Love it or hate it, it’s safe to say Record Store Day is here to stay. What started as an honest-to-goodness movement to encourage listeners to get out and support independent music retailers who were suffering in the advent of Amazon, streaming services, and the industry’s stark shift from physical to digital formats has quickly mutated into a halfhearted “holiday” with its fair share of icky elements.

Amid the ugliness of desperate novelty records and greedy “collectors” re-listing rarities on Discogs while they’re still waiting in line to pay, some Milwaukee-area record shops, area businesses, and massive breweries are doing their part to make this happening a worthwhile occurrence for all. On Saturday, April 12, the consumer event will basically be a full-fledged local holiday, complete with some record store anniversaries, sales and giveaways galore, in-store shows, and much more. Here are some ways Milwaukee and the surrounding suburbs are celebrating Record Store Day 2025.

1. Irving Place Records
There’s a lot going on over at Irving Places Records this spring. The store will host a first anniversary celebration complete with sales, snacks, and giveaways on April 19. Starting May 1, they’ll be expanding into the neighboring half of its building to effectively double its space. Before both of those things, the burgeoning new record retailer will be partaking in Record Store Day festivities by offering 10% off all non-RSD vinyl titles, 20% off CDs and cassettes, and 20% off shirts from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Saturday. Irving Place will also be giving away some prize packs from Pabst Theater Group to the first 50 people in line.

2. Lilliput Records
Lilliput Records has ambitious plans for this year’s Record Store Day installment. There will be DJ sets (by DJ Von Munz, DJ JW & DJMK) from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nomad Coffee Bar will provide free coffee. There will be raffles for concert tickets, test pressings, and other goodies. Oh, the store will also have some new Record Store Day releases on hand and will be offering sales on a variety of non-RSD releases all day long. This will also mark the Lilliput Records slipmat launch! Come for the deals and stay for free performances by Whitty Remarks and Ladybird (solo). Need more? There will be some Summerfest tickets given away, as well as some prize packs from Pabst Theater Group offered to the first 50 people in line.

3. Miller High Life
From the Milwaukee-made beer that brought you the “Dive Bar Fume” fragrance and a gigantic driveable peanut that’s also a dive bar comes Dive Bar Sounds. The forthcoming album features seven tracks of ambient dive bar sounds including “Regular’s Remix” and “Last Call Symphony,” among others. Moreover, the “Soundtrack to the High Life” is said to be the world’s first “beer-infused” vinyl record. Limited quantities will be available for pre-order sporadically between April 10 and April 16.

4. Omen Alternative Music & Media
This Record Store Day will double as the third anniversary celebration of Omen Alternative Music & Media in nearby South Milwaukee. To mark the occasion, the suburban hub for musical subculture will have some Record Store Day titles in stock, as well as live DJs spinning in-store, huge sales on used inventory and clothing, limited edition merch, surprise giveaways, and even some cake. Omen will also be giving away some prize packs from Pabst Theater Group to the first 50 people in line.

5. Pabst Theater Group
While Pabst Theater Group obviously isn’t a record retailer, the folks who operate Miller High Life Theatre, Riverside Theater, Pabst Theater, Turner Hall, Vivarium, and the Fitzgerald are once again partnering with some area music purveyors to show their love on Record Store Day.

As noted a few times already, the first 50 folks in line at Lilliput Records, Irving Place Records, Omen Alternative Music & Media, Rushmor Records, or We Buy Records this Saturday will receive a Pabst Theater Group slipmat, a sticker with that same slipmat design, and a koozie. If you needed another reason to get shopping early, that might do the trick.

6. Rushmor Records
Milwaukee’s longest-running record shop is celebrating Record Store Day in its own way. Here’s what the owners of the Bay View shop told us to expect:

With all that is going in this world, we’re looking at Record Store Day as an opportunity to be here for others and to be thankful for all our friends, family, and the Milwaukee area music loving community. It’s truly amazing to still be here doing this after so many years.

Of course, being RSD participants since the event’s inception, we will be carrying many of the popular—and lesser-known—RSD exclusive titles, as well as an avalanche of new and exciting releases from Europe. We’re confident that we will have something special for everyone who visits us for this coming Saturday’s 2025 edition of RSD.

Rushmor Records will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. A limited number of prize packs from Pabst Theater Group will be given out as well.

7. Volta Records
In the third Record Store Day in the store’s existence, Volta Records—which used to be Greenfield’s Exclusive Company—is celebrating in a big way. Volta will open at 8 a.m. on Saturday, with coffee and donuts for the folks in line before the store opens. The shop will have a ton of Record Store Day 2025 titles and hard-to-find non-RSD titles in stock.

The first 50 people in line will get a free general admission ticket to Summerfest (five pairs will also be given away later in the day). A pair of tickets to two Fiserv Forum concerts—HOG Fest on July 17 and Linkin Park on August 25—will also be given away. Beyond the RSD releases, the suburban record store will offer sales all weekend long and will even debut some new Volta merchandise.

8. We Buy Records
Riverwest-based We Buy Records isn’t just the last Record Store Day participant to be feature on this alphabetical listing, it’ll also be the last to open this Saturday. If you missed out on a title that morning or if you’re just wanting to sleep in, you’ll get a second chance to snag some RSD releases from 12-4 p.m. The shop will also be giving away some prize packs from Pabst Theater Group to the first 50 people in line. Beyond the new releases, We Buy Records will offer a vast selection of used LPs at its usual $3-6 price range. Its second location inside of Fermentorium in Cedarburg will also be taking part in the Record Store day fun.

Bonus

Acme Records & Music Emporium
Even through Acme will have great records in stock Saturday (as they always do), the Bay View record retailer doesn’t appear to be doing anything special this particular Record Store Day. That’s totally fine, as there will still be interesting new and used records on sale from noon to 7 p.m. this Saturday.

Musical Memories
Though it doesn’t seem as if Musical Memories has anything specific planned for Record Store Day itself, it’s a downright awesome record store in Milwaukee that deserves some love. If you have time after hitting all these other places, stop by Saturday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Now that you know what’s going on, get out there and support your local independent record store this weekend (and all year long). Happy hunting!