Record Store Day: Black Friday edition

Judging by last Spring's massive turnout for the official Record Store Day, this year's Record Store Day: Black Friday edition is shaping up to deliver a healthy dose of vinyl geek fever to all of Denver's treasured music dispensaries. "There's a big anticipation for those three White Stripes singles," says Twist & Shout co-owner Paul Epstein. "And there's the unreleased Grateful Dead double live album from '71, and the Bob Dylan single 'Duquesne Whistle.' It's a lot bigger than last Black Friday -- a lot more titles. We're just going to just hold on to our hats and try to sell everything."

Although Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year, in terms of music, it does not quite eclipse the official Record Store Day that goes on each spring. Both events offer limited edition releases -- a term that causes record collectors to salivate like mastiffs before a steak -- and inevitably draw crowds waiting for the doors to open. But Record Store Day: Black Friday will not include the festival atmosphere of bands, DJs and sponsors, relying more heavily on the records themselves to sell the event.

If you are looking for a little flair to your shopping experience, Twist & Shout will be giving away fifty tote-bags filled with CDs and DVDs to the first fifty customers, as well as what they're calling the Lucero Golden Ticket Hunt, where, hidden inside one copy of Lucero: Live at Sun Studios 7-inch single will be a golden ticket, which can be redeemed at the counter for a signed copy of Lucero's Women and Work LP.

And while Wax Trax got a one-hour jump on Twist and Shout during last spring's Record Store Day, for Black Friday, both stores (as well as Atomic Records) will be opening simultaneously at 10 a.m. "The one time we opened up early, I got so much shit for it," says Epstein. "It was two years ago. There were a ton of people in line, and I said, 'Lets just open.' Oh my god, the people who showed up on time were like, 'How could you do this to us!' It would have made no difference -- the line was so long -- however, people were flipped out about it so we decided no more opening early."

Some of us vinyl geeks already have eyes on a few choice items, and will be camped out with the rest of the collectors on Friday morning hungrily fighting for what is rightfully ours. You can visit the official Record Store Day Black Friday listings page to do a bit of browsing for yourself, or keep reading for participating store locations and to take a look at our wish lists and perhaps get a little inspiration.

RECORD STORE DAY BLACK FRIDAY PARTICIPATING LOCATIONS

Absolute Vinyl - Boulder Albums on the Hill - Boulder Affordable Music - Dillon Angelo's CDs - Aurora Angelo's CDs - Littleton Angelo's CDs - Wheat Ridge Atomic Records - Denver Beat Pharm - Pueblo The Bizarre Bazaar - Fort Collins Black & Read - Denver Bogey's West Music - Castle Rock Eagle Valley Music - Vail Independent Records & Video (Annex) - Colorado Springs Independent Records & Video (Downtown Springs) - Colorado Springs Independent Records & Video (Platte) - Colorado Springs Independent Records (7) - Colorado Springs Independent Records (West Side Springs) - Colorado Springs Independent Record & Video - Denver Independent Records & Video - Fountain Independent Records & Video - Pueblo The Leechpit - Colorado Springs LPHound's Vinyl House - Denver Pueblo Records and Tapes - Pueblo Rock 'n' Robin's - Fort Collins Sgt Peppers Music & Video - Estes Park Southwest Sound - Durango Triple Play Records - Grand Junction Twist & Shout - Denver Wax Trax Records - Denver Wray Audio Video - Wray

TEAM BACKBEAT'S BLACK FRIDAY WISH LISTS