It happened at the world’s fair
RRPG Editor Daryl Easlea checks out the global record hub that is the Netherlands
Record Planet’s 58th Mega Record & CD Fair in the Netherlands showed signs that the world is returning to pre-covid normality. In the sprawling Brabanthallen Exhibition complex in ’s-hertogenbosch (known as Den Bosch), the three hangarlike halls boasted just shy of 600 stalls and some 500 dealers from across continental Europe, Scandinavia, South America and South Africa. It was the fifth time that Den Bosch has hosted, after the fair moved from Utrecht in 2022. It was a reunion for many attendees, some having visited the first in 1993. Reflecting the post-brexit scene, there were only 18 UK dealers, including stalwarts such as Vinyl Tap, Mr Bongo, Finders Keepers, Onion Vinyl and Mike Oxlong.
Ironically, the Netherlands was enjoying its first sunny days of the year, making organisers Stephan Van Zal and Elisabeth Matos worry about visitor numbers. They needn’t have, as 15,000 punters came over three days. “Though the weekend was the first with beautiful spring weather,” Van Zal noted, “many visitors from home and abroad came. It was the best spring edition that we’ve held at the new location. Proof of how lively the vinyl community is, and how strong the fair is”.
Day One: Friday 12/4/24
Traders Day saw many people scuttling between stalls with huge wedges of vinyl. Here the Euro is king, and the foyer cash machines were frequently emptied. There were huge sales of empty 35L XL storage boxes, piled high at the back entrance ready to hold folks’ stashes.
It was interesting to see how much ‘fodder’ – low-price singles, bargain bucket LPS – was about, and also the amount of ‘overstock’ €10-20E albums. Tubitek, from Lisbon, Portugal, had the market cornered for €20 albums in Hall 1. RC plugged at least one gap in the Miles Davis collection. However, there was still plenty of room for beautiful hardcore rarities. Stalls proudly displayed their most select wares in hanging PVC bags, Minty Vinyl, from Germany, having an original French Syd Barrett Golden Hair single for €15,000. At the other end of the scale, I delighted myself with global Isley Brothers compilations, including a bizarre 70s cash-in on US Pickwick’s This Old Heart Of Mine. Worth €5 of anyone’s green.
I also saw a beautiful eden abhez wooden box set, with 2LP, book, T-shirt, slipmat and poster. €69? Tomorrow, perhaps.
Day Two: Saturday 13/4/24
RC was in at 8am, watching the build-up. It was fascinating to see the informality of the Friday stalls replaced with the look and feel of shops ready for Christmas. I took a stop-motion film of those charging the doors at 9am. At lunchtime, Omega’s auction was riveting, with a great number of bids online. A Stones Satanic Majesties sessions acetate made £9,400, a No 13 ‘White Album’ £8,000, a superb The Clash Acklam Hall Christmas Day 1979 live poster, £1,100. And RC considered a flutter on the UK Janus pressing of Funkadelic’s majestic Maggot Brain. Sitting with my paddle, the opening (and closing) bid was £1,300. It’s £100 in the 2024 RRPG, and I was looking to put it in the next one at £200. Needless to say, RC didn’t bid.
At Cirese Marcello’s stall, RC held a copy of the aforementioned Syd Barrett single, in VG+, a snip at €10,000. The thrill of having one in your hands is almost as good as owning it. RC gave its card to a German dealer: “I work for a British magazine.” He looked quizzically at it, and said, “yyu work for the British music magazine – typical British understatement.” Soon afterwards, I was interviewed about the glories of record collecting, RRPG and RC, for Grant Stott’s show on BBC Scotland. The organisation team behind the fair is not unlike RC – a group of dedicated people, the core together for years – with a sense of a camaraderie, meeting twice a year. Oh, and eden ahbez became mine.
Day Three: Sunday 14/4/24
A more relaxed day, but lots of bargains to be had. However, crate-digging wasn’t helped by it being, like Saturday, one of the first truly hot days of the year in Holland. The main stage – which hosted the day before The 13th Floor Elevators’ Ron Leatherman, courtesy of fair doyens, Charly, a KISS acoustic tribute act (bizarre to see ‘Gene Simmons’ by the coffee machine) and, today, Shandon
Sahm – is run, as always, by DJ Miss Twist. “For almost 60 editions, the Mega Fair has felt like a second home,” she told RC. “I’m like a fish in water, and it always gives me a wonderful feeling to see that vinyl connects all kinds of people.” That was very true this year, as borne out by RC’S presence at the following week’s UK Record Store Day. The age range is a great deal broader than in previous years and, while the clientele remains mainly male, RC would wager that there were at least three times as many women purchasers as in the past. It’s easy for the old school to scoff at the joy of younger collectors holding a re-pressed The Beatles album, but the more vinylists the merrier, we reckon. One consequence, though, is the impact on bottom-end prices, as albums that were once strictly ‘fodder’ are now climbing in value, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours being an example.
So, to the stage discussion about the forthcoming RRPG. RC was interviewed by Jan Vollaard, Dutch rock elder. The location of the stage on a Hall throughfare meant that, like even the big acts, there wasn’t much of a crowd about, but attendant fair-ites listened intently and took photos. I brandished the first (1987) and latest RRPG editions, plus my Powerpoint potted history of the tome. I outlined that the upcoming RRPG will be a transitional volume, offering a ‘safe space’, a sense check and voice of reason, away from the big, shouty excitement of people paying well over the odds and inflating prices online that some hold as gospel. Everyone can find out the Guide prices this October.
In summary, after chatting to numerous dealers and attendees, it seems that the old warhorses continue to hold their value, albeit with something of a decline in 50s prices. The demand and values for scarce 90s/00s and current limited vinyl is sky high, though, so all looks well going forward.
Organiser Stephan Van Zal concludes: “A massive thank you to all the visitors, exhibitors, exhibition curators, bands, partners and suppliers for making this weekend’s fair an incredible success! Your passion and dedication to the world of vinyl and music made this event truly special. We can’t wait to welcome you all back in the second half of the year.”
I had to unpack my suitcase for Security at Schipol airport on the way home, as the scanner showed up a quantity of “round things” in my bag...