Record Store Day 2024

  

 Well it's been a week since Record Store Day already, it's about time I talk about my RSD experience this year. As always it starts with checking what is being released and this year there were a few albums that I really wanted to get. Which meant I was going to have to line up early at the local record shop here in Edmonton which is Blackbyrd Myoozik for me as it is just down the street from me. Now I usually line up a couple of hours before it opens, which is 10am. Because there was one album that I really really had to have (Tragically Hip - Live At CBGB's), with a limited pressing of 2500, i was going to have to line up earlier then usual. So there I was at 7am lined up at Blackbyrd. Much to my surprise though was that there were already probably about 75 people in front of me. Well fuck! I wasn't about to line up for three hours until doors opened and then at least another hour before I got in the store. Four hours lined up only to leave disappointed, I said fuck it and went home, trying to decide what I was going to do. Ireally needed to get that Hip album.

Luckily for me, my buddy Nazz was first in line at a different record shop (Freecloud Records) in downtown Edmonton which opened at 9am, an hour earlier then most shops. He had been there since 4am, he too really wanted that Hip album. I shot him a text and told him about my dilemma. Because he is always first in line at Freecloud for RSD, he knew some of the other people lined up. And because you can only buy one copy of each release, I had another dilemma, how the hell am I gonna get this record. But Nazz being the awesome guy that he is, he managed to talk to someone in line that wasn't there for that album and got him to pick up a copy of the much needed album. Thanks Nazz! Not only did he get me the Hip album, he also picked up a copy of the Neil Young with Crazy Horse release Fuckin' Up, as he wasn't getting himself a copy. I can't thank you enough Nazz for what you did for me. So I now had two of the three releases I wanted.

 After sitting at home for a while stewing wondering if I was going to get any of the albums, this was before I knew Nazz had got what I was looking for. I decided I would go to Bonnie Doon Mall and see what the line up was like at Sunrise Records. By the time I got there it was 8:30am and much to my surprise there was only one person lined up. Excellent, maybe I will get what I am looking for. Standing there for an hour and a half and looking through the window, I couldn't see a single RSD release on display, what the hell! Well about five minutes before the store opened the staff showed up and put out there RSD releases. Which was next to nothing, maybe ten different records in all. They did have one copy of the Hip album and one copy of the Pearl Jam's new album Dark Matter a special RSD variant. By this time I heard from Nazz and knew he had the Hip and Neil Young albums for me. So all I needed was the Pearl Jam album. Talking to the lady in front of me for the last hour, I knew she wasn't there for the album I wanted. I was in luck, I was going to get everything that I was after. Yay me!!! By the time Sunrise opened there were maybe ten people in line. I was very surprised by how little RSD releases this store got. But, I got what I wanted and could have got the Hip album too, but thanks to my buddy I didn`t have to pick it up. My buddy Nazz ended up meeting me at Bonnie Doon and bringing me the two album he picked up for me, and I got a ride home.

Here are the albums I got.

Tragically Hip - Live at CBGB`s January 14th 1993 on pink vinyl and with a slip mat for your turntable. Limited pressing of 2500. An awesome sounding live record.

Neil Young with Crazy Horse - Fuckin`Up on clear vinyl with a limited pressing of 5000. This is a live recording from the Rivoli in November 2023 where the band played the album ragged Glory in full. The recording is great though the band sounds rough at the start with Neil`s vocals rough as well with him missing some lyrics but the band gets better as does Neil`s vocals as the set goes on. Exactly what I would expect from Neil and Crazy Horse. I love it!

And the final pick up I got was the new Pearl Jam album Dark Matter an exclusive yellow and black ghostly RSD variant. Limited pressing of 15,000, so I am sure you can probably still find this kicking around the shops as that`s a not a very limited pressing in this day and age. The album itself is really good from these grunge veterans.

 After hanging at home and listening to all my new albums, I decided I would wander down to Blackbyrd around 4 in the afternoon and see what they still had kicking around for RSD releases. I sure didn`t expect that there would still be people lined up for the store. When I got there, there were still a line of about ten people, unreal, have never seen that before. I was gonna say fuck it and just head home, but the staff member working the door told me they had a surprise for me behind the counter. Hmmm, ok, I guess I`ll line up for a bit and have browse and see what they had for me. I was surprised that they still had a copy of the Neil Young there. Which meant I could have actually got all the records myself. Sunrise having the Pearl Jam and Hip album and Blackbyrd having the Neil album. But thankfully I didn`t have to worry about that.

 Much to my surprise what Blackbyrd did have for me was a test pressing of Corb Lund`s newest album El Viejo. Holy fucking cool. I guess they got this test pressing from the Corb`s record label and decided that I was the deserving person to get it. As the staff there know I am a huge Corb Lund fan. I can`t thank the staff at Blackbyrd enough for thinking of me. It pays to support your local independent record shops. Thanks again Blackbyrd!

Corb Lund - El Viejo test pressing.

Record Store Day has lost some of its luster over the years at least here in Edmonton it has. There used to be five record shops within walking distance of me, now there is just the one. And the shops used to have live bands playing the shops during the day or an after party once the shops closed, they also used to have concert ticket give-aways. None of that has happened over the past few years. I miss the days when RSD was an all day affair.