Shops gear up for Record Store Day

But this Saturday will likely see people queueing around the block at Leeds’s two best-known record stores – Jumbo and Crash – for the latest Record Store Day, writes Phil Harrison.

The annual event is now in its eighth year in the UK has helped a small 
resurgence in the number of independent record stores opening in the last couple of years, halting a once serious decline.

Artists including Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Marr and Gaz Coombes have all announced special releases for this year, in support of the kind of stores where they no doubt first started their musical journeys.

Jumbo Records’ manager Adam Gillison, said people started queueing outside the St John’s Centre, where it is based, from as early as 3am last year and expects a long queue of people to be waiting for the store to be open this time around.

The shop also has a handful of local bands playing to mark the occasion between 12-3pm on the day with Mik Artistik, Polar Bear, Marsicans and CryBabyCry all performing. George Clinton
is also due to appearinstore.

“Because all the releases are limited editions, there is always a long queue first thing in the morning,” he said.

“In a way it’s different from any other day of the year for us but, hopefully, it brings together all the different bits that we do as a store throughout the year into that one day.

“It’s nerve-racking for us, but it’s always exciting too and we always look forward to this time of year – it’s great.”

Crash Records on the Headrow will be giving the first 250 customers a free Live at Leeds tote bag. There will be various freebies inside these bags and one of them will also contain a golden ticket which will allow the winner and one guest to have VIP wristbands for the multi venue ‘Live at Leeds’ festival on Saturday 2nd May. This will get them into any of the gigs that day and give them special access to the guest bar.

Used vinyl specialists Dragnet Records will be open on Record Store Day. Located in the basement of Crash Records they buy, sell and exchange vinyl. They will have refreshments available on the day and will also be offering a very reasonably priced record cleaning service.

Philip Leigh of Norman Records, based in Holbeck, added: “We’ll be serving cakes and coffee, including our own special Record Store Day 2015 blend, from inside our 1960’s brutalist style office block.

“We’re looking forward to Record Store Day as it’s an opportunity to get folks down to our premises and show them that we are real humans. Record Store Day is an opportunity to meet our customers and look at their excited faces.”

For details of all Record Store Day releases, visit http://recordstoreday.co.uk/