‘Wax Friday' for San Diego Record Shops

More like ‘Wax Friday’: Local record shops get in on Record Store Day's Black Friday event

Black Friday? More like Wax Friday: On Nov. 23, hundreds of worldwide independent record shops that participate in Record Store Day (RSD) -- the annual April vinyl-centric shopping event -- will also offer exclusive Black Friday titles.

The upcoming national shopping holiday will feature roughly about one-third of the number of releases the official RSD event usually offers, but that’s not to say plenty of sought-after titles won’t be up for grabs at independent record stores.

This year, A Perfect Circle, Chris Cornell, the Flaming Lips, G-Eazy, Guns N’ Roses, Jimi Hendrix, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Outkast, Phish, Rage Against the Machine, Ramones, the Smashing Pumpkins, Taylor Swift, U2 and Frank Zappa (among many others) get in on the action with either RSD Black Friday exclusives or "RSD First" releases. For a full list of selections, visit the official Record Store Day website here.

As expected, many of the San Diego shops that typically participate in RSD are gearing up for the Black Friday event -- as well as the following day, Small Business Saturday (which is always a good reminder to shop local when possible). Here's the SoundDiego guide to what's going down.

Participating 2018 RSD Black Friday San Diego shops (listed alphabetically) 

Cow Records: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. 5040 Newport Ave., Ocean Beach.

FeeLIT Records: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. In-store promotions on deck along with all-vinyl DJ sets, live performances and a storewide sale. Also hosting “Skratch Friday” -- an open Scratch Session with a portable turntable powered by Bumpboxx SoCal from 2-5 p.m. 909 E St., East Village.

Folk Arts Rare Records: 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Will be “breaking out some serious gems for Small Business Saturday,” and the store’s published a list online of all the titles they’ll definitely have in stock on RSD Black Friday right here. 3072 El Cajon Blvd., North Park. 

Lou's Records: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Numbers handed out to those in line at 9 a.m. 434 N. Coast Highway 101, Encinitas.

M-Theory Records: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. DJ sets by Mark Quark (Moonshake), Vincent (Rhythm Nation) and special guests. Free pizza from Lefty’s. 827 W. Washington St., Mission Hills.

Normal Records: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Here’s a handy list of all the titles they’ll have at least one copy of. 4201 30th St., North Park. 

Re-Animated Records: 7 a.m.-7 p.m. First few customers in line will receive a free “Re-Animated RSD Black Friday Barf Bag” with mysterious goodies. Free snacks and drinks, and 20 percent off storewide (excluding RSD titles). 8320 La Mesa Blvd., La Mesa.

Record City: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 3757 Sixth Ave., Hillcrest.

Spin Records: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. 370 Grand Ave., Carlsbad.

Taang! Records: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. 3830 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest.

Of course, not every participating record shop will be carrying all the titles scheduled to be released for RSD Black Friday. Quantities are spread out the world over and often shops don't know what they'll be receiving until the shipments show up at their door. Such is the beauty of first come, first served! Happy diggin', folks.

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