Austin Record Show 2017

[Bill Hart]

Visited today, starting a little after the early admission for nerds and dealers. Most folks were still getting set up, better show than the last one I went to a few years ago, bigger, more quality dealers. One guy from LA had all the big uber prog/psych records from the UK/Italy/Germany, of course not cheap, but he had quite a deep inventory (of course, not the record on my list, but why would anyone go to a Texas record show looking for a relatively obscure british record?). Lot's of psych, some jazz, some real western and country stuff, which I have very little depth in. One dude had a table with a box labelled "Metal-Punk." Next to it was a box labelled "Punk-Metal." I guess there are nuances to this.
I did see a great T-shirt, though. Ammo Supply House. I'm buying one for my wife for her trip back to NY. Will probably visit End of the Ear's relatively new location (new to me, anyway since they moved from South Congress sometime before I got back to Texas). It was a very good store, all used, bought a Decca Headline there for 10 bucks that was unplayed, still in the original outer bag. More later.

[Rob]

did the guy from LA have a b&m store in So Cal? there are a few vendors at our monthly record show that will make the drive from here to Austin for this event. they say its on the short list of 'must attend' shows.

[Bill Hart]

did the guy from LA have a b&m store in So Cal? there are a few vendors at our monthly record show that will make the drive from here to Austin for this event. they say its on the short list of 'must attend' shows.

No, no store. I was less than impressed with the first Austin show, it seemed like a lot of junk and tired copies of common records; this show was much better. Some of them didn't think the FMU show was worth going to, based party on distance, but some also had the perception that the FMU show wasn't all that good, which is contrary to my experience-- in fact, as I think Ken mentioned, it is probably the gold standard for used record shows in the States right now, though this Austin show was bigger, and though there were fewer "high ticket" dealers, there were a lot of serious records here. (I just shut off when I see walls of Beatles butcher covers, something I'm not particularly interested in). So, I'd say Austin and WFMU are now both worthwhile and both worth the trip. There were a few "pro" buyers (whether private collectors or buyers shopping for resale) that were evident too.

[Rob]

we get "pro" buyers at our monthly show, the Brits come over during summer holiday and hit up US shops for American pressings (counterintuitive huh?). i was standing shoulder to shoulder at our show with such a guy buying British acts on US vinyl. A week later I spot him at one of my secret hole in the wall vinyl shops, we locked stares like two wrestlers about to grapple it was weird

[Bill Hart]

The grass is always greener. Some releases are better on U.S. issues. Some of the 'pro' buyers are very nice, others are a little obnoxious compared to the more casual record show nerd. I know this sounds racist, but when I see an Asian man with a rolling suitcase at a show, I try to make sure I've gotten to a stall before, rather than after. I guess the Russians don't come- they send their proxies.