Independent Dublin music shop Freebird Records will be one of only four retail outlets in the world to sell U2's Black Friday single when it's given a very limited edition release this week.
The band are releasing only 750 colored vinyl 12-inch copies of their song The Blackout to mark the annual day of consumer fever that is Black Friday and Dublin institution Freebird, which is located on Wicklow Street, will have the highly collectible disc in stock.
"Two of the shops are in the states, the other is Rough Trade in London and we're the fourth," Freebird's Brian Foley told RTE Entertainment. "It's very prestigious. We were approached to take the limited edition by Forte Records who do distribution for Tower and Freebird in Dublin."
Watch the TMP manufacturing process for U2's "The Blackout", available on Black Friday. #thirdmanrecords #thirdmanpressing @U2 pic.twitter.com/5YJyg6E1rb
— Third Man Pressing (@thirdmanpress) November 21, 2017
According to Freebird's website, "This is a Black Friday release only, and customers will have to call in to Freebird in person to pick up a copy on Friday the 24th of November. 1 copy per person while stocks last. There will be no reserves or online sales for this release."
Released on Jack White's Third Man Records, The Blackout will also be available on customary black vinyl on Black Friday.
Freebird has been a mainstay of the Dublin music scene since 1978 when it opened on Grafton Street. It has moved location several times, including to a basement location on Eden Quay, and is currently located on the city's Wicklow Street, not far from its original home.
U2 themselves were regular visitors to Freebird in the late seventies and early eighties. "They used to come in quite a lot," says Brian, who has run the shop since it opened.
https://t.co/vINilTYsHw Available Instore This Friday 10am @U2 @thirdmanrecords pic.twitter.com/nOsEMQD9rF
— Freebird Records (@FreebirdRecords) November 21, 2017
"I remember The Edge buying a copy of The Velvet Underground and Nico but they stopped coming in when they got famous."
"We also sold more copies of U2's debut album Boy than any other shop in the country for the first six months of its release." adds Brian.
Other well-known visitors to Freebird have included Robert Plant, who dropped in back in 2014 to buy albums by blues icon Bobby Bland, the McGarrigle Sisters, Minnesota band Low, as well as various rock 'n' roll compilations and some Ray Charles.
Green Day, Bob Dylan and the late Grant Hart of Hüsker Dü also visited Freebird over the years.
The Blackout is one of the tracks on U2's new album Songs of Experience, which is released on December 1.
