Mega Record Sale a big draw for vinyl fans

On a morning where many church-goers across the city prepared for Good Friday services, Aaron Vincent stood outside a community hall in south Edmonton, waiting to worship at a vinyl altar.

He, and hundreds of others, would soon be digging through thousands of albums at a massive record sale.

"There's something really sacred about it," Vincent said.

"I think when you find an album you love in vinyl, its got this big cover art, its got this big disc you have to put on."

The love of vinyl is something that Yuri Wuensch shares. He, along with his girlfriend, organized this weekend's Super Mega Record Sale as a way of encouraging those who share his passion.

"We wanted to turn these records out to the larger collecting community in Edmonton," Wuensch said.

All of the records at the sale are listed at what Wuensch described as "garage sale prices," costing a few bucks at most. Most of the vendors are collectors themselves who have purchased collections with thousands of records and are now getting rid of those they don't want.

Nostalgia in a digital world

In a time where buying a song can be done in seconds online, Wuensch said there's still something that draws people to vinyl records. The feeling of digging through stacks of records, looking for a treasure among hundreds of LPs, can't be replicated digitally.

"Nobody ever gets all that nostalgic about the time they downloaded an MP3," he said. "When you're digging for records and you find that record, you always remember where you were and when."

For many, it's not about the music. Wuensch remembers when he purchased a collection of records from the Roost, Edmonton's famous gay club that closed its doors in 2007. Left with thousands of extra albums, Wuensch put them up for sale.

But he soon found that many of the buyers weren't music lovers. Instead, they were Roost regulars who just wanted something to remember their time at the club.

"[They] just wanted a memento from that era."

Wuensch hopes the sale will help other vinyl-lovers build their collections. And while he says his main goal is to share his records with others, he does admit there are other benefits.

"The biggest dividend to me is clearing space," he said. "I'll actually be able to put things into my garage again."

The Super Mega Record Sale, being held by the Dead Vinyl Society, runs until Sunday at the Kenilworth Community Hall.