A day celebrating the beauty of vinyl is set to see the usual long queues outside the city's independent music shops this weekend.
Record Store Day is a highlight of the year for music fans who snap up their chance to revel in their passion and pick up some bargain buys at the same time. The global event turns the spotlight on our precious independent record shops and often proves a welcome boost to business.
Special vinyl releases are made exclusively for the day and many shops - such as Newcastle's JG Windows - will be hosting in-store performances. The first event of its kind took place in April 2008 and now stores across the world are involved in what is seen as a celebration for record store staff, customers and artists alike.
Read more: How Newcastle's Reflex Records celebrated the vinyl comeback last year
Among the official releases scheduled for this Saturday's Record Store Day will be Sam Fender's Wild Grey Ocean/Little Bull Of Blithe and The 1975's live performance with the BBC Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, available on LP, cassette and CD. There are scores more, by artists ranging from Ringo Starr to Dolly Parton and from Ocean Colour Scene to David Bowie, which will be available over the counter on a first-come, first-served basis, although not all shops will be stocking every release.
This year, more than 260 independents in the UK are due to take part in a day which has been said to have helped boost vinyl sales to a 30-year high. Newcastle has a proud reputation of independent record shops which are always keen to get in on the act.
The Record Store Day website highlights several around Newcastle which are signed up for April 22. Among them, old favourite JG Windows in the Central Arcade will be hosting three cracking live music performances during its special event on Saturday.
First to get the party mood under way there will be Downtown Lester Brown with a blast of funk rock at noon then the Midnight Jazz Club will serve up some prog rock and metal at 1pm before Beth Macari gets soulful at 2pm. There will be a music quiz too, offering visitors a chance to win JG Windows vouchers.
Other city stores celebrating the day will be RPM Music in Old George Yard; Vinyl Guru in Westgate Road; Reflex in Nun Street; Beyond Vinyl in the John Marley Centre in Muscott Grove and Beatdown Records in Clarendon House, Bewick Street. Then, beyond the city, Hot Rats Records in Waterloo Place, Sunderland, and Sound It Out Records in Yarm Street, Stockton will be celebrating too.
A spokesman for the event said: "While there’s only one Record Store Day a year, the organisation works with both independent and major labels throughout the year to create contests, special releases and promotions in order to spotlight the benefits of supporting these independent, locally-owned stores with music purchases throughout the year." For more about Record Store Day and shop locator information see here.
Read Next:
- North East festival guide to what's on and where throughout 2023
- Sam Fender surprises city bar with performance of new song
- Gateshead beer festival returns this April with huge line-up of brews, music and food - and special guest Si King
- See Sam Fender entertaining crowd at Alan Shearer Foundation fundraiser
- The Who include North East date on first tour in six years
