Record Store Day has changed a lot since its inception, with every massive artist and label jumping on the bandwagon to release rare music only available in certain stores on Record Store Day. It's become akin to ticket resellers, who buy up all the good stuff only to jack the price for profit on eBay. I kind of hate the whole thing -- knowing you have to have an "in" with the shops to get any kind chance at the super-rare stuff. But all that aside, I love it, too, because if you still love indie records and indie record shops, it's a chance to hark back to the days when you felt like you had some secret handshake entry into the cool-kid club. We still have a few great record shops in town -- some oldies and some newbies -- and on Saturday, you should show them that you care that they're there. Most of them will have some sort of featured live music or DJs, some of them will have those rare Record Store Day-only limited releases, and some of them will just be open because they still serve a purpose in our community, even if it's just to read Al Howard's amazing narratives about the customer experiences he has while working at Cow Records. By night, check out Crystal Fighters at the Belly Up, L.A Witch at the Hideout, or the El Vez Punk Rock Revue at the Casbah.
Saturday, April 16 (Record Store Day):
- M-Theory Record Store Day, with Earthless (3 p.m.), Kera & the Lesbians (5 p.m.), Clean Room (1 p.m.) @ M-Theory
- Record Store Day, with the G Burns Jug Band (3 p.m.), Smooth Impressions (4 p.m.), Fanny & the Atta Boys (5 p.m.) @ Folk Arts Rare Records
- FeeLit Records Record Story Day, with Norvis Junior, Chuuwee & Trizz, CALiENS, Zochi, Gabonano @ FeeLit (909 E Street)
- Record Store Day @ Beat Box Records (2148 Logan Ave.)
- Dogfish Head Record Store Day ($1 off with Local Record Store receipt) @ Tiger! Tiger!
- Oceanside Earth Festival, with Birdy Bardot, the Midnight Pine, and Dani Bell & the Tarantist @ Pier View Way and Tremont Street, Oceanside
- El Vez Punk Rock Revue, Schizophonics, the Little Richards @ Casbah
- L.A. Witch, Dirty Ghosts @ The Hideout
- Crystal Fighters, CHELA @ Belly Up
- Jeff Bernat, Jr Jarris, Avalon Young, Joyce Wrice, Dj Sasha Marie @ Soda Bar
- Neon Beat: The Best and the Worst of the '80s @ Bar Pink
- Carnifex, Winds of Plague, the Iron Son, Phinehas, Enterprise Earth, Suntorn @ SOMA
- Celso Pina @ Music Box
- '80s vs. '90s, with DJs Gabe Vega & Saul Q @ Whistle Stop
- Badfish(Sublime tribute, Fayuca, Ease Up @ House of Blues
- George Sarah & String Trio @ The Bancroft
- The Obscure '80s @ Winston's (5 p.m.)
- Arise Roots, Krooked Treez, Ital Vibes @ Winston's
- La Escalera Fest 5, with Jon Cougar Concentration Camp, Get Dead, Heartsounds, Ray Rocket, the Shell Corporation, Western Settings, Bastards of Young, From Scars, Sic Waiting, Squarecrow, Adder, Sledding With Tigers, Dan Gardner @ Til-Two Club
- Tyrone Wells, Savannah Philyaw @ Lestat's
- Gregory Page @ Java Joe's
- The Moves Collective, Amnesia & the Daily Surprise, Austin North @ The Loft, UCSD
- Dirty Taxi @ 710 Beach Club
- Alan Iglesias & Crossfire @ Tio Leo's
- Beta Maxx @ Humphrey's Backstage Live (5 p.m.)
- Backwater Blues Band @ Humphrey's Backstage Live (9 p.m.)
- Rick Wonder @ Fluxx
- Adrian Lux @ Bassmnt
- Eric Dlux @ Omnia
- DJ Shift @ Parq
- Museum of Love, Cooper Saver @ Bang Bang
Rosemary Bystrak is the publicist for the Casbah, the content manager for DoSD, and writes about the San Diego music scene, events and general musings about life in San Diego on San Diego: Dialed In. Follow her updates on Twitter or contact her directly.
