Milwaukee Music Fans Line Up Early to Purchase Exclusive Records

On North Farwell Avenue, Record Store Day in Milwaukee gathered hundreds of music fanatics to be one of the first to purchase exclusive vinyl available for the first time. Lilliput Records opened in August of 2022; this is the second record store day this location has hosted. 

Record Store Day is an annual worldwide event celebrating local, independently owned record stores every third Saturday in April. At Lilliput Records, owner Tanner Musgrove made the most of the day, celebrating with free raffles, community partnerships and free Summerfest tickets for the first people to line up. The earliest guests arrived at 7:30 p.m. the night before hoping to buy a Record Store Day “First Release” from Sabrina Carpenter, “Feather” on 7” vinyl.

“When records are in high demand, there’s no way we will get all the quantities that we ordered,” said Musgrove. “Sabrina Carpenter was one of the titles we got hit the heaviest with. We ordered upwards of 60, but we only got one.”  

The local record store owner knows their dedicated customers celebrate this annual day yet did not anticipate the crowds to gather earlier than midnight. In addition to the limited supply of Sabrina Carpenter’s release, the next most sought-after record comes from Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club” on 7” vinyl. Lilliput only received eight of these limited “First Release” records. 

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student Benjamin Moyle was ready to bear the night early the night before the store opened, arriving at 11:30 pm. He is majoring in American Sign Language Studies and chose to be one of the first to buy Noah Kahan’s album “I Was/I Am” and the 5^th anniversary edition of “Nothing Happens” from Wallows.  

“Getting your hands on cool records makes the entire experience worth it,” said Moyle. “I would recommend standing out in the cold for a few hours to everyone; it’s very humbling.” 

Before the store opened, the weather was just above freezing temperatures. Lilliput made the wait worthwhile offering raffle tickets with each purchase. Winners will receive free tickets to local music venues such as Vivarium, X-Ray Arcade and Pabst Theater. According to Lilliput’s Instagram and collaborations with the Milwaukee community, the first 50 customers at checkout received custom Vivarium tote bags filled with stickers from the Pabst Theater Group venues. 

“We heard people are going to start lining up at midnight, we want to give them an incentive to brave the weather,” said Musgrove. “We are expecting it to be bigger than last year.” 

Summerfest sponsored Milwaukee Record Store Day, including locations like Lilliput Records, Rushmor Records and Volta Records. Each location was given free general admission tickets and received 70 exclusive Summerfest themed vinyl slip mats for customers’ newly purchased records. 

“One of our main ideas with opening Lilliput is just making it more community-based, and working with local businesses,” said Musgrove. “It feels really good. It feels like a sense of community.”  

Throughout the entire day, customers continued to shop. This filled the shop with music fans on the lookout for their next exclusive purchase. Lilliput also welcomed live performances from Friko and Jinksie to end the Record Store Day celebrations.