Irish Nightlife Is ****

Terry

Hola_Bola wrote: »

I consider myself well traveled and even some of the third world countries I've been to have a far greater nightly entertainment scene than any of our cities, especially for an area the size of Dublin along with the population, surely better clubs, theatres and general night time activities are in demand in the capital?

In Amsterdam for example, one can go to a bar at 11pm, then go to a night club at 2am, followed by a show at 4am and then a casino at 6am, not to mention the endless other activities people do throughout the day...

Dublin is such a boring ****hole in the day too. There's very little events going on, no free concerts or parties in the park like London has, there's no underground scene to speak of and the few clubs that play a specific genre are well off the beaten track. Instead you've got mainstream pop blaring from a less than average sound system in a poorly decorated club surrounded by teenagers and young adults, not to mention the last drink is at 1.55am in most places.

Any thoughts?

I demand a scan of your passport (you can edit out the important bits. I just want to see the stamps from these third world countries).
I demand a list of clubs you have been to in third world countries.
I demand ID to prove your age and to prove that the two years in the Netherlands was not actually two days wandering the red light district giggling at the hookers.
I demand pictures from these third world night clubs.
I demand testimonials from the friends you made in these third world countries regarding the nightlife there (IP checks will be made).

Do not post in this thread again until you can meet at least two of the above demands.


Note: Despite appearances, the Balearic islands and the Canary islands are not third world countries.

Twee.

[cm]tyranny wrote: »

That's absolute rubbish though, there's tonnes of stuff outside the normal Top 40 current chart... I can't even remember the last time I was subjected to chart music on a night out! .

Same! I've only been to like two clubs (unwillingly!!) in Dublin where I've heard mainstream music, and I go out 2-4 times a week. There is life beyond Bondi and Citi Bar!

IRockUrSocks

[cm]tyranny wrote: »

That's absolute rubbish though, there's tonnes of stuff outside the normal Top 40 current chart... I can't even remember the last time I was subjected to chart music on a night out! (apart from in a shop I'm not hearing any commercial radio anyway) There's dozens of small promoters making bugger all money putting on gigs they believe in (and mostly losing their shirts for the love of it), there's radio shows, events listings, the internet... There's posters and fliers in record shops around whatever town you're in, there's loads of good stuff, if you haven't found it you're too young or too lazy too look, basically... Where are you from? What are you into?


*edit* and groove armada and the chemical brothers are pretty much "chart" in a nutshell...

this is correct but i dont think anyone can argue that the same events and daytime activities are available to the general public in ireland as they are abroad. ireland has become a boring (god forbid) country in the continents eyes regarding partygo-ers and fun-lovers.

i believe the 1980's seen a rush of british imports all scrapping for temple bar but those days are behind us - now its full of teenagers and young 20 somethings indulging in a game of "who gets pissed first wins". i dont think anyone with experience in the nightlife in ireland topic can disagree that we just are not on par with the rest of the world as we should.

Executive Steve

IRockUrSocks wrote: »

this is correct but i dont think anyone can argue that the same events and daytime activities are available to the general public in ireland as they are abroad. ireland has become a boring (god forbid) country in the continents eyes regarding partygo-ers and fun-lovers.

i believe the 1980's seen a rush of british imports all scrapping for temple bar but those days are behind us - now its full of teenagers and young 20 somethings indulging in a game of "who gets pissed first wins". i dont think anyone with experience in the nightlife in ireland topic can disagree that we just are not on par with the rest of the world as we should.

There's been loads of free daytime stuff on all summer though; the World Street Performer's championships were a triumph, extremely well attended and organised; there was the Africa day thingy in the Iveagh gardens, the King's of Concrete, then of course the Festival of World Cultures is at the end of the month... you could have enjoyed all of those without putting a hand in your pocket...

Daytime activities and stuff like that, yeah, fair enough, but it pisses rain in Ireland most days, it's the luck of the Irish...

I've been all over Europe to many if not most of the capital cities, and the only thing wrong with Dublin is that because we're a capital city we feel cheated when there's less stuff on than there is in London or Paris; we wouldn't have anything like the demand you have over there because our population is smaller and also because we have an extremely poorly planned and laid out city, the legacy of generations of Fianna Fail planning corruption; we have gigantic areas of nothing but housing estates and the odd church, school and off licence / chipper / spar etc, and all the cultural activity is on a ribbon along the coast and in a very small chunk of the city centre...

I'm lucky enough to have had the chance to travel to Poland, Paris, and the Netherlands to DJ in clubs over there and believe you me apart from the licensing laws and the way the cities are laid out there's bugger all difference between here and there, anyone who thinks its only "the Irish" who can't be trusted to to have a drink after two in the bloody morning is chatting breeze...

Executive Steve

DublinWriter wrote: »

Last Saturday, I was in La Cartegena in Brussels with Mrs. DublinWriter until 3am, enjoying true Cuban Mojhitos for €5, dancing the salsa (as only a Dub and a Geordie could attempt at 3am after several Mojhitos) smoking in the bar (won't someone think of the children?) and generally having a great time without the usual Irish threat of fists, faeces and piss being thrown liberally about.

We're a nation of swine, and enjoy ourselves thusly on our own turf. You expected differently?

Fair enough; I was out on Friday and had an epic meal in a really nice restaurant, called over to a mate's with a bunch of friends where we made our own Mojitos (which were the equal of any I ever had in Barcelona or Lisbon) before several of us headed out to a club where we all danced and had the odd pint for a touch over a fiver....

Didn't see any fists, faeces, nor did I see any piss outside the club toilets, but I'll take your word for it that Belgians are somehow magically different...

Acacia

The problem with Irish night-life is there is too much emphasis on getting comepletely wasted, rather than on what the music is like, what the crowd is like, etc.

People reach a certain age here and all they want to do every weekend is get locked, and consider it a boring weekend otherwise. Don't get me wrong, I like a drink as much as anyone else, but it's difficult to get people to just go to the cinema, a gig or something, without the promise of drink somewhere along the way.

Run_to_da_hills

[cm]tyranny wrote: »

The George Bernhard Shaw has regular make-and-do nights, charity art shows, table quizzes, flea markets, swap meets, record fairs, barbecues etc.

The Dun Laoighre festival of World Cultures is on at the end of the month and is one of the highlights of the year, and most of that is 100% free...

The Dublin Electronic Arts festival is on again this year and is looking like being the biggest one yet, with workshops, lectures, gigs, events, exhibitions...

The Irish Museum of Modern Art is free in and has amazing facilities and a regularly updated collection, likewise the National Gallery and the Hugh Lane Municipal gallery - and that's just the big institutional ones...
Dublin isn't nearly as bad as you'd think you know...

........and don't forget to bring the Smarties :rolleyes:

DamoDLK

Hola_Bola wrote: »

30 Cielo (New York)

Friggin love it!

[cm]tyranny wrote: »

If we were really serious about tackling alcohol related anti social behaviour we would extend the opening hours to 4.30am and not allow alcohol to be sold for the last hour or so.

People would leave gradually, instead of everyone spewing out onto the street to hang around town for another two hours trying to get a taxi

Good point and well made.

BraziliaNZ

It's a shame you can't buy a drink a bit later although usually 0230 is late enough for me and at least you can get taxis home nowadays, in Dublin anyway. If you think it's bad here, check out France, New Zealand, Western Australia, Calgary, Vancouver... I can name loads of places that make Dublin's nightlife look amazing.

Run_to_da_hills

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

It's a shame you can't buy a drink a bit later although usually 0230 is late enough for me and at least you can get taxis home nowadays, in Dublin anyway. If you think it's bad here, check out France, New Zealand, Western Australia, Calgary, Vancouver... I can name loads of places that make Dublin's nightlife look amazing.

In Barcelona no one heads out on the town until past past midnight, clubs kick off after 1am and go on till 6am, by that time public transport starts and theres no hassle getting back.

BraziliaNZ

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

In Barcelona no one heads out on the town until past past midnight, clubs kick off after 1am and go on till 6am, by that time public transport starts and theres no hassle getting back.

I know people go on about it but i don't see any advantages about going out at 1am and coming back at 6 or 7 like they do in Spain and South America. It's ok when on holiday in these places but would wreck my sleeping pattern for days if I were doing this every weekend in Dublin!

thirtythirty

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I know people go on about it but i don't see any advantages about going out at 1am and coming back at 6 or 7 like they do in Spain and South America. It's ok when on holiday in these places but would wreck my sleeping pattern for days if I were doing this every weekend in Dublin!

I don't think i've been to bed before 6 or 7 am at the weekend in months & i feel perfectly energised for work during the week.

Maybe you're over-sleeping!

BraziliaNZ

spottyelephant wrote: »

I don't think i've been to bed before 6 or 7 am at the weekend in months & i feel perfectly energised for work during the week.

Maybe you're over-sleeping!

I'm a bad sleeper, booze and partying till late at weekends means I'm usually unable to sleep properly till about Wednesday, think I'm getting old!

davyjose

Hola_Bola wrote: »

This was on djmag.com and these are the top 50 clubs voted by top djs around the world. Not one of them are located in Ireland...for goodness sake, Newcastle is even represented and Dublin is bigger than that!

20 Pacha (New York)
30 Cielo (New York)

New York is only represented twice ... so hardly a watertight representation of what a good city is.

Quint

Hola_Bola wrote: »

I consider myself well traveled and even some of the third world countries I've been to have a far greater nightly entertainment scene than any of our cities, especially for an area the size of Dublin along with the population, surely better clubs, theatres and general night time activities are in demand in the capital?

In Amsterdam for example, one can go to a bar at 11pm, then go to a night club at 2am, followed by a show at 4am and then a casino at 6am, not to mention the endless other activities people do throughout the day...

Dublin is such a boring ****hole in the day too. There's very little events going on, no free concerts or parties in the park like London has, there's no underground scene to speak of and the few clubs that play a specific genre are well off the beaten track. Instead you've got mainstream pop blaring from a less than average sound system in a poorly decorated club surrounded by teenagers and young adults, not to mention the last drink is at 1.55am in most places.

Any thoughts?

I'd love to know the 3rd world countries with better nightlife than dublin. Dublin has late casinos, but tbh, I can't think of anything worse than going to a casino at 6am.
I'm not into clubs, so that doesn't bother me. But just head out earlier. Everyone knows pubs close early, so don't go out at midnight. Problem solved. Comparing Dublin to London is pointless. It's like comparing Gort to Galway.

Gone Drinking

We were in Newcastle recently on a piss up, and i can't believe how shafted we're getting over here. £2.10 for a pint of carling, and happy hour (which i know is ilegal over here) between 4.00 and 7:30 pm. You buy a drink and spin a wheel, you either get 25% off your round, 15% off your round or an extra free round. And thats in the middle of the toon, in a really good bar.

All the night clubs have promotions, free in, free drink, free shots or money off.

BraziliaNZ

Quint wrote: »

I'd love to know the 3rd world countries with better nightlife than dublin.

I'm not sure if South America is considered 3rd world, well Argentina and Brazil etc, but he probably means these places. And yeah they have pretty amazing nightlife.

hidinginthebush

I hate the music they play in clubs in Dublin (probably the rest of the country), you might as well be at home listening to spin103. That said though, I think the main problem with clubs in Dublin is the people rather than the laws. Irish people have an attitude, that's been mentioned here already, that when you go out you have to drink as much as humanly possible as fast as possible to get as drunk as possible. Which is why we can't have the 72 hour clubs like other people have mentioned, we either wouldn't last, all kill each other, or all kill our selves. I think this attitude also ruins people's idea of a night out. How many of us define a night out as:
1. Cans in gaff
2. Last bus/train into town
The reason we all do this is because pubs are so expensive, so if you were to head out at 7 or 8, you wouldn't have two sticks to rub together come chucking out time. Once again it's the fact that we feel the need to drink like fish once we get inside a licensed premises. So yes, drinks are expensive, but the main problem is that we can't control out moderation, being the nation of deadbeats we are.

Quint

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I'm not sure if South America is considered 3rd world, well Argentina and Brazil etc, but he probably means these places. And yeah they have pretty amazing nightlife.

Ah right. I was thinking africa. Nightlife there is......different! And a lot of countries there they make Brazil and Argentina seem like Monaco.

seraphimvc

i actually think dublin has an insanely amount of pubs/clubs :S there is one pub in your every two steps!!

however i am not really enjoying the nightlife here - people here seems just wanna drink as much as possible as fast as possible and then get sh!tfaced/locked ->go home.

to me alcohol is just an extra while you are having a good company of friends chatting/laughing out the whole night - your buddies is the main point but people here seems to think the other way around .my 2 cent.

asti_mivec

I've read through this with some interest as it something that galls me too.

I think a lot of people here seem to suggest that the problem is not the way the laws are set up but the way the Irish people tend to "enjoy" their nights out and I must say I disagree.

I think that the crux of the problem is the way the laws stop anywhere opening up after 2:30. This then creates the sub culture of drinking as much as possible in the time allowed, this is why the culture is different in many of the better European/Worldwide cities. Basically, because there is no rush to get out to a late bar/club/cafe (whatever takes your fancy) in continental Europe then the people have a totally different attitude to their nights out.

Myself and indeed, a lot of my friends love to go out, have a few drinks (or whatever) and dance/socialise and then usually take it back to a house party as this saves us having to get ridiculously pissed and then head straight home.

If the clubs opened until the early hours during the weekend I think you would find that the current Irish drink culture would change for the better, this won't happen with the current nanny state.

Why are we being told when to finish our nights out at the weekends? It is not up to anybody else to tell me or "you" when you should finish up (or when you can buy a beer at an off licence)...that is our decision to make and the Irish government as usual think that they know best, and this is exactly the reason why we have the current situation, instead of doing anything about it we keep re-electing these idiots and thereby allowing them to carry on like this.

There are plenty of good late bars/ live music venues/dance clubs etc in Dublin and the rest of Ireland but with the current closing hours they are not meeting their potential because when people don't want to go out before 12 and are then told they have to leave at 2:30 they don't want to pay over the odds for the "privelage".

Until this changes I will have to keep seeking out the parties that interest me and plan my nights around them!!!

stovelid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePg1tbia9Bg

thirtythirty

asti_mivec wrote: »

Myself and indeed, a lot of my friends love to go out, have a few drinks (or whatever) and dance/socialise and then usually take it back to a house party as this saves us having to get ridiculously pissed and then head straight home.

Session.:D

muletide

Gone Drinking wrote: »

We were in Newcastle recently on a piss up, and i can't believe how shafted we're getting over here. £2.10 for a pint of carling, and happy hour (which i know is ilegal over here) between 4.00 and 7:30 pm. You buy a drink and spin a wheel, you either get 25% off your round, 15% off your round or an extra free round. And thats in the middle of the toon, in a really good bar.

All the night clubs have promotions, free in, free drink, free shots or money off.

A pub with happy hour that starts at 4 and a spin the wheel promotion - yeah it sounds like a really good bar alright:rolleyes:. Maybe its those sort of classy establishments we need to improve Dublin night life. FFS if thats your idea of a decent night out you can keep it.

Executive Steve

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

........and don't forget to bring the Smarties :rolleyes:

You think you need to take drugs to go to an art museum?

IRockUrSocks

davyjose wrote: »

New York is only represented twice ... so hardly a watertight representation of what a good city is.

The general consensus is that NYC has lost it's edge in the nightlife scene. Many industrial warehoused sized nightclubs have been closing their doors in recent years because the state government are seeking to bring in a new era of entertainment that includes fancy lounges which resemble frat parties and kill off the loud & chaotic premises that sprung up during the 80's.

If you ask an American, NYC wouldn't be too high on the list to begin with. I'm sure the likes of Las Vegas, Miami and L.A would get the nod well before it with regards to nightlife.

Gone Drinking wrote: »

We were in Newcastle recently on a piss up, and i can't believe how shafted we're getting over here. £2.10 for a pint of carling, and happy hour (which i know is ilegal over here) between 4.00 and 7:30 pm. You buy a drink and spin a wheel, you either get 25% off your round, 15% off your round or an extra free round. And thats in the middle of the toon, in a really good bar.

All the night clubs have promotions, free in, free drink, free shots or money off.

Agreed. England is very reasonable for the general party-seeker. Cigarettes are half the price they are over here (even with the currency conversion), for example. When I visited relatives last year, not one of them took out over 60 pounds that lasted them hours. In Ireland, I would have to bring well over 100 euro. It's at least 10euro entry to a mediocre club. Where does that leave us on the scale?

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I'm not sure if South America is considered 3rd world, well Argentina and Brazil etc, but he probably means these places. And yeah they have pretty amazing nightlife.

I'm talking about Brazil and Argentina, yes. I thought Brazil was fantastic but then again, they have a completely different opinion about a "good night out" compared to Irelands. I attended D-Edge is Sao Paulo and Warung in Rio De Janiero, both clubs world famous and I thought I was on another planet with regards to the peoples attitude and views on hsving fun.

asti_mivec wrote: »

the Irish government as usual think that they know best,

Do you think a change in Government would help the current situation? I mean, Ireland has the same laws regarding nightlife as they did back in the 1950's. It's a joke in my opinion.

Hazys

In Boston, 2 weekends ago they had a free indie concert in the city center. It was good craic, a few beers out in the sun listening to bands i never heard of.

The concert was jointed but the beer area on the side was never more than two thirds full and there was never a large Queue to get in. Beers were resonably pricedc at $5 a 'pint' (plastic cup pints). To my suprise people were more interested in the music than getting hammered!!! They were serving beer from 5pm to 11pm and there was a great atomsphere.

I could only imagine if this was on in Ireland...the beer area would be jointed, with massive queues to get in and Budweiser would be charging at least 7Euro a pint. With them serving for 6 hours i could only see the worst back home, with people getting off their face and annoying other people.

madmac187

IRockUrSocks wrote: »

The general consensus is that NYC has lost it's edge in the nightlife scene. Many industrial warehoused sized nightclubs have been closing their doors in recent years because the state government are seeking to bring in a new era of entertainment that includes fancy lounges which resemble frat parties and kill off the loud & chaotic premises that sprung up during the 80's.

If you ask an American, NYC wouldn't be too high on the list to begin with. I'm sure the likes of Las Vegas, Miami and L.A would get the nod well before it with regards to nightlife.



Agreed. England is very reasonable for the general party-seeker. Cigarettes are half the price they are over here (even with the currency conversion), for example. When I visited relatives last year, not one of them took out over 60 pounds that lasted them hours. In Ireland, I would have to bring well over 100 euro. It's at least 10euro entry to a mediocre club. Where does that leave us on the scale?



I'm talking about Brazil and Argentina, yes. I thought Brazil was fantastic but then again, they have a completely different opinion about a "good night out" compared to Irelands. I attended D-Edge is Sao Paulo and Warung in Rio De Janiero, both clubs world famous and I thought I was on another planet with regards to the peoples attitude and views on hsving fun.



Do you think a change in Government would help the current situation? I mean, Ireland has the same laws regarding nightlife as they did back in the 1950's. It's a joke in my opinion.

i have mates that went drinking in Miami and both said it kicked NYC ass to tell the truth. I'm moving to Belfast now anyone experience of it? Whats going out like? Closing times? Places to go?

IRockUrSocks

May I also add that this country is a throwback to the 1900's. Modern Ireland my ass - the Healthcare system is gone down the drain too, I recently met an elderly woman in the Mater Hospital and she was sitting in the same seat she crawled onto seven hours previously after having an seizure and nobody asked her if she would even fancy a cup of tea never mind medical treatment, ridiculous. You try comparing our systems to those of Britain and France. How about comparing our hosptials to those of the United States. I thought the mythical Celtic Tiger boom of the last few decades would of at least propelled Ireland in the right direction regarding these things?

The Government are working with policies that seem to have been wrote up during the Renassaince. Nightlife laws are only a scrape off the old statue. De Valera's low tax implementation has secured big blue collar companies trust in Ireland but the Government are working with the same policies.

Executive Steve

IRockUrSocks wrote: »

May I also add that this country is a throwback to the 1900's. Modern Ireland my ass - the Healthcare system is gone down the drain too, I recently met an elderly woman in the Mater Hospital and she was sitting in the same seat she crawled onto seven hours previously after having an seizure and nobody asked her if she would even fancy a cup of tea never mind medical treatment, ridiculous. You try comparing our systems to those of Britain and France. How about comparing our hosptials to those of the United States. I thought the mythical Celtic Tiger boom of the last few decades would of at least propelled Ireland in the right direction regarding these things?

The Government are working with policies that seem to have been wrote up during the Renassaince. Nightlife laws are only a scrape off the old statue. De Valera's low tax implementation has secured big blue collar companies trust in Ireland but the Government are working with the same policies.

Well our opening hours are still pretty much based on the legislation the British drew up to reduce workplace deaths in the munitions industry during the First World War...

As to the rest, you can't maintain public services without no money to pay for them; we pay less tax than nearly any European country and have one of the lowest rates of corporation taxes of any first world economy, so the way they fund stuff is by regressive taxation like VAT that disproportionately gets paid by the less well off... It's a rotten system, but sure we're Irish, we'll vote Fianna Fáil anyway...