Sacramento's record stores are world class. On Saturday, April 18, several record stores in the grid proved it during International Record Store Day, a celebration of real, physical record stores -- as opposed to online behemoths or corporations who sell music.

Over 500 record stores across the country participated in the second annual celebration held on the third Saturday of every April.

"Some of the best records stores in the entire country are in Sacramento," Hip Hop artist and record collector Lyrics Born said in a previous Sacramento Press article.

"I think the record store is vastly under appreciated," said former 30-year Tower Records employee Mike Farrace outside of R5 records on 2500 16th Street, Tower's original location. Not only was he visiting R5 for Record Store Day, but he was also there to sell collectibles obtained by his company OptikRock, which has been selling Rock and Roll memorabilia since 2003.

If you are a local, die-hard music geek, you might also know Farrace as brainchild, publisher, and editor of Tower Records' Pulse magazine which ran for nearly twenty years.

But aside from the music intellectuals, record collectors, and the normal customer, there were many newcomers at R5 to appreciate the store. The store also had a handful of live bands playing all day including Silver Darlings (pictured) who drew a crowd.

"Part of the malaise with shopping is that when you go to the mall, there is always the same stuff," said Ernie Boetius, owner of Ernie B's Reggae, under a tent in R5's parking lot. Boetius, who owns a Reggae distribution company which holds a stock of over 300,000 Reggae records and 200,000 CDs, brought a small collection of records which he sold outside the store.

Other record stores like the Beat held slightly lower-key celebrations, but displayed a special Record Store Day selection of exclusive releases all day long. As a bonus for purchasing a record during Record Store Day, the Beat's customers received samplers and goodie bags tailored to each customer's purchase.

"We've been a lot busier because of it," said the Beat's manager, Eric Cadwell.

Two blocks away, Pearl Records, located inside Bows and Arrows clothing store at 1712 L Street, offered appraisals for record collections, and an open invitation to talk about anything record related. The store's owner, Chris Ferris, who has anywhere between 2,000-7,000 records in his personal collection at any time, spoke with Sacramento Press about the record culture in Sacramento.

"Sacramento's record stores are very good. There are many record hounds in Sacramento who search garage sales and record stores for rare records. Tower and Valley Records introduced a large volume of records into the area," he said.

"This should be done several times a year," Boetius added.