Record Store Crawl 2018

By Rachel Mills

Author Extraordinaire!

On Saturday, June 23rd in Rochester, NY I went on a Record Store Crawl. I’ve been to bar crawls before, interesting in their own right, but this was a different experience for me AND it was way more fun! More fun because I love music. I love record stores. I love being able to buy used products. To have the chance to buy first pressings, long after the release of an album. I feel like there is more history in a used album. I also love the ability to just share music with other humans. It is an awesome thing to experience. I can thank my mom, Leslie for passing on her passion for music collecting. She has an immense amount of CD’s from nearly every genre. An outsider might compare her collection and its organization to the House of Guitars, but my mother definitely knows where everything is. Just last week she found me James’ Laid in our basement. I was super excited to see that one. The song Five- O is one of my forever favorites.

The Great, Great House of Guitars!

Our day started at Record Archive. What a great place to be. I’ve been there a hundred times but it never gets old. I love looking through the CDs, I know they’re known for their intense record collection, but I am always drawn to all the CDs. But, alas, I do in fact look at the records too. On Saturday I found an album I really wanted- Talking Heads- Little Creatures. The only Heads album I didn’t own. I had to get it. And I did. And let me tell you, it sounds great. I have a Pioneer PL 518. I love it. Not as much as I love my parent’s Audio- Technica though. But the Pioneer definitely gets the job done. And the Talking Heads album still sounds like I should’ve bought it mad long ago.

At the start of the crawl there was food and an open bar in the Backroom Lounge(located in the back room of Record Archive). The turkey sub I had was bomb as was the All Day IPA beer they were serving up. The screwdrivers they offered featured Deep Eddy Vodka(event sponsor), a vodka I’ve never had (surprisingly) but it was good- I actually bought a bottle to share with friends for an upcoming vacation. I also had my first Bloody Mary that day (not the biggest fan) but hey it was a good chance to try something new. I think my favorite aspect was the fact that they were offering Goldfish crackers. My friends and family- Bags Unlimited family- know how much I love goldfish. It was a treat I did not expect. They definitely pulled out all the stops.

Vinyl Record Cleaning Brush

Record cleaning and static neutralizing in one brush. Soft velvet pad comes with a row of carbon fiber brushes on each long edge. Use wet or dry.

A local band, River Lynch and the Spirit Makers played the stage at the Backroom Lounge. I’d never heard them before, but I enjoyed their sound quite a bit; which is a really genuine sound by the way. I am a big fan of the singer/songwriter style. They played Notes from Johnny Cash which was awesome- being a Johnny fan. On the bus, into between stops, they also played ‘Name That Song’ featuring other artist’s music in the hopes that one of us crawlers could guess in under five seconds. One of the attendees wouldn’t give anyone else a chance to guess, he knew each melody from the first beat. I hope to someday be that musically inclined.

I saw people pick up some pretty cool records. Brand New’s Deja Entendu and The Devil and God Are Raging Inside of Me were two that stood out. Someone picked up The Breeders’ Last Splash. At the Bop Shop I actually managed to snag My Morning Jacket’s Circuital. (Was honestly really pumped for that one.) And one of the Spirit Makers convinced me to get Neil Young’s Tonight’s the Night. Currently listening to it right now. It is like other worldly. Definitely feels like a movie moment. This is what vinyl was made for, I swear.

My Morning Jacket – Circuital
Neil Young – Tonight’s the Night

House of Guitars was its typical self. Chaotic and perfect. That place is crazy but it’s also like magic. Full of wonder and amazement. Check out the entire store in a virtual tour here. Lots of music history in those walls!

The House of Guitars

Virtually explore The House of Guitars in a fully immersive 360-degree experience.

Saturday was the first day I went to Needledrop actually. It was small but just right. I saw a lot of records I wanted, but my wallet was crying(Note to self, budget money better). I thought to myself I gotta go back because I saw Brand New’s Your Favorite Weapon. One of my favorite albums ever.

Brand New – Your Favorite Weapon

It was an honor to asked to be a part of this day. Bags Unlimited means a lot to me. It is my family’s business but it is also a livelihood. Bags has been around since before I was even born. For so long, I just thought they just made boxes. Like cardboard boxes. How boring. But I’ve come to realize they do so, so much more. I’ve collected records and CDs for a long time. CD’s mostly because of my age, but, once I turned 15, I started collecting records. I never gave it a thought- the plastic sleeves that accompany a record. I now know what they do, and it’s like really, really cool to be a part of Bags. Or the “Satchel Factory”as we sometimes like to call it. I love being part of a community who takes pride in collecting.

XLP65 Record Storage Box vs A Junky Old Box

I love collecting music. I love seeing other people collect and I love seeing them take pride in their collections. My favorite part of the day was seeing everyone grab so many random favorites. In my experience, you don’t just come across a record you want. If you do, you are very lucky. I have learned most times, it is a hunting process. So, it was pretty fun to live through people vicariously (my wallet really was crying), I witnessed true excitement, and I also got to pick up some of my own favorites. Very thankful for the people and the shops- Dick, Record Archive, Tom from the Bop Shop, House of Guitars, Needledrop, Deep Eddy’s Vodka (very thankful), Swillburger. You are all awesome. Salute to all music collectors and lovers everywhere.

 

If you want a little more from the Crawl, Matt made a video about his experience(haul included). Check below for photos!

 

Some random photos from the day’s festivities.

The Backroom Lounge
Open Bar!
Some sweets!
All Day
River Lynch and the Spiritmakers
The Crawl bus full of music fans
Needledrop Records
The Playhouse
The Playhouse
House of Guitars – CD and Vinyl Room
Matt’s Record Haul and Freebies from the Crawl

Record Cube – White

The SheLPf ® Record Cube – WHITE. Holds 75-80 LP Records Inside: 13-3/8 x 13-3/4 x 13″ (L x W x D). Outside: 14-3/4 x 15-5/8 x 13″. These easy-to-assemble record cubes are made from .70″ thick MDF (medium density fiberboard) with a textured Melamine finish. The cubes securely stack up to 3 high.

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