Bridge Nine Records celebrated its first ever Record Store Day as an actual record store this past Saturday, April 22nd, and also with the label’s first ever official Record Store Day release. Agnostic Front released “United Blood (The Extended Sessions)”, a 19-song LP version of their original 10-song EP from 1983. We pressed 3,000 copies on clear vinyl and it was amazing to hear from so many other stores that this record was the only other record that sold out that day besides Taylor Swift. This was a great way to commemorate 40 years of United Blood.
The Bridge Nine store opened early at 10 am to a line of RSD supporters and the store quickly filled with excited shoppers. An indie label market, featuring local labels from the New England area, also took place in the store’s back warehouse. Participating labels were X-Claim! Records, Counter Intuitive Records, Crimewave Records, Tor Johnson Records, Sound Investment Records, Hellhound Publishing, and Iodine Recordings.
Al Barile was onsite with X-Claim! along with his wife, Nancy Barile, author of the book “I’m Not Holding Your Coat”. Photo by Nancy Barile
The market featured lots of other vendors and organizations from the punk community. Al Quint of Suburban Voice, an avid record collector and seller, set up shop with some awesome titles for sale. Women Of The Pit, a charity based organization established to highlight and promote bands and fans of the hardcore music scene, was also in attendance promoting their first compilation, Stronger Together Vol. 1, featuring various female led punk and hardcore bands. The team behind Hope Fest, a yearly benefit music festival that takes place in Salem each year, was also onsite to promote their September 2nd festival in support of nAGLY. Larry Kelley displayed items from the late Lexa Vonn, an activist, fashion designer and music memorabilia collector. Local educator and author Nancy Barile was onsite with her awesome book, I’m Not Holding Your Coat. And Al Barile, Jaime Sciarappa, and Chris Foley of SSD hung out for a few hours, telling stories and sharing memories.
Needless to say, it was an incredible day and the Bridge Nine team is grateful for a few hundred of our supportive customers coming through and all our amazing vendors. We hope to do more events like this in the future, so be sure to join our email list if you haven’t already and follow us on social media!
