Twin Cities RSD lineup

Record Store Day in the Twin Cities is landing on Saturday, April 18, and it is not just a line for rare vinyl anymore. The official Record Store Day site says the 2026 exclusive releases arrive that day, and Twin Cities shops are stacking those drops with live sets, giveaways, and store-specific rules. (recordstoreday.com) Record Store Day started as a 2007 idea from independent record store owners and employees, and the first one happened on April 19, 2008. The official organizers now describe it as a celebration tied to nearly 1,400 independently owned stores in the United States and thousands more worldwide. (recordstoreday.com) Minnesota’s participating list shows how spread out the local map is, with Minneapolis stores like Electric Fetus, Extreme Noise Records, Roadrunner Records, and Lucky Cat Records, plus Saint Paul shops including Caydence Records & Coffee, Agharta Records, and Cheapo Records. That matters on a day when each store can carry different titles, different promos, and different side events. (recordstoreday.com) The official store finder also warns that being on the list does not mean every shop will stock every release or run every promotion. Record Store Day is closer to a citywide treasure hunt than a mall sale, because inventory is limited and each store builds its own plan. (recordstoreday.com) Electric Fetus in Minneapolis is treating April 18 like a full operation. Its event page says staff will hand out numbers at 8 a.m., start calling those numbers at 9 a.m., sell the exclusives from the garage behind the store, and cap shoppers at 15 Record Store Day exclusive titles, with no more than one copy of any single title. (electricfetus.com) That numbering system tells you what kind of day this is. Stores use line control because the official Record Store Day releases are sold in person, in limited quantities, and usually on a first-come, first-served basis. (electricfetus.com; recordstoreday.com) Caydence Records & Coffee in Saint Paul is leaning into the crate-digger version of the holiday. Its April 18 listing says the store will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with more than 250 Record Store Day vinyl release titles, plus more than 1,000 rare rap, rhythm and blues, electro, indie, alternative, hardcore, punk, and emo records from private collections. (caydencemn.com) Down In The Valley is running the day at both its Golden Valley and Maple Grove stores. Its event page says both locations open at 9 a.m., the special releases are first-come, first-served, and there are no pre-orders, holds, or online sales on Record Store Day itself. (downinthevalley.com) The local shape of the day is what makes the Twin Cities version different from just clicking “buy” on a reissue online. One store is managing a numbered line behind a 57-year-old Minneapolis institution, another is opening up deep private collections in Saint Paul, and another is splitting traffic across suburban locations. (electricfetus.com; caydencemn.com; downinthevalley.com) Mpls.St.Paul Magazine’s guide frames the day as a neighborhood-by-neighborhood crawl built around independent shops rather than one central festival. If you go, the practical move is to check each store’s hours, line rules, and event details before April 18, because the same citywide holiday works differently at every stop. (mspmag.com; recordstoreday.com)