Philly Plain Dealer

This weekend at the 23rd Street Armory record collectors of all ages and walks of life descended upon the massive physical-media market dubbed “VinylCon.” Around the Armory was an impressive collection of rare records from the 1960’s straight through 2024. No genre was unrepresented, no niche uncatered to.

“Great people, great connections, other great dealers! It’s been steady, good crowd!” remarked Chris Haug, one of the record dealers at VinylCon. Haug, himself is a music archivist focused on preserving “all of Delaware’s music history, going all the way back to the 1940s.” Haug continued “Delaware’s always had a great jazz scene back in the 1950s, we’ve had the Clifford Brown Music Festival every year since the 80s, there was some great 80s hip-hop, there’s great 60s garage bands from Delaware – so I’m just trying to archive that and tell the story of bands in Delaware and artists that came through Delaware.” 

There was a shared love of music and music history that permeated the space. Rare unreleased Frank Ocean sat on top of a pressing of Mac Miller’s Tiny Desk Performance, next to a crate filled exclusively with Black Sabbath records. Many of the vendors were from out-of-state giving Philly residents a chance to see vast collections of records they’d never seen before. 

Dwayne Matthews, who is originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, brought a vast collection of hip-hop records including a box filled with old-school New York mixtapes, many from the Bronx. “VinylCon is nothing short of amazing,” Matthew began. “Business has been great, the conversation have been better. I think the organizer Kobi has done a phenomenal job to bring everyone together to share their love of vinyl and wax.”

The organizer Kobi Waldfogel was busy at work MC-ing the day’s event, announcing all of the DJs that were exclusively spinning vinyl. VinylCon was well attended and the crowd was diverse in every possible way! 

In the age of streaming when songs can be changed, removed, or replaced on streaming services, the desire to own physical media is growing. “In a world where there’s a lot of uncertainty, when things can be taken from you whether their rights or religion, the feeling of something physical that’s in your living room, knowing that it’s there and it’s yours is special,” explained Matthews. 

VinylCon was a music nerd’s dream. Everywhere you looked there was something to see, and as you searched crates you overheard arguments over albums and front men. Keep an eye out for VinylCon, you’re not going to want to miss it the next time it comes to Philly.