There was vinyl and milk crates as far as the eye could see Sunday at Allandale Recreation Centre.
Plenty of people, too, found time to take in the Barrie Vinyl Record and Collectibles Show.
Record albums new and old, battered and pristine, were for sale, along with music posters, tapes and even compact discs, which replaced vinyl records in the 1980s, only to be replaced themselves with the new and improved LPs.
But for Jessie Woodrow of Moonstone, attending this show is just a different experience than buying music in a store or online.
“You get to meet people with similar interests and find music you might not see in the stores,” she told BarrieToday flipping through albums. “Sometimes I like the used records because they have a story to tell. You see it on the wear on them (the LPs).”
John Ritson calls himself an independent music vendor and his location was busy at Sunday’s record show.
“First, it’s a great social event, a meeting of similar minds,” he said, surveying the throng of people fingering through vinyl, talking vinyl, and buying vinyl. “The selection is incredible.”
And unlike most music stores, where the price is usually the price, there’s a little wiggle room at this show. The immediate competition helps, too.
“Here, you’ve got to be aggressive with your pricing,” Ritson said. “There’s usually negotiation, especially if you have bought enough stuff.”
He knows that records wear out, the turntable’s needle taking its toll on an LP after 20 or so listens.
But that’s not the attraction.
“It’s the sound you grew up with,” said Ritson, explaining vinyl’s popularity. “It is unique and cannot be duplicated. It’s the warm sound you grew up with.”
He said his customers are a mix of vinyl music lovers and collectors.
