Break out the turntable: Record Store Day 2025 is almost here. Saturday, vinyl fans will flock to local stores for some extra special deals and music. Record Store Day is a celebration of the resurgence of "physical media", vinyl and even CDs, despite the rise of streaming and digital formats.
Remember when you used to wait in long lines for concert tickets or the week's new music releases? This event tends to bring back some of those "glory days" according to Scott Farrell, General Manager at Down In The Valley in Golden Valley.
"A lot of these folks are gonna camp out for eight hours," says Farrell. "We have one group that brings in a fish, ice house kind of tent deal, and they've got TVs, they got turntables, they got food that's going on. So, they really make it a fun night for themselves."
There's also a mother and daughter tandem that drives 3 1/2 hours from Ashland, Wisconsin.
"They drive in the night before with a plan, and they get a hotel room close to here," Farrell says. "They sleep half the night and then they come over and camp out. It's kind of their thing and you see a lot of that."
Old and young, Record Store Day is for everyone but really brings out music enthusiasts in droves.
Some anticipated releases this year include a really cool live recording from Minneapolis' own Soul Asylum.
"In 1997 when Grand Forks had the flood, Soul Asylum went up and played the prom for the two schools up there that couldn't have a proper prom," recalls Farrell. "And they did the Air Force Base up there, and can you imagine having Soul Asylum play your prom? But they recorded it and they're releasing it this year as well."
Doors open at Down In The Valley at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday at both the Golden Valley and Maple Grove locations.
The Electric Fetus in Minneapolis also has some special events. The Linda Lindas and funk legend Bootsy Collins will be in town for special signings. In addition, they have a list of special DJ's all day long including Jake Rudh of Transmission, Cherry Cherry Boom Boom, A.J. Hilton of WCCO-TV, Andrea Swensson, plus Bootsy Collins will spin some at 2:30 p.m. prior to his signing.
Lucky Cat Records in South Minneapolis also has some special events planned Saturday. The all-female run shop will be open 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with The Scarlet Goodbye doing an in-store performance to follow (Doors open right at 5:00). They'll also have a ton of Record Store Day exclusive vinyl releases, Left of the Dial T-shirts (more of The Replacements) and record totes, a bunch of vintage and used vinyl hitting and more.
Some other key releases fans will look for Saturday include something from Taylor Swift, Prince live at Glam Slam in 1992, and a 40th anniversary of another local legend, The Replacements fourth album "Tim".
A full list of participating stores in Minnesota is available here.