Saturday’s celebration of indie shops even drew a pair of newlyweds into the fray during a West Side parade, with stores from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo boasting mobs of vinyl-loving shoppers. Video, photos.
Matrimonial Record Store Day Bliss: These newlyweds joined Dodds Record Shop’s West Side parade Saturday. (Photo/John Sinkevics)
If anything symbolizes the free-spirit, independent-minded attitude of Record Store Day, it’s the irrepressible wackiness and verve of Dodds Record Shop’s annual celebration of vinyl and nonconformity.
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Reverend Charles Preston Smith
For several years, owner Reverend Charles Preston Smith has reveled in the national “holiday” by staging a short West Side parade near the store on Bridge Street NW. He even ran afoul of the law last year with post-procession rock performances on the sidewalk outside his shop, thus forcing an early halt to the party.
That didn’t dissuade him and dozens of supporters from doing it all again Saturday for Record Store Day 2018: Led by Smith and his rolling “Dodds” banner, the mid-afternoon parade marched down sidewalks on either side of Bridge Street, joined mid-stream in impromptu fashion by a newly married couple who had just tied the knot at St. James Catholic Church. (Check out the video and photos below.)
The procession lasted all of about seven minutes, but Smith was clearly tickled by the spectacle of it all and his police-free fortune.
Browsers: The scene at Vertigo Music on Saturday.
“I think we got away with it,” he proclaimed to the small crowd of supporters who gathered outside the tiny shop to enjoy performances by Calabogie Road Bluegrass, Beaver Xing, Persistent Flashback Disorder and DJ JW.
Parades aside, West Michigan’s celebration of Record Store Day mostly took the form of vinyl lovers packing shops from Grand Rapids to Kalamazoo to the lakeshore for bargains, special releases and generally just paying homage to indie-retailers who sell LPs, CDs and other musical treasures.
And Third Man Records’ “Rolling Record Store” made a bit of splash in Grand Rapids, too, making the rounds for Record Store Day — from the Grand Rapids Art Museum to 20 Monroe Live — because Third Man honcho and vinyl devotee Jack White was in town playing a sold-out concert at 20 Monroe Live.
Lined Up: Shoppers got to Green Light Music early. (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Grand Rapids’ Vertigo Music and Grandville’s Corner Record Shop were jammed with browsers and buyers, entertained by DJs at Vertigo and more than a half-dozen acts at Corner Record Shop, which boasted sets by Brian Dieleman, Stellar, Eugene Jackets, Feeding Grizzlies, Mean Mother, DangerVille and Tail from the Crypt.
In Kalamazoo, folks started lining up Friday night outside Satellite Records just to guarantee a shot at some of the exclusives, with much the same situation at Green Light Music. Both featured DJ sets throughout the day, with Kalamazoo’s Wine Boys of Peppertown and California’s Greg Ashley closing things out with an in-store performance at Satellite. And Kalamazoo’s State Theatre even opened up a pop-up store for the occasion.
Browse the photo gallery and brief video here.
PHOTO GALLERY: Record Store Day 2018
Dodds, Vertigo, Third Man Records photos by John Sinkevics and Anna Sink
Corner Record Shop photos by Taylor Mansen
Kalamazoo’s Satellite, Green Light, State Theatre photos by Derek Ketchum
Copyright 2018, Spins on Music
