Arts & Life

Fingerprints draws a massive crowd for Record Store Day

As the sun was beginning to rise over Downtown Long Beach on Saturday, a strange sight appeared.
While the streets were quiet and empty, hundreds of vinyl record enthusiasts, sporting warm blankets and hot coffee, lined up outside of Fingerprints for the sixth annual Record Store Day (RSD).

Some fans, like Amanda Moreno, started waiting outside of Fingerprints on Friday night.

“I got here around 11 p.m.,” Moreno said. “I met some cool people. It gets a little cold.”

When the store lit up and the doors opened at 6 a.m., the most loyal of the early birds scurried inside to snatch up stacks of their favorite records. 



While the shoppers were frantic to find their favorite titles, they were nevertheless cordial and conversational with other customers as they pardoned and shimmied their way around the store.

RSD veteran Craig Swedin battled the large crowd inside Fingerprints to get the records he wanted.

“This is my fifth RSD,” Swedin said.

Carrying a highlighted list of the RSD releases, Swedin said he was able to get most of the records he was looking for.

Fingers walking over the edges of the plastic-wrapped records, vinyl fanatics searched for the most recent White Stripes album, and the luckiest of the bunch scored a Best Coast album, for which the first 30 from the door received a ticket for the concert later in the day.
“A lot of people talk about the sound [of vinyl],” Aristotle Acevedo, a vinyl collector, said. “But I just like having it in my hands.”

Acevedo, although from Alhambra, preferred Fingerprints over Amoeba records in Hollywood because Amoeba gets overcrowded and has less of a selection.

“Every year we’re growing,” Meagan Blome, a Fingerprints employee, said. “People are coming a little earlier, lines are getting longer, and more people are coming from out of town.”

Blome said that RSD has helped Fingerprints’ reputation grow, as well as keep independent record stores in business.
When 1 p.m. rolled around, the line grew as fans clad in tie-dye, floral clothing and big sunglasses were getting hyped for Best Coast’s spunky surf-rock performance.

“This is such a good show!” yelled a fan from the crowd as others, swaying and bouncing, confessed their love for Bethany Cosentino, the lead singer.

The fans didn’t leave, nor did their smiles, until after Jimmy Eat World performed at 4 p.m.

According to Blome, Fingerprints is keeping the nostalgic spirit alive by celebrating RSD festivities for a whole month, hosting more artists and screening films.

 

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