The D.C. Record Fair has become a vinyl-nerd fixture over the last couple of years, and for its next iteration on Feb. 13, it's setting up shop in Rosslyn's Artisphere.
The multi-use arts center is something of a departure for the fair, which has previously taken place at Comet Ping Pong, the Black Cat, and U Street Music Hall. Co-organizer Jon Meyers announced the event today on his blog The Vinyl District.
"If we've heard anything," Meyers tells Arts Desk, " it's been that the overcrowding has been an issue." That was certainly the case last February at the Black Cat, as Jason Cherkis reported on Arts Desk at the time. Around 1,500 people attended the fair that day -- many of them drawn, no doubt, by a DJ set by Ian MacKaye.
The most recent record fair -- this past fall at U Street Music Hall -- drew around 500 to 550 people, Meyers says, but even that event felt crowded. "Even as an organizer, I've waited to browse," he says.
(I didn't get much browsing done myself that day, but between solid DJ sets and UHall's delicious pho dog, I was happy.)
Artisphere's spacious ballroom should mean more than enough space for the event's 30-plus vendors. And the organizers will make use of the building's various other spaces. For example, Meyers says, they're hoping to screen Burn to Shine (the ongoing concert DVD series of Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty and filmmaker Christoph Green) in one of Artisphere's theaters.
As for the guest DJs, expect an announcement soon.
Meyers' Vinyl District added websites in eight other cities this week -- and, says Meyers, it'll soon be adding at least two more. Look soon for Vinyl Districts in Austin and Cleveland.
D.C. Record Fair Moves to Artisphere was originally published by Washington City Paper on Jan 5, 2011
