Hipster Black Friday

I'm really not a Black Friday shopper; I could do without the lines, crowds and pepper spray. Thankfully, though, some retailers have turned the day (and the weekend) into a way to support local small businesses. Friday hosted a mini-Record Store Day across the country.

Record Store Day, held now for four years on the third Saturday in April, serves to promote local records stores and independent bands. The day sees special releases from a variety of both established and newer bands. The founders of the day decided to hold a mini-Record Store Day on Black Friday, serving much of the same purpose.

Yesterday saw singles from The Black Keys, Ryan Adams and The Civil Wars; re-releases from The Beastie Boys, The Doors and The Grateful Dead; and much much more! You can guess what I was there for...that's right, the single release of "Lonely Boy" from The Black Keys!

Thankfully, there is a great independent record store in my mom's town of Akron, OH, Square Records. I arrived there with her about 30 minutes before the store opened and there was already a line! They had only a few copies of The Black Keys' single, but I managed to snag one before they were all gone.

The line was about 6 people long when we got there.

This, so far, has been the store where I can always find things I've had trouble finding elsewhere, and today was no exception. I also managed to snag a copy of Little Joy's (Fab Moretti's, of The Strokes, side project) debut LP, which I couldn't even find on Amazon.