Take A Left At Eden Street, I'll Be Waiting By The Door

Last week was the tenth anniversary of Banquet Records opening in Kingston and as a long time customer, I'd like to show them some love. Owner Jon Tolley and his team deserve recognition for their contribution to the south west London music scene. The shop itself is one of the few places in the UK that caters for punk/pop-punk/emo fans like myself, stocking vinyl that simply isn't available elsewhere on the high street. But leaving that aside, they've worked tirelessly to put on shows of all different sizes in all sorts of venues, from the tiny room in the back of The Fighting Cocks to the more civilised surroundings of the Rose Theatre to their club night New Slang.
  
Tolley has written about his experiences here. I love this blog and not just because it's the only time I'll ever see New Found Glory and Kevin Devine name checked in the Guardian. I love it because it sums up everything great about Banquet and the enthusiasm and passion that goes into everything they do. Thanks to them, I've seen intimate performances and great gigs from the likes of Frank Turner, Yellowcard, Set Your Goals, Reel Big Fish, Modern Baseball and Sonic Boom Six. They're also responsible in part for my massively dwindling finances. Because I like nice things too much. But I was lucky enough to win in their anniversary competition and bagged myself some lovely swag (pictured below).

I decided to take a trip to their Eden Street address on Record Store Day last year. A three hour wait in a queue later had convinced me not to do it again. But it also convinced me that the market for physical music was very much alive and well. Banquet still have an enormous role to play in that. Here's to another ten years.