After 35 years, Capricorn Records will leave the Warrnambool landscape later this month..but not without a send-off.[dropcap style=”color: #a02f2f;”] T [/dropcap]he closure of Warrnambool’s iconic Capricorn Records later this month will not pass without an encore.
A limited-ticket, public tribute to the iconic record shop – which opened 35 years ago when records were still records- is being planned for Saturday night, September 20 at the Ozone Room, Warrnambool Hotel.
The tribute will be hosted by the Warrnambool Spinners, which is a fluid but enthusiastic collection of locals loyal to vinyl records who regularly get together to spin selections from their collections and dance until the early hours.
Capricorn Records owner Mick Fitzgerald is a Spinner, but he had no idea the tribute night was being planned and, to those who know Mick, he is not one for leaping into the limelight – unlike one of the people he physically resembles, Mick Jagger.
But as one Spinner told Bluestone, this tribute is not actually about Mick, it’s about Capricorn Records.
The shop has has been integral to the local live music scene and in broadening the musical tastes of those who grew up buying the “latest Top 40 single” and coming away with, at the very least, subliminal exposure to the Rolling Stones, Dylan, Van Morrison or whoever else was being played on the shop turntable at the time.
The Capricorn Records shop windows reflect its wide-ranging collection of stock: if you can name even half these faces, you are a potential Spinner in the making.[dropcap style=”color: #a02f2f;”] M [/dropcap]y how times have changed, but Mick knew the writing was on the wall.
When Bluestone – before we were Bluestone – visited his shop back in the early 2000s, he spoke about the emergence of mp3 players and digital music. Then along came streaming…
Capricorn eventually moved out of its Liebig St location, which was previously Kris Kerr Records (and is now Kathmandu), into the much smaller Koroit St store.
But even that shop has proven too big for the seismic shift in how we buy and consume music. It is impossible to stop change, but it doesn’t mean we can’t mourn the passing of an era.
Capricorn Records will close on September 26.
[box] There will be only 100 tickets available to the Capricorn tribute night, at $5 per head. As a Bluestone reader, you have early access to tickets before they are offered to the wider public. Simply email royreekie@googlemail.com and say you read it in Bluestone to reserve a place.[/box]
[button link=”http://the-terrier.com.au/subscribe-2/” type=”icon” icon=”heart” newwindow=”yes”] Did you enjoy this story? Please subscribe here to help Bluestone thrive.[/button]
You might also enjoy….
Brady aims for jackpot in Las Vegas: Brady James