PHOTOS: RICHIE DOWNS | Last year the DC Record Fair celebrated its 15th anniversary. Initially spawned as an ad hoc event at DC’s now-defunct Civilian Arts Gallery, to our surprise it’s grown to be a venerable DC institution. Gathering steam, the fair has subsequently been hosted by the Warehouse Next Door (RIP), Comet Ping Pong (folks, there’s no basement), the Black Cat, Artisphere, the Fillmore Silver Spring, Penn Social, and the Eaton DC hotel. And yet, another DC institution had proven elusive.
This changed on Sunday in a big way. The DC Record Fair finally made it to the legendary 9:30 Club where a line looped around the block long before the doors swung open. And frankly, the biggest buzz came not from the crowd and vinyl vendors alone, but it swept in a refreshed community spirit that until now had been typified by the Black Cat event right after “Snowmageddon” in 2010 when the club literally had to be dug out of the snow to invite people inside.
We’d like to extend sincere gratitude to the 9:30 Club and its team for opening its doors to us, and for the warm welcome and unyielding support we received. And our thanks to all of you for coming out, including the vendors and DJs. It was quite the day, and TVD’s Richie Downs was on site to capture the event in pixels.
