There’s a special kind of delirium that only music lovers understand, the kind that comes from stumbling home after a gig, ears still ringing, adrenaline still fizzing, knowing full well you’ve got to be up again in a few hours for something equally chaotic.
That was me. Home from Plymouth just after 1am, still wired from watching COSM tear the place apart. Into bed by 1:15. Asleep by… not then. Not for a while. My brain was still replaying riffs at 2am. And yet, at 6:09am, one minute before my alarm, I woke up victorious, as if I’d somehow beaten the system.
Clothes from the night before, bottle of water, keys, out the door. Newton Abbot was calling.
Record Store Day at Phoenix Sounds is never a quiet affair, but 2026 felt different the moment I arrived. The queue dominated the street. It wrapped around the corner, past the pub, and almost reached the old furniture shop. Easily over a hundred people by 7am, and that number didn’t seem to shrink even after the doors opened at 8.
And the dedication? Off the charts. Word was that the first people had arrived at 3:30pm on Friday, a full 16.5 hours before opening. That’s not commitment; that’s a lifestyle.
Some of the faces were familiar: Andy, Chris, Emma, the usual RSD faithful and members of the Album Assembly group, the monthly Newton Abbot vinyl meet-up where we talk records, drink pints, and enable each other’s collecting habits.
Roger and the Phoenix Sounds crew had set up a gazebo outside, manned by Charlie (ex-staff, still family), running a cash-only till to keep things flowing. Inside, the card machines were braced for impact.
Before the shutters lifted, I grabbed a few photos of the stock, and Roger had secured some absolute monsters this year. You could feel the tension in the queue as people clutched their lists like sacred texts.
Sleep Token’s caramel-filled 12” single was the talk of the early risers, a novelty pressing that felt destined to vanish instantly. The kind of item that becomes folklore.
David Bowie’s Hallo Spaceboy reissue had the collectors twitching too, a beautiful pressing that looked ready to teleport straight out of the racks.
Then there was the Bruce Springsteen Live from Asbury Park 5LP box, a heavyweight beast that had several people openly strategising about how to carry it home without dislocating a shoulder.
Self Esteem’s Cuddles 12” was another hot ticket, a release that seemed to attract both the diehards and the curious newcomers.
And of course, the Paramore All We Know Is Falling 2LP set, a reissue that had the younger crowd buzzing, especially those who’d discovered the band long after the original pressing became a grail item.
The George Harrison Dark Horse Zoetrope picture disc was one of the most visually striking items on the shelves, you could see people’s eyes widen as they realised how stunning it looked in person.
And tucked among the racks was one of the most delightfully niche releases of the day: the Video Game LoFi: Sleepy Pokémon Beats soundtrack. A gentle, dreamy, pastel-coloured slice of nostalgia that had more than a few people smiling as they picked it up.
This was a year where the variety was as impressive as the volume.
As the doors opened and people began filtering in, I spotted a father-and-son duo (Martin & Tom) I’ve seen before, the son had travelled down from London and was heading back on the 09:54 train, bag stuffed with vinyl to keep him company on the journey home. We laughed about the legendary £1000+ transaction from a couple of years back. Would today beat it? Early signs suggested… maybe.
Cakes and muffins were handed out. Bacon rolls and vegan alternatives arrived and disappeared almost instantly. People swapped stories, compared lists, and tried to keep warm.
Emma grabbed me for a quick TikTok live chat about the photo I took of her entering the shop last year. We joked about recreating it, and of course, we did.
Even the late arrivals, the ones who rolled up around 10am, still managed to tick off a surprising number of items. Roger’s stock levels were that good.
Will, who used to run the shop, was there too, as he always is. Helping people find what they were after, catching up with long-time customers, and adding to the sense that Phoenix Sounds isn’t a shop, it’s a community hub with a till. Everyone I spoke to was buzzing. Not in a frantic, competitive way, but in that warm, excited, “I can’t wait to get home and play this” way.
And interestingly, I didn’t spot many flippers this year. Maybe they were hiding. Maybe they stayed home. Or maybe, just maybe, the people who queued through the cold night were genuinely here for the music.
That thought alone made the morning feel even better.
By the time I left just before 10am, the biggest single transaction I’d heard of was just under £700. Whether the mythical £1000 record was broken again… well, I’ll have to check in with Roger once he’s recovered from the day and counted the takings.
The sun came out, the smiles stayed, and the tills kept ringing. Another Record Store Day at Phoenix Sounds — another reminder of why this little shop in Newton Abbot continues to punch far above its weight.
Until next year, folks.
Words and Pics by Steve Muscutt
