Record Store Day isa smash hit withthe eager crowds

Scores of people were queuing from Friday evening outside host record shop Pie and Vinyl, Castle Street, in Southsea to beat the rush and purchase sought-after vinyl releases available only for this popular event.

The owner of Pie and Vinyl, Steve Courtnell, told The News the event had gone from strength to strength in the four years the store had been hosting it.

‘People were here from 5pm last night with the queues steady till the morning.

‘The atmosphere in the queue is great — it’s not your conventional queue. You can make some really great friends.

‘It’s a wonderful spirit.’

Eight live bands including Jerry Williams, Cabbage and Haley played outside the store to the crowds.

Chris and Tanya Gill decided to miss the event in their home town of Bournemouth and make the trip down the M27 to Portsmouth.

Chris said: ‘We just love the record shop and are looking forward to buying some vinyl. We came to this event last year and thought it was a really nice atmosphere so we thought we would come back.’

Tanya added: ‘It’s a really big event and they had lots of stock last year and we were able to get some really good David Bowie stuff.’

For friends Alex Griffith and Steve David it was their first Record Store Day in Southsea. Steve said: ‘I’ve attended one of these in London, which was good, but I’ve heard the Southsea event is a great occasion too.’

Alex added: ‘It will be good to check out the record store which has a great reputation and see what special edition vinyls they have. It is a great atmosphere down here.’

In Fareham, Heathen Chemistry Records celebrated their first Record Store Day after only opening ten months ago in West Street.

Owner Simon Dampier said: ‘Record Store Day is a great event to have and I think lots of people have come back to records because everything has moved to downloads and there is nothing tangible to hold.’

He added: ‘It means listening to an album the way the artist intended.’