LINCOLN SQUARE — Technically, every day is Record Store Day at Laurie's Planet of Sound, but Saturday was the official celebration of independent record stores across the U.S.
Laurie's opened its doors at 9 a.m., with a line outside stretching from the Lincoln Avenue storefront all the way to Leland Avenue. Fans waited in the chill to get their hands on exclusive reissues and rarities, listed in advance on Laurie's Facebook page Friday night.
Nick Glassburn, 23, was standing in line for the second time shortly after 11 a.m., having already snagged LPs by Cave In and Botch, as well as Sleep's "Dopesmoker" in bright green vinyl.
Glassburn has been collecting records since he was 12, when he inherited a box of vinyl from his grandmother.
"It's just the aesthetic," he said. "I like the big piece of vinyl, the large-scale artwork, the ritual."
Chris Benson, a Michigan resident who coincidentally happened to be in town for the big event, recalled his first record purchase as a youngster: a 45 of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust."
He just got back into collecting vinyl six months ago and has already amassed 100 LPs, many of them favorites he remembered his parents once owning.
"I always knew it would be a Pandora's box," Benson said of his new hobby.
Though CDs typically boast the most pristine sound, nostalgia is a big part of vinyl's appeal for Benson.
"When you buy an old jazz record, you want it to be crackling and hissing," he said.
With Laurie's capping customers inside the store at 10-15 — the cramped shop has just a single cash register — Benson had plenty of time to get to know his line mate Kyle Gray Young of Wisconsin.
Young boasts a collection of 8,000 LPs, 45s and 78s, much of it serving as inventory for his online eBay store. His taste, he said, ranges from the avant garde to '60s bubblegum pop.
The beauty of vinyl versus CDs or iPods is that it demands the listener's attention, said Young.
"With a 78, you have to sit and listen. You have to be there to flip the record. It makes you a little more attentive to the music," he said. "Today's pop...it's so much background."
The fun continues at Laurie's all day on Saturday with live music, the Chubby Wieners Wiener Wagon and an appearance by WXRT Radio's Terri Hemmert.
