Venues to play?

Baggio

Ok folks,
....anybody know any decent venues to play?...Im just gonna check a few out to see whats/who's.out there and what the venue/stage set-up is like...I've heard of Eamon Dorans and the Voodoo club etc...any more?...any of them have a half decent stage size?..(my kit is large,,,and I don't know if I'll fit it on smaller stages!!..)
Shout out some places folks....ciao' amigo's

................Baggio...............keep on rocking....

Doctor J

Voodoo, Dorans, Slatterys on Capel St, Hub, Whelans (played there on Saturday, best sound I've ever had on stage), TBMC (maybe later on ) there's loads of venues at the moment. Even a few regular pubs will listen to pleas to have bands if they think they'll sell more booze, regardless of the type of music. One thing to be weary of though, everyone will try to stiff you. Always ask "how much?" if any venue offer you a service or hardware.

bombidol

Most of the venues around will have enough room for a decent sized kit. although to be honest the other bands may get pissed off with you if you have to set up an extra load of rack toms and cymbals etc. The engineer wont be too happy either. I feckin hate it when the drummer in another band starts arsing around with the kit . we played in mullingar the other day and a drummer added an extra Floor Tom, Rack tom, 3 Cymbals and an extra Hi Hat . It took about 30 mins to get it all set up and sounding good. so if you have more than that, i highly recomend only using it in the rehearsal and recording studio. and using only 1 or 2 extra things in the kit when gigging. Venue wise...

Voodoo Dorans - Decent little venue and even with only a few punters in it doesnt feel like you are playing to an Empty place. and when its packed its a great place to play. TIP: if you are running a show, keep the entry price down. you are in the heart of Temple bar and if the cover charge is too much they will walk to another boozer.
Engineers are usually Ok, not the greatest but as always €20 before the sound check into the hand will greatly improve their skills. Its Expensive enough to Hire. About €300 on a friday night

Voodoo Lounge - One of my favourite Places in the city to play. Nice sized stage and nice management. Has a couple of downers though. its a big place so filling it or making it look decent can be tricky and they are regularly out of many kinds of Beer. Keep the price low again cause its a bit of of the city centre, you'll have to encourage people to walk down the Quays. Voodoo Also has the advantage of having the Best Sound engineer in the City. Graham. If you are running a show there make sure and ask for Graham to work it. If not the other guys are ok just slip em a few quid before hand. Sound out front in Voodoo lounge when Graham is working is the best in Dublin, it'll blow yer bollix off! Not too Bad at about €150 for a friday night

Whelans - Very Overated. Used to have a great sound and a great vibe. Now they have an Engineer who is severely lacking in any social skills and understanding of what a band need. Sound on stage is awful and sound out front is anywhere from terrible to OK. You aint gauranteed a good crowd there on the weekends anymore either.Think its about €350 to rent on a Friday night.

Issac Butts - I like this place, its small and cosy. Sound is ok in there and they have some really nice house gear you can use if stuck. Engineer is bang on and does a good job. Forget how much it is to Rent

Temple Bar Music Centre - Big stage, Good Sound. But its always gonna be empty if you arent Mega super group from America. Nice staff and the rockstar feeling as you walk from the band room up the stairs to the stage is awesome lol. Sweet lighting and smoke machine, always get soem pics from the TBMC for your site as they usually look sweet. Very Expensive to hire I think its around the €400-500 Mark for a friday straight up.

Theres more im sure ill think of

flogen

Voodoo Dorans

is that its new name or was that a typo?

Flogen

Giblet

Voodoo, jesus, I hate it, tiny little stage which you fall off, even with the new extensions.

No-one goes there, but maybe since the Pizza place opened it might be doing business.

Nah TBMC and Isaac Butts and Whelans have been my best gigs. So crowded, even on Sundays.

Sound in Whelans was fine, and in Isaac Butts.

TBMC varies from excellent, to just plain shoddy.

Baggio

Well,,
thanx lad's for all the info, Ill keep an eye out now for a couple of months, to be honest,,,Im kind of hoping for a near empty place for our first couple of gigs...just to see how we sound, am not bothered by having no one supporting us...were an experimental lot...I mean mental lot!!...anyway,,,just want to see how good/bad/indifferent we do ACTUALLY sound,,,and then,,,well maybe then we can TRY to get a bit more serious.
Bombidol..I get what your saying about the unnessesary drum kit size for some bands...and I suppose that would be annoying for others to have to wait around for etc....but don't you think it's a bit like compromising on quality?..I know for myself,,,that I use all the stuff I have in an active way..(yeah ..I know,,"what on earth do I need THAT much stuff for"!...)
but thats just me,,,and the songs really do sound better for the different sound/effects etc...I'm really looking forward to at last stepping out somewhere and delivering a pounding on the red kit,,,maybe folks will hate us,love us or not give a damm but..I can't wait. We finally HAVE now a girl singer..(yeahh it took THAT long!!) and hopefully by late spring we'll be at last ready....we still need a basist,,,so thats another days work. SO..thanx again Gib, Bomb, floggen etc ,,,nice to have some info.

ciao' amigo's....Baggio...

bombidol

It depends really on what type of stuff you are playing sound wise ive found. I played in a hard rock /indie band a few years ago and Whelans sounded great. now im in a hardcore band it sounds ****. just a matter of wheter the engineer is prepared to actually work with you or just tell you what he does normally.
Drum kit wise i get what you are saying about using the entire mad kit. All i'll say is that if you are running your own gigs, then use as many pieces as you want. however if you are playing support or opening up a gig and you show up with a 10 piece kit, theres a good chance the promotor or engineer will have you scale the kit back a fair bit so its easier to work with.
As for voodoo being empty, i dunno. We've played there loads and if we didnt put any work into advertising you would end up playing to the other bands. on the other end of the scale, We've started running the Pi alliance in there with clergy and the last show we put on the place was almost Full. But we advertised like a bald monkey for 2 months before hand. If its a big show and you need the numbers you gotta do whatcha gotta do!

maccamad

just to let you know that in fact slatterys on capel st. is now a lapdancing Club, if you are looking for somewhere with a large stage try - the living room on cathal brugha st.

Doctor J

I played there about a month and a half ago. I did not see any lap-dancers. Can I get a refund?