This Saturday droves of music fans will descend on Leeds to support local retailers as the part of the fourth Record Store Day UK.
Long queues will form outside Jumbo and Crash as music lovers battle for the chance to buy more than 400 exclusive Record Store Day releases to support their local music independent outlets.
We rightly hear a lot about supporting local coffee shops and independent cafes, but the reality is you can’t buy a coffee or humus sandwich online. Frankly, if a coffee shop goes under, so what? Another will be along shortly, but once record stores go under then they are gone forever from our high streets.
Record shops like book stores are incredibly vulnerable to the seemingly relentless onslaught of the web with the big players virtually giving stuff away.
That’s why Record Store Day was created to remind music fans of the joy of browsing in a store, finding that gem you’re always craved and talking to friendly, knowledgeable staff. You don’t get that from clicking onto Amazon.
We’re lucky to have two outstanding retailers in Leeds which is why fans start queuing from seven in the morning to show their support, and get some really special exclusive vinyl goodies with 392 releases on this supposedly obsolete medium. It’s worth remembering vinyl sales have shot up 40% in the last year thanks in the main to local record stores.
But Saturday is not some sort of music snob love in where a load of vinyl bores chase obscure releases. Music fans can also line up for new releases by Abba, Bowie, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Kate Bush and The Boss. There really is something for every taste.
I’ve just got my stereo out of cold storage and am working through my large vinyl collection. There is something exciting about putting a record on and then 20 or so minutes later getting up to change it over. Old school it may be, but I am listening to whole albums again….magical.
I will be there on the day as I am after a 7 inch of Ryan Adams covering Bob Mould classics and some limited Pete Townsend Quadrophenia 7s.
So here’s what is going on in Leeds this Saturday:
Jumbo
There are instore appearances from:
Dodgy
Still Corners
Just Handshakes (We’re British)
The Staves
To Kill a King
Various Cruelties
Jumbo will open at 9am, but the St Johns Centre will be only be open from 8am, so there should be some respite from wet and cold weather if you’re an early morning queuer. If you queue before the shopping centre opens, then do so at the Headrow side – Dortmund Square (near Sainsbury’s and the statue of the man with the barrel). These shopping centre doors will open first, and Jumbo would ask that people walk up to the shop in an orderly fashion when the centre opens – no queue jumping or stampedes please!
Their next door neighbours, Cafe Giardino, will be open from 8 a.m., and they do drinks to take away as well as to consume on their premises.
If you are visiting Leeds by rail, you might want to consider visiting the excellent Layne’s coffee bar on New Station Street – two minutes walk from the station – as they are brewing a special Record Store Day coffee for the day and are open from 8 a.m.!
For those of you who fancy a beer later on, the official RSD beer Revolver, courtesy of Yorkshire’s own Revolutions Brewing Co, will be available in North Bar on New Briggate.
Jumbo will place some restrictions on what you can buy – certain titles will be strictly limited to one per customer to allow a fair spread for everyone and cut down on any potential profiteering after the event, which is something that they are committed to trying to reduce as much as possible.
The day is about music fans and the record shops that they support, and should NOT be abused in an effort to make a quick buck.
Crash
Crash are reminding customers that they cannot pre-order any of the releases, and none of them will be available online. Stock will be sold on a first come first served basis from 9:00am on Record Store Day.
Once again this year Crash will be giving the first 75 people in the queue outside the shop the opportunity to reserve one item from the list of available stock (subject to availability). They will then open at 9am, and when customers get to the counter they collect and pay for the item they have reserved and are then allowed to purchase a maximum of 15 additional releases from the Record Store Day list (no more than one copy of anything though).
Crash would suggest that people either print off the list or make a note of the releases they wish to purchase, this will then make life easier for all concerned and help the queue move along quickly. They have tried to get as much stock as possible of the most popular titles, and have covered just about everything that is on the list.
So they are very hopeful that as many people as possible who call in to Crash on Record Store Day will get what they want. Any stock that doesn’t sell on Record Store Day will continue to be sold ONLY in the shop until Saturday 28th April, and any remaining stock will be made available online.
Check out available goodies from both shops at: