This year's Record Store Day Indonesia Market (RSDI) was held at Senayan Parks (or SPARKS) on 25-27 April 2025. The last time I went to this event was probably in 2022 at Kuningan City.

For the venue, it is very reachable (at least for me). I just have to embark at Stasiun Palmerah and then proceed to take Transjakarta 1B line and get off at the Taman Ria bus stop exactly in front of SPARKS. 

When you enter the lobby, you will instantly be greeted by a sign. The mascot occasionally wanders around. My friend and I think it looks like a cute version of coronavirus 🦠

The booth is divided into two areas: indoor and outdoor. The indoor one is in the lobby, while the outdoor one is near the lake. Yes, there's a lake within SPARKS.

When you go to the outdoor area, you will encounter a hallway where there's a mini stage and you can take photos there. There is also a small exhibition showing photos and album covers of several illustrators and photographers. 

A temporary monument is placed in the middle of the indoor area for Ricky Siahaan, the guitarist of Seringai, who passed away days before RSDI Market. You can stick stickers there; by the end of the last day of RSDI, the 'monument' is full of them. So sad yet so touching to see how he was (and is) so beloved by the music community. 

I was looking for Sam Fender, Balance & Composure, The Academy Is..., and Alexisonfire. Sadly, I didn't find any of them. BUUUUT I found all IDLES albums and even Fontaines D.C. Romance Record Store Day special. The clerk said the pressing is in pink 🩷 

Taken on different days, same sigh

To be honest, I prefer SPARKS for RSDI venue compared to Kuningan City. Aside from its accessibility, the division of indoor and outdoor booth areas is nice. Considering there are tons of people who smoke, so it doesn't feel stuffy. Because located inside a mall, finding food is easy and the prayer room is spacious and clean.

I know this is called "market", but I'm not really sure I can bargain for some of the stuff. I found two of the same cassette, one is IDR 30.000 but in the other booth it is IDR 100.000. I just nod when I hear the seller mention the price; I don't have the heart to make a bargain.

One of the most memorable moments happens when we visit a tenant who sells turntables. It is pretty late, around 8:30 or 9 p.m.. The seller suddenly says, "Take the stickers, it's okay." Because cute stickers are scattered around the turntables. That's when conversation hits. The seller or the owner is probably around 60-ish and he is very friendly. Being a good salesman, he says that the turntables are on sale only today but we politely decline. Truth be told, if I could afford to buy it, I would cop them right that second. Even when we are obviously just looking around, he continues talking and telling us his store locations. One day, when I decide to become a vinyl collector, I will go straight to this store, which is called PHR Records.    

le music cat sticker

The reason I don't collect vinyls (or other physical releases for that matter) is because I have trauma due to flooding disasters. How I collected those soaking wet cassette tapes is ingrained in my brain forever. So I'm still back and forth about buying a turntable and collecting vinyl, I probably just stick with buying band t-shirts and going to music events as of now.

In the end, I bought this cassette, I don't even have my Walkman anymore 😅. I don't know, it just feels odd not to buy anything. My friend bought Green Day guitar picks and one CD, also Green Day.

There's no bad song in this album

It was a great experience, my friend and I came two days in a row because we weren't satisfied with the digging. We felt like we hadn't searched that thoroughly.

It's cool to see people still eager to buy physical releases in the sea of streaming culture. I hope that I can contribute more one day.