RECORD STORE DAY 2012 at Raves From The Grave in Frome

So the day has come! Today is every music lover's wet dream: Record Store Day 2012. Being from the South West, I had the options of visiting Rise Records in Bristol and Swindon, 'Sound Knowledge' in Marlborough or Head in Bristol (where Portishead legend and Invada boss Geoff Barrows was among those in the queue). Instead I chose to opt for the ever-reliable RAVES FROM THE GRAVE in Frome. I remember first visiting Raves when it first opened in the late 90s, and (I think) purchased a copy of Radiohead's 'Airbag/How Am I Driving' EP from there. Since those days the shop has come a long way, expanding its stock massively and opening a second shop in nearby Warminster (which also takes part in RSD). 

Arriving at about 7.40am we were surprised to find people already queuing up to get their hands on various goodies, at one point the brilliant staff from the shop treated everyone in the queue to bacon rolls and sausage rolls, while also offering to fetch coffees for people... How's that for treating your customers! Doors eventually opened at 9am and immediately the back section of the shop was filled with a swarm of music lovers eager to pick up their desired tunage. While it was rather manic and hard to get to the boxes filled with the RSD releases, the spirit of many customers impressed me a great deal, people helping each other out: "has anyone seen the Dead Boys?"... "The Clash over here if anyone's after it"... "who was after that Dead Boys one? Here ya go..."... "who was looking for the Arctic Monkeys?".... "me!"... "and me!"... "ok you have it, you called first"... Anyway here's a video I made of the event, followed by some shorter videos with audio. A big thank you to the staff at Raves From The Grave who made this great day even more of a pleasure. It's a shop I thoroughly recommend to anyone who has a passion for music, and long may it live!

Some shorter clips (with audio including me moaning about The Fall's single not arriving at the shop, and how I wish I had enough money to get the Edwyn Collins box set)

My RSD2012 buys were:

NOEL GALLAGHER'S HIGH FLYING BIRDS - Songs From The Great White North (White 12" Ltd to 2000)
LEVELLERS - Truth Is (Red 7", Ltd to 300)
INSPIRAL CARPETS - You're So Good For Me (Signed and Ltd 7")

Things I wanted but couldn't get: 
THE FALL - Night Of The Humerons
ARCTIC MONKEYS - RU Mine?
EDWYN COLLINS - Tape Box
THE WONDER STUFF - Blackberry Way