Anybody still go to record shows?

I got the big one on Long IslAnd a couple times a year. Some good bargains to be found.

 

I buy 2-3 records a month on average. Half are new artists, so you buy that new. The other half are a lot of duplicates because I want the best copy I can get for all my keepers.

I've been to one record show my entire life. I got a good deal on a lot of records I wanted. As my collection grows… there's less I'm aware of that I want.

In theory, you only listen to about 400 records a year. Many you want to hear several times a year. Just how many records are practacle to own? In truth, I often spin something a few times and realize it's not a keeper, so it moves to my sell/trade pile. My sell trade pile is about 150 records now. My keepers are at about 400. That's really all the bigger I want my collection to get. Every so often it's time to go through the keepers and ask myself "should I really keep this one?" Am I going to listen to it again this quarter?

Then there are genres I know I'd like but I don't know what to get. I want a few Spanish guitar albums, (flamenco rolled in) but I don't know "what" to buy. Same with Jazz. I hear some I like but don't know who is like that to buy more. (I only like Happy Jazz) recordshows are tough cause of all those reasons.

 

I operate the same way...just replace "record" with "CD". I often keep the same disc in a player for days.

 

I go to two or three a year, and always find some neat stuff. I don't think I'd enjoy them a much if I went any more often.

My favorite time is the last hour or two, when dealers are really looking to move stuff. I've gotten some ridiculous last minute deals.

 

I go to all the local shows because I love the smell of one dollar records.
I also get to see Gort Jerry who smells a lot better.

 

I always enjoyed that Brighton show. Is it still at the Brighton Centre along the seafront? When I moved back to London I rarely had the time to go back down for the show. I didn't have any friends who were into record/cd shows like I was and the ones that were could never be bothered to wake up or would forget. lol

A regret not going to the Utrecht show when I lived in England. Considering the size of it and it being only two days...I can't imagine I'd have been able to visit all the vendors. The photos make it look quite daunting.

 

Discogs and eBay have been indispensable for me in terms of sourcing records on my want list. Without those two I'd have 2/3rds less records, if not even less records.

Last year I did hit a wall when it came to these shows. One in particular has been getting more and more popular and after they changed their early bird entry for 8:30 to 9:00 even the early bird entry is very busy considering the size of the show. One stall in particular is so popular it almost feels like a battle ground. It all started feeling rather stupid and silly, especially when you think you can get a lot of the stuff from the comfort of your own home. lol

But I still enjoy going to shows. I just avoid the craziness and stick to other sellers first. I also really like the early bird entry. We're usually done by 11 or noon and then we head down to the pub. I go with a friend and our tradition is always the same, down to Hurricanes (named after the boxer in the Dylan song). order a pint, switch bags and go through each others purchases and talk about them. Then we put them away and get drunk. I think I like that part best.

Still trying to convince my friend to head over to Brooklyn for the WFMU show but it clashes with his SXSW plans as that usually drains him of cash, which is fair enough.

 

With me, it's started to become a habit of organizing vacations around record shows - this year it's Amsterdam and Buena Park, next year Eugene (which I'm managing to turn into an epic west coast train journey). Record shows are great, it's easy enough to get stuff on discogs but I love the thrill of the hunt and have found a lot of records by just browsing that I would have never discovered by online shopping.

This is exactly what my husband and I do after shows, and it's the thing I most look forward to! Not so much the drunk part (I usually have to drive) but same idea.

 

@nancybrooke Yeah it's definitely a nice thrill when you find something unexpectedly at these shows. I don't even really have a want list per se. I try and go through as many tables as I can. Sometimes you think it's a dud table and then you come across some great stuff.

 

My brother and I spent a lot of time back in the 90s going to record shows up and down the North East section of the country with the mecca being Valley Forge's Thanksgiving Weekend extravaganza.

Can't say we have done much traveling since the internet makes finding stuff a much easier experience.

 

No, I don't like dealing with dealers when I can shop from the same sources and pay the same prices they do. Most people don't want that kind of hunt.

 

'Vinylman' has sadly retired from running the fairs at the Brighton Centre. There's the odd one at Komedia but it isn't great.

Thankfully there are enough good shops across Brighton / Eastbourne / Worthing to make most days a record fair if I wanted to .

I think 'VIP' are running a fair at Brighton racecourse in the next few weeks that will allegedly be the biggest in town for a while. But I will be in France in holiday so haven't paid it that much attention.

 

I went to the one in Albany, NY today and had a good experience. A shopper next to me was handing back to a dealer the red-Atlantic-label, Canadian pressing of Led Zeppelin's first album; it wasn't the right condition for him. I asked him what is special about that pressing and he said it had its fans and explained about the red label. I directed him to where I had just seen the Canadian red-label edition of LZ III, and he bought that. It was another he'd been looking for and he was thrilled to find it. Crowded room today, and a little hot. Another dealer was playing the Jackson 5's "ABC" 45RPM. My son wanted to buy it but it wasn't for sale.

 

They come to me.

 

I think I averaged one record show a month back in the 90s. I didn't like waking up early on a Saturday morning, but record shows were the best way to find titles on your want list and check out the selection of "imports" that the local record stores didn't (or couldn't) stock.

EBay really killed record shows for me. Suddenly, I found nearly every title I was looking for and didn't really have a need to dig through crates from the same dealers I'd already visited a half dozen times previously in the year.

Now it's gotten to the point that my want consists of titles that are obscure to the point that they may only show up on eBay or Discogs once a year (or maybe once every couple of years). If the thousands of sellers on eBay don't have it, the 25 dealers at my local record show likely don't have it either.

Plus, skipping record shows means I don't have to give up my Saturday morning sleep-in.

 

Yep, i still do and thoroughly enjoy them. Together with like-minded music fanatics (with often different taste in music) on the hunt! Although the vinyl comeback had a big impact on me (and my wallet!) i also still buy CD's. And that what's making these record fairs extra interesting. New and second hand CD's
are often dirt cheap. I've been to a record fair last weekend and the next one is in march. Usually only about 1/4 or 1/3 of the music i buy is actually on my wanted/wish list. Last weekend i bought the Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won - Super Deluxe Boxset (4LP, 3CD, 1DVD). I had zero plans regarding buying any LZ when i walked into the builing......

 

I had not been to a record fair in many years, but last year I went to the one in Reading as some posters here said it generally isn't as overpriced as the ones up in London. Sure enough, I did find a few things at reasonable prices.

 

I went to one actual/official record show, probably close to 25 or 26 years ago now... I found some things, and there were other things that I would have liked to buy, but had no money at the time...

There used to be flea markets held monthly around here, but those stopped probably close to 15 years ago at the very least (probably longer than that actually)... There were two guys that were always there, and they usually had some nice stuff and I got to know them a little bit so they knew what I was looking for and would let me know if they had anything new... One of the guys was even featured in a local newspaper talking about his collection and buying and selling... He was going to set up a website to sell online, but I don't think that ever came to fruition-Haven't seen him in a good ten years or so, and that was at a music fest, not a record show or flea market...

Nowadays, there's one record/CD/music collectibles show held each Fall (they might hold one in the Spring as well, IDK for sure)... I've yet to go to one of those...

 

I've only been to one show in my life about 7 years ago, just a small regional affair. It was pretty much a waste of time although I did pick up a clean mono copy of Percy Sledge-When A Man Loves A Woman for $4. I have attended Jerry's vinyl dollarpaloozas a few times which seemed more of a warehouse sale than record show. The first one was good, the second not as, the third I passed on. I'm too rural to be near record shows and it's not worth it to me to travel hours just to be disappointed. Plus, it's to the point where my want list is more obscure and HTF stuff. Although,If I'm in an urban area on other business or pleasure and there's one nearby I'd seek it out.

 

I go to about 50% of the ones here. They are just so early and I like to sleep in and by the time I get there a lot of stuff is gone. There is something about finding that one album in person compared to Discogs (which I do use)...

 

St. Louis (a two hour drive) has one every other month, but I've never been. I do enjoy our local annual library fundraiser which usually has several crates of donated albums.

 

Yes, Second Sunday of every month in my home town. Free admission. Been going to this show since the mid eighties. Couple of dealers focusing on the 80's keep me coming back.

 

Wow, I haven't even thought about a record show in at least a decade, and it's been closer to 15 years since I've actually been to one. I used to go to the big record show here in Austin back in the 1980s and 1990s, where we'd get dealers from all over the state (and other states) and there would be more to buy than I could possibly afford.

Then the Internet came along and I liked being able to get what I wanted, when I wanted it. I lost all interest in record shows at that point. The only reason I went to the last one I did (probably in 2003 or 2004) was because it was about two blocks from my house in an old abandoned retail space. I didn't buy a single thing -- not for lack of trying, but because there just wasn't anything I wanted there. I've never even considered going to one since then.

 

Stopped a year or so ago. Cutting my losses. Most of what I buy is reissues anyway and available elsewhere.