Why is the Village so bad?

Dick Darlington

In my opinion its a number of things:

- Stand to the left of stage and constantly get pushed in the back by people strugging to get to the toilet (which is at the left of the stage
!!!!!)

- Stand to the right and you're beside the door.

- Stand far enough back that you're under the balcony and the sound is bad, most of it seems to disappear upstairs

-the stage is too low

-bouncers stand at the front of the stage facing the crowd and blocking peoples view eg Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Whelans never does this and have zero problems regarding "stage invasions"

- and at no.1 the crowd at the back ALWAYS seem to talk at every gig during and between songs, at gigs such as an acoutic/solo performance this always is embarressing eg Josh Rouse.

dalk

I agree with every point you made.

My heart always sinks when a band i want to see is booked there...

hockey bilboa

yeah definitely a complete hole nothing redeeming about it whatsoever -
back in the days when it was the fiddler it was somewhat better at least the entrance was at the front and the bar was on the other side.

d-arke

I would agree with ya on most of the points. Although in fairness I've only been once, and was standing over by the wall on the left. Didn't notice bouncers in front of the stage.

And I certainly wasn't complaining when I had chat and a drink with the girl from the Subways (okay, they're not great) but she was hot.

Spicy Lauren

I like the Village. I think it's a great venue. Great selection of gigs, unlike Whelans that mostly have poxy irish bands that rent out the place to be cheered by their mates.

Sure if you stand in the way to the loo or just by the door, obviously people are going to push you to get in!

Yes there are bouncers. Yes they're arseholes. They're just doing their job. A pretty crappy one, I agree, but hey!
Was at that Mudhoney gig last year where the entire crowd went surfing over people's head. The bouncers couldn't stop it. It was mental.

Yes there are people who talk at the back but that, man, that's everywhere you go. Remember Sigur Ros in the Olympia last summer? (or was it in the Ambassador?)

Mind you there's one thing I cant stand @ the Village, it's the policy of having 'blacks-in-the-jacks'.

JJ

I would definitely agree that The Village isn't the greatest. I don't think this isn't a problem anymore but when I went to see Bell X1 there about 2 years ago during the summertime, the place was a complete furnace. I was sweatin' like a whore in church. I didn't see anybody fainting but I'm sure a few people did.

ya-what-now?

Is it me or is the floor uneven?? It seems, if you're at the back that the stage is high up or something, then when you move to the front it's grand?!

Nimrod's Son

I agree with all the OP's points. The place just isn't layed out right at all for a gig. It's fine for the nightclub but gigs can be unpleasant if you're not standing in a strategic place. I'll be there this Saturday , I'm praying the show won't be ruined by pissheads pushing past to get to the bog....

DerekD Goldfish

Its ok if your near the front otherwise it isnt great
it does get a lot of good gigs though

nutball

Fantastic bands, but it is a really lousy venue. I agree with pretty much every point you made in your original post. It's just not laid out for gigs at all. I remember before it opened being very excited about this hyped-up new venue and the prospect of somewhere to go that wasn't that maudlin pit of self-referential mediocrity, Whelans, then going down only to realise it was a half-heartedly tarted-up Mono. Mono, for the love of jesus, with a few planks of two-by-four stapled to the facade. What a let down.

ThatBloke

ya-what-now? wrote:

Is it me or is the floor uneven?? It seems, if you're at the back that the stage is high up or something, then when you move to the front it's grand?!

Just about to say this, there's an uphill slope on the floor, at CYHSY last week a girl I was with couldn't even see the band and she's not that short. Really strage layout.

irishraven

Spicy Lauren wrote:

I like the Village. I think it's a great venue. Great selection of gigs, unlike Whelans that mostly have poxy irish bands that rent out the place to be cheered by their mates.

Sure if you stand in the way to the loo or just by the door, obviously people are going to push you to get in!

Yes there are bouncers. Yes they're arseholes. They're just doing their job. A pretty crappy one, I agree, but hey!
Was at that Mudhoney gig last year where the entire crowd went surfing over people's head. The bouncers couldn't stop it. It was mental.

Yes there are people who talk at the back but that, man, that's everywhere you go. Remember Sigur Ros in the Olympia last summer? (or was it in the Ambassador?)

Mind you there's one thing I cant stand @ the Village, it's the policy of having 'blacks-in-the-jacks'.

I dislike like the village for the toilet reason...I LOVE whelans though, I have seen John Mayer, Johnathan Rice and Joseph Arthur there and I can't say enough! Mraz on Tuesday night is the Whelans also....

We should send this link to Sinead (head of marketing) who work for the village! Her email is on the villagevenue website!

ergo

yeah, I agree with every point made by the OP

the only thing worse than some fantastic artist announcing a gig at the Village is if they announce a gig at Whelan's which sells out so soon they move it to the Village ie. from the best venue to the worst.... :mad:

by the way what is the capacity? tried googling it, got suggestions from 600 to 800 versus Whelan's 300

some artists manage to play a good gig there despite the venue eg Josh Rouse, or Josh Ritter, but then you're left wondering what it might have been like somewhere decent :rolleyes:

I'd say there are a lot of gigs I haven't bothered going to because of them being at the Village, and they get some good ones. The sloping down floor is just the final insult.


But I do like the downstairs weekend DJ's though, most of the time, good mix of stuff last time I was there

Skittlebrau

Couldn't agree more. The Village is a terribly designed venue.

It's an absolute joke where the dooway is in relation to the stage. If you're even a little late to a sold out gig it's an absolute nightmare just to get in.

Strumms

yeah The Village is a total kip alright, and the only people I managed to see make anything of it were Evan Dando (twice) and to a point Josh Rouse.

just a very badly designed venue from the punters point of view.

on another note I have been short changed at the bar 3 times ! so watch your change people.

eth0_

I hate the village too. Anyone who thinks its a good venue for gigs obviously has no appreciation of what good music/acoustics sound like!

John

I've been to a lot of great gigs in the Village. It's all in the positioning in relation to the stage. I'm normally there early (I'm a merch stand whore) and get up to a nice position around the middle at the front. Sound is impeccable there. Granted that's of little use to you if you're late or want to go to the bar but meh, it works for me.

Spicy Lauren

eth0_ wrote:

Anyone who thinks its a good venue for gigs obviously has no appreciation of what good music/acoustics sound like!

Excuse me?!
I always stand right in front of the stage and have no issue whathowever what the sound in that venue, so keep your poxy comments for yourself, mate! Mind you I usually am deaf for 2 days afterwards :rolleyes:

rubadub

I think its alright

dalk wrote:

My heart always sinks when a band i want to see is booked there...

you must be ready to top yourself if they are in the point!

ferdi

yeah its a ****e venue.

i was there recently for reel big fish. the crowd were going ape, arsehole security were powerless:D

moshmonkey666

ive seen many a metal band there and ive always thought it was a terrible venue! and the ****ing pole's!!!!