Crate Diggers Daylong Record Fair and Concert Will Sate Your Vinyl Obsession

Vinyl heads are a dying breed. At a time when music lovers can carry around the entire discography of every artist they love on a keychain, it’s growing tougher for lovers of records to find a place to dive headfirst into a mountain of vinyl to search for something rare or forgotten.

Fear not, dusty-black-gold hunters! A special event is coming to Miami next month that should more than scratch your vinyl itch.

Crate Diggers, a daylong concert and vinyl fair put together by the crowdsourced vinyl-database site Discogs, comes to Gramps March 18. The event is a celebration of vinyl heads and their craft, as well as a throwback way to bring together members of the music-collecting community to discuss their passion.

Sometime next week, Crate Diggers says, it expects to release a lineup of local DJs who will perform. In each city the group has visited, it has attracted local talent to keep the crate-digging party going.

UPDATE: Ron Trent, Rich Medina, and Zernell will play Crate Diggers’ event in March.

Crate Diggers LA 2016 recap video. Shout out to our Sponsors: @discogs @pioneerdjusa @grimyz @101apparel @mastersounds @amoebahollywood thank you to all the Vendors, DJ's, Diggers & Dancers who came out and made this event special. Video shot & edited by AJ Calzada #losangeles #vinyl #records #music #recordfair #cratediggersla

A video posted by Crate Diggers (@4cratediggers) on Nov 15, 2016 at 11:23am PST

Community manager for Discogs Liz Maddux tells New Times the Crate Diggers event is beneficial to a variety of people in and around the music industry, making it extremely valuable to both vinyl lovers and those who make the vinyl. She says it’s a “free community-focused event that highlights local talent during the daytime and… resonates with a variety of people.”

It’s also, she says, “a pseudo-nightclub… and dance party.”

@dannykrivit dropping a sick version of sinnamon and the crowd goes bananas. #cratediggerspdx #portland #disco #dannykrivit @djrontrent

A video posted by Crate Diggers (@4cratediggers) on Sep 17, 2016 at 12:35pm PDT

The creator of Crate Diggers, Discogs, is on a mission to build the largest and most comprehensive music database and marketplace. The company sees itself in the future as the place to go for anything music-related. Think Wikipedia for music. The hope is to provide the discographies of all labels and artists, all cross-referenced, and an international marketplace built off of that database. The folks at Discogs do it for the love of music, something Maddux says drives her to help grow Crate Diggers daily.

“For me, watching people experience music is profound,” she says. “It is a gift.”

Crate Diggers
Saturday, March 18, at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami; 305-699-2669; gramps.com.