has slowly made a name for itself in the laid-back, family-oriented neighborhood of Bishop Arts.
Upon opening its doors at 8 a.m. to a line down the sidewalk, Spinster seemed to be off to a respectable start. They had plenty of Record Store Day goodies to offer, including 25 percent off used vinyl and plenty of exclusive Record Store Day releases for the collectors out there. Around 10 a.m., local artist Kirk Thurmond kicked off the live music portion of the day by treating fans to his own personal brand of soul-pop, followed by Dallas' Best DJ (voted by us, obviously), Sober at noon.
The excitement seemed to be short-lived, however. According to staff, the newbie record shop had planned on having several special live-music guests, but they cancelled at the last minute -- and shortly after Sober's set, the flow of customers trickled down to somewhere between four or five patrons at a time.
All-in-all though, Spinster Records had a decent turnout, especially considering its competition included Good Records' $5 unlimited-beer coozies and Josey Records' ultimate lineup. Spinster is the perfect relaxed record shop for those who want to avoid the masses of elitist music snobs, who don't want to spend hours crate-surfing but also want to be able find those perfect 2 Live Crew and Captain Beefheart 45's. Molly Mollotova
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