Vinyl fans queue for exclusive Record Day releases

Vinyl fans have queued throughout the night to get their hands on limited edition records made exclusively for independent shops celebrating Record Store Day (RSD) UK.

Regency Records in Stockton was one of six independent shops in north-east England taking part in the event, and the only one outside Newcastle.

The crowd began to gather at 20:30 BST on Friday night and Simon Pearson, who was first in line, said the event was good for the area because it was "like a community centre but with music".

The annual celebration of independent record shops was set up in the USA in 2007 with the first official event taking place the following year.

RSD's organisers said thousands of record shops across the world now took part, with more than 300 in the UK and Ireland.

Hundreds of special vinyl records are issued exclusively for the day, although not all shops stock all of the releases.

Ben Fearnley, who joined the queue at 04:00, said he had secured most of the records he wanted.

"I think to have it in the North East, and especially in Stockton, it's great to have that community spirit, coming in and seeing people from all walks of life today," he said.

The day had a great atmosphere and he had enjoyed getting to chat to people he had never met before, he said.

Two other people in the queue, Monty and Joel, joined a little later at 06:00 and each had a long list of records they were hoping to buy.

Monty said the industry was "being taken over by bigger brands".

"What we really need to do is accept that there's still the little shops out there and we just need to support them more," he said.

"It's good for young people to experience it as well, because now we're slowly losing touch with music, with electronic music, and we're slowly losing the true meaning of music in itself."

Joel said it was important to have "easy access" to these events as, previously, he had travelled for more than three hours to reach a shop taking part in Record Store Day.

The shop's owner, Stephen Thompson, said he opened it in 2024 because "Stockton needed a record shop".

This year is the second year he has taken part in the event.

"It's definitely the most exciting day of the year for any independent record shop," he said.

Like last year, the day had "exceeded expectations" and the queue had been "bonkers", he said.

"At a time when everything seems to be a bit downbeat and negative, it's so lovely to have things like this that just seem to be full of joy," he said.

"To bring that to Stockton is a buzz, it's class."

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