STEAMBOAT

4 Steamboat Quay, Limerick

Tel. (061) 311 696

steamboat.ie

“It’s busier than any of our days at Christmas. We’ll probably open at 8am, but even if it was in the middle of the night there’d be queues outside. People really get into the spirit of the thing.” Steamboat’s Mark Carey is looking forward to Record Store Day 2018, which will once again be celebrated with much gusto – and just the right amount of mayhem! – in their riverside Limerick store. “We get very well treated by the labels and last year, for instance, had 15 copies of the David Bowie album, which was insanely difficult to get,” Mark resumes. “There are three Bowie records this year, so he’ll probably be the most in-demand artist again. Last April, we had 17 acts playing on the day, split between here and two of the nearby Dolan’s venues. This year we’re having Emma Langford, Síomha, Toucan and Hudson Taylor coming into us on April 1st for a pre-Record Store Day event – Harry and Alfie are playing at 2pm, which I imagine will be pretty crazy! – with more local acts throughout the day on April 21st.” Steamboat always goes the extra yard to support Limerick and Clare artists. “I’m really looking forward to the vinyl album Emma Langford is bringing out in the next few weeks: she’s amazing. Hermitage Green, Fox Jaw, Windings, Protobaby and Anna’s Anchor have all sold well on 12”. Our buyer, Damien, really knows his music so the racks are bursting at the moment with Irish artists on both CD and vinyl.” Mark and his Steamboat colleagues rose to the record store occasion in 2016 when HMV closed in Limerick. “If we hadn’t at that point decided to expand our existing music equipment business, the city would’ve been left without a dedicated record shop,” he reflects. “No record shop would eventually have meant less people enjoying and playing music. The selling of instruments being our lifeblood we stepped in, and I’m delighted we did because it means we’ve been part of this incredible reemergence of vinyl.” Subscribe to Steamboat’s mailing-list for the chance to win a €250 voucher, and be first in the Record Store Day queue, which means getting your pick of the goodies!