CALGARY – It features some of western Canada’s most prolific private collectors and on Sunday, hundreds of music lovers spent the day flipping through the stacks at the Acadia Rec Complex.
The Calgary Music Collectors Show started in 2008 and has grown along with people’s appetite for vinyl.
There’s just something about vinyl, the way it draws in music lovers and that has allowed it to hold on throughout the years.
“I love how you can just pick them up. I love how they sound. They sound so good. It sits there on your shelf whenever you want it,” said Dave Muir, owner of Sloth Records.
It’s a relationship that keeps people flipping through the stacks, record, after record.
“Get some dirt under your fingernails,” said Eraz Cohen, owner of Recordland.
The Calgary Music Collectors Show has grown a lot in eight years, as people are lured back to a time before technology changed.
“It’s definitely a comeback. Like I remember 10 years ago you’d only see middle aged guys at a show like this and now all ages you know. You name it, people are here,” said Mark Kerrigan, a DJ.
“Got CD’s for a bit in the 90’s, which I regret because I wish I had all that on vinyl,’ said music lover Dorian Dyckkahle.
Record shopping is resonating with a new generation of music lovers picking up some classics like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Green Day.
“I’ve probably got about 2,000 LP’s, and about 2,000 singles, which I know sounds like a lot, but then I know people who have 20,000 LP’s and it’s a relative and they know people who have storage containers with hundreds of thousands of LP’s,” Kerrigan said.
While many new records are being pressed, for some – the older, the better.
“Vintage records are in and they’re in with the younger kids too,” said Muir. “It’s way cooler to have the original press than it is to get something re-mastered and new – that costs way more.”
What’s old, is new again. Last fall the collectors show brought in nearly 700 people.