When I arrived at Love Garden Sounds at 9 a.m. for Saturday's Record Store Day shenanigans, it was most assuredly neither sunny nor the 70 degrees it would be later. Wind chill knocked the temp down into the 20s, and a stiff breeze was gusting down Mass Street. The line of folks was already 20 to 30 strong, with many in jackets and scarves, and several had bundled themselves in blankets.
I waited in line for 10 minutes, then decided that, as a grown-ass man with children and a mortgage, I had better sense than to freeze for 45 minutes longer. Being as how most of the records I wanted were all re-presses, the idea of waiting in line to buy records that had been previously released made me feel chagrined. I went a block over and warmed up at the day job.
By the time the doors opened at 10 a.m., store owner Kelly Corcoran had handed out 79 numbered baseball cards to the folks in line (evidence of their wait). He began letting folks in, and, grouped in fives, they were able to go through the milk crates packed with exclusives. Once about 20 or so had made it into the store, the line moved inside, and folks started milling around, browsing through the other thousands of records and CDs in the bins.
Unsurprisingly, the more sought-after stuff was from more "name" acts. The Foo Fighters, Franz Ferdinand, and Deftones cover-song compilations were long gone by the time I made it to the exclusives -- sometime around 11 a.m. Still, I found a way to drop about $100 on records from Fucked Up, Piebald, Superchunk, and some Revelation Records hardcore classics. The mood the entire morning was jovial and friendly, with quite a few people chatting with the line buddies they met while standing around.
