Record Store Day: lines already forming

Record Store Day is drawing predawn lines on Saturday, April 18, with some indie shops already managing crowds before doors open. (recordstoreday.com) (cbs42.com) At Seasick Records in Birmingham, Alabama, fans started lining up at 4 a.m. Friday for the April 18 event, and the store says it will open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. with Record Store Day titles sold in limited quantities. (cbs42.com) (seasickbham.com) In Rochester, New York, Record Archive is preparing for overnight campers and has scheduled its Record Store Day event from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. with live music, art, food and vintage vendors. (13wham.com) (recordarchive.com) Record Store Day is a one-day promotion built around exclusive and limited-run vinyl releases sold through independent record stores rather than through the event’s own website. The official 2026 list says participating stores will release the titles on April 18. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2) The event began after a 2007 meeting of independent record store owners and employees, and the first Record Store Day was held on April 19, 2008. The organization now says it includes nearly 1,400 independently owned stores in the United States and thousands more internationally. (recordstoreday.com 1) (recordstoreday.com 2) The scarcity is part of the draw. Seasick says releases are first come, first served, limited to one copy per person per title, and cannot be held or preordered. (seasickbham.com) The 2026 release slate spans mainstream catalog names and collector bait, with official listings that include quantities for some titles, such as 2,000 copies of the 13th Floor Elevators’ *We Are Not Live*. (recordstoreday.com) For stores like Record Archive, the day is also a live event. Its Rochester shop, which says it has operated since 1975 in a 13,000-square-foot space, is pairing the vinyl rush with performances and in-store programming. (recordarchive.com 1) (recordarchive.com 2) By sunrise, the mechanics of Record Store Day are already visible: limited stock, fixed opening times, and customers willing to wait hours for a shot at a specific pressing. (seasickbham.com) (cbs42.com)