Toronto’s record hubs aren’t missing out, and neither should you. But without an itinerary, you might find yourself endlessly lollygagging in Trinity Bellwoods or idling for hours on a sunny patio.
Here’s our rough guide to Record Store Day:
9 am – 10 am
Wake up. Forgo trendy Herschel for army surplus rucksack. Beat the west-end crowds at High Park’s Cabin Fever (open at 8 am for the super-keen!) and She Said Boom! on Roncey.
11:30 am
Brunch at Parts & Labour. The food’s good but the music is better: Blur, Talking Heads, Pavement – you know, the cool stuff you play at home.
1 pm
Queen West crawl: Rotate This, Neurotica, Slinky Music, Penguin Music and Kops Records are all official RSD participants.
3 pm
Catch Lullabye Arkestra followed by Beliefs at Sonic Boom’s Bathurst and Bloor location.
4:20 pm
Seems like as good a time as any for that public park break, non? Christie Pits isn’t far… you’ve earned it.
5:30 pm
Taco break at La Carnita. Let the Biggie and ‘Pac wash over you.
6:30 pm
Cross the street to Soundscapes. Take some time to peruse the special limited-edition vinyl the store brought in for the occasion. Among the gems are 7-inches of a new Bowie song, The Stars Are Out Tonight, and of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ Animal X.
7:30 pm
Go home and drop off all your shit. Change shirt.
8 pm
Pick a show, any show. If you have money left, celebrate your day with some live music. Laura Mvula plays the Drake Underground, and Chameleon Project are at Lee’s Palace, among many, many others.
What are you doing Record Store Day?
We asked four Toronto musicians.
“Today I just wikipedia’d what Record Store Day is, having not previously known before you asked me. Now I’m going into the city to hang outside of a record store and see if anybody cares.”
Aimee Bessada
of feminist art rock band Vag Halen
“I was working at a record store when the first Record Store Day went down. I was shocked that there was a lineup for most of the day. I hadn’t seen lineups like that at a store since Metallica’s Black Album came out. Record sales may be down across the board, but there are still real music fans out there who are excited about supporting their local stores.”
Wayne Petti
of alt-country-rockers Cuff the Duke
“I support Record Store Day because it supports local record stores and Andy [bandmate Andy Lloyd] works at a record store and I like Andy.”
Mitch DeRosier
of indie rock band Born Ruffians
“On Record Store Day I’ll be trying to find four turntables to play the Flaming Lips’ Zaireeka on wax for the first time ever. I may never come back to the real world.”
Andrew Kekewich
of Juno-nominated rock band the Wooden Sky
For more info and a full list of participating stores, visit recordstoreday.com.
