Indie Clubs in Dublin Clueless / Confused about their Identity...

keanooo

Ha! That is a funny story... and that's what we're up against. Any chance of a name and shame? "Blue Monday" is one of those songs, if it's played at the right part of the night, that you get up dancing to and think: "Yes. This is a brilliant night."

Monkey61 wrote: »

I don't necessarily think it's down to the size of Dublin - more people's taste in music. Edinburgh and Cardiff are half the size of Dublin, yet I've been going to amazing indie nights there for years.

Myself and my friends spent years giving out about the lack of indie clubs. Helter Shelter was brilliant, but only monthly and because it was so ridiculously expensive we didn't even go every time even though we loved it. It was impossible during school/college to drag people along to a club that only opened for 3 hours and cost a tenner to get in.

I got ludicrously excited when Antics first opened. Went to the first one and thought...okay, music is alright - but the crowd were much too young. Suddenly all these "indie" nights started popping up - but they were more "pop/electro/what's in the NME this week" nights that again catered for a very young crowd. Subsequent nights at Antics I found the music got worse and worse - one of the organisers once refused to let an acquaintance play "Blue Monday" in her DJ set because it wasn't well known or popular enough for them!!!!! Blue Monday!!

nxbyveromdwjpg

keanooo wrote: »

Sin É was great last Saturday... It's funny, with the boards thing I'm beginning to fell like Michael Winner walking into a restaurant every night I go out (not that any probably cares too much).

Haha I actually know exactly what you mean, I ended up in Whelans again on said night even though I said I wouldnt, as it was for a mates going away thing, and once your man started blasted out the usual CRAP about half twelve I just kept rating the place in my head after reading this thread!!

I actually had a word with the culprit, ginger fella, I felt compelled to when he knocked out Jay-Z's New York.. anyway he said the crowd loves it so f*ck off basically, so I did. What can you do.. :rolleyes:
Thing is the crowd dont like it and Whelans are actively alienating everyone in the place that night, he'll get away with it though as due to it being Saturday night its gonna be packed anyway with overflow from all the other bar's on Camden Street. Pity..

keanooo wrote: »

The main thing about Sin É was the atmosphere. There was a real good mood there, the lighting is excellent and there's a good amount of mixing going on at the bar and on the dancefloor. My mate - who normally works Saturday - is mad for us to go there again this weekend... so they must be doing something right. It'll be interesting to see if they can keep it up...

Gonna give that a shot this Sat. Maybe that new night in the Bull & Castle the week after.

whiterob81

nm wrote: »

Gonna give that a shot this Sat. Maybe that new night in the Bull & Castle the week after.

I popped in there for a beer friday night. It seems like a good place. I think it was the first time I've ever heard Eat yourself fitter by the fall played in a Dublin Pub. The only thing was the music was down fairly low but I'm sure that changes over the night. I was in there at 10. Great selection of beers too

nxbyveromdwjpg

This is what they should be aiming for http://www.factorymanchester.com/

Okay, Im dreaming.. but still.

Aridstarling

whiterob81 wrote: »

I think it was the first time I've ever heard Eat yourself fitter by the fall played in a Dublin Pub.

Now theres a tune and a half. If any song could put me in a good mood when I'm feeling down, thats the one.

Anyway, back on topic.

Third_Echelon

I've been going to Whelans for a good few years at this stage.. There was a really nice vibe before they did the massive refurb of the place. You probably would have died in the place if there was a major fire or something, but it had charm, a nice crowd and the music was good. Some DJs were however a bit stale and there were predictable songs e.g. the pixies debaser was a dead cert every week....

Went to it a few times after the refurb and it had definitely lost something... There was a hen-party in it one night and lots of girls done up to the nines (not complaining but it wasn't whelans...)

It has swung back a bit more towards the old vibe that it had, but it has lost what it had. (Where's my "I preferred their early stuff t-shirt")

I hadn't been in a couple of months and was out last weekend and this weekend just passed. Both saturday night in whelans.

Saturday January 30th - Arrived about 1am. Place was jammed. Took a while to get a drink, but the atmosphere was good. It was more a night of chatting to mates rather than dancing etc. Music was ok... until I heard Jay-Z. I thought the world had turned upside down and that pigs would start to fly past me!!!! Never, ever had I heard something that 'poppy' in whelans before.... Don't get me wrong, I appreciate good music be it pop or whatever, but my origins are rock and indie... and I like some of Jay-Z's stuff, but whelans was definitely not the place to be playing it... Kinda summed up how it had changed for me.

Saturday February 6th - Arrived about 1am again. Place was even more packed than the previous week. It was old-school-whelans-jammers.. The DJ was definitely a lot better than the previous week (I didn't hear anything Jay-Z-esque. (it could well have been the same DJ as the previous week.. maybe i just missed Jay-Z?)... Anyway, I was out on the dancefloor area for most of the night and it was good craic with a lot of good tunes... My previous week's experience I merely put down to a blip...

Overall, the place has definitely lost track of itself and doesn't know what it wants to be.. my guess is that they need the punters in the door to pay for the refurb work and they're liking the cash flow..

The lack of alternatives (no pun intended) is quite low though... Sin E is cool and have always had a great night in there, but its not the same music or crowd as Whelans.. To be honest, if it wasn't for Phantom and their First Friday nights over the past couple of years, the lack of options otherwise would be non-existent...

Speaking of clubs and sticking to a genre. I had a really good night in the club underneath the 'le circ' bar on dame st... It was a reggae night. Reggae all night long. Great fun and it was a really nice atmosphere. I was quite impressed with the DJ as well.. It wasn't just Bob Marlay's greatest hits... defo worth checking out.

I would love to start a night up somewhere... but what really is involved as you being the promoter?

Do you contact a venue and 'rent' the place from them for the night? I've never done anything like that, but would be interested in knowing the process etc from a few of the poster before this who have mentioned they are DJs etc...

electrogrimey

Third_Echelon wrote: »

I would love to start a night up somewhere... but what really is involved as you being the promoter?

Do you contact a venue and 'rent' the place from them for the night? I've never done anything like that, but would be interested in knowing the process etc from a few of the poster before this who have mentioned they are DJs etc...

I started a thread in the dance forum asking the same question, basically I wanted to know what financial commitment is needed, but it just descended into a thread about how **** the dance scene in Dublin is, so I didn't really find out anything...

I think you rent out the club, and then recoup your money from the door sales, or something like that...

thegeezer

nm wrote: »

This is what they should be aiming for http://www.factorymanchester.com/

Okay, Im dreaming.. but still.

noice one

keanooo

thegeezer wrote: »

noice one

That's about as far as the conversation goes?

silver_surfer

Is there such a thing as a truly indie club in dublin? Most places have to play the better known tunes or their crowds wouldn't be as big, sad as it is. Dublin just isn't a big enough city to support anything too far from the mainstream.

pistonsvox

electrogrimey wrote: »

I started a thread in the dance forum asking the same question, basically I wanted to know what financial commitment is needed, but it just descended into a thread about how **** the dance scene in Dublin is, so I didn't really find out anything...

I think you rent out the club, and then recoup your money from the door sales, or something like that...

You really need to have some money before hand. You can find yourself in serious debt if things go wrong. We ran one there and relied on the door takings to pay venue and all, but some nights we didnt even have enough to pay the venue:rolleyes:

Best thing is to save up and pool in a whole load of money to have for emergencies and promote the living hell outta it. Oh and dont run a club on a Monday:pac: haha

nxbyveromdwjpg

Just stumbled across this..

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=295046733347&ref=nf

Kid V

Ye got a flyer about that on fri night.

I'll definitely go see what its like. Hopefully its not in the dungeon

TelePaul

Wtf is an 'Indie' club?

jessk

keanooo wrote: »

I'd like to hear back from folk about their opinion on the Indie Club scene in Dublin. In my opinion it has really gone downhill in the last year or so.

Whelan's used to be one of the best clubs in Dublin on a Saturday night. In the last year they have had a variety of DJs that seem completely clueless and one fella in particular who plays tracks that really would be better suited to Break for the Boarder (my second favourite indie club).

Ever since The Globe has begun opening late Rí-Rá has really died a death. There is very little atmosphere in there now and the only nights with a bit of life is when the punters are coked off their heads (Thursdays if memory serves) even though it's free in every night. Again DJs confused and conflicted about their musical identity. Madonna thrown in on an indie night.

Next mini-rant pertains to Hogan's. In fairness this isn't what I would consider a traditional indie club. It's more hip-hop beat or whatever you want to call it (you know, the kind of music the cool cats from the ramp in Trinity used to listen to)... Even within that genre this year has been terrible for the guys on the decks downstairs in Hogan's ("Come back Mr. Moto, all is forgiven"). They are unable to generate a decent atmosphere on the floor, and as soon as they get anything going they change it up and kill the place.

Sin É why have you forsaken mé... Sin É is still good on a decent night. That bushy-top DJ with the semi-shaven beard who doesn't like talking to anyone or taking requests still has a tight set and has a good feel for the crowd. But there has been too many a dud night there this year for them to be left out of the hall of shame. Even bushy-top played 'All the single ladies' one night... no better song to buy with your 30 pieces of silver...

I'd love to get feedback from the common people out there. Anywhere new out there that's good?

If anyone is friendly with these DJs could you tell them that they need no longer sell their souls... he's already in them.

I completely agree! Whelans has now become a place where the music is controlled by a wannabe DJ who is playing from an ipod!! I mean how is this a DJ!
Thomas Reeds used to be a great place at the weekend where they took requests and listenened to the people who cared and mattered!
So what do the owners do....get rid of the great DJ's who were there and put some muppet in her place! Now in Thomas Reeds you basically walk in to a DJ with all his mates around him (which could be mistaken for a Topman staff party) playing so called alternative music!! Its a joke! Im not against new music at all but there is a big difference between a new band that are about creating new music and a band who are about creating a new fashion style ONLY!! With a result of this new stylish indie music there is a new wave of music followers that have taken over all the decent music nights in dublin! There is early more of a chance of hearing good music if you go to Coppers!!!

electrogrimey

jessk wrote: »

I completely agree! Whelans has now become a place where the music is controlled by a wannabe DJ who is playing from an ipod!! I mean how is this a DJ!
Thomas Reeds used to be a great place at the weekend where they took requests and listenened to the people who cared and mattered!

Taking requests is a sign of a mediocre DJ and a club without its own style and sound, generally not a good thing to say about a venue.

jessk

Obviously a club has to have its style and i respect that! Are you telling me that playing whatever the charts call indie music is having an unique style?? I dont think so! The point is that the clubs that used to be individual in dublin have become all the same....! And the crowd as far as i can see are not interested in the real indie music but mearly an image!!

Wolflikeme

jessk wrote: »

Obviously a club has to have its style and i respect that! Are you telling me that playing whatever the charts call indie music is having an unique style?? I dont think so! The point is that the clubs that used to be individual in dublin have become all the same....! And the crowd as far as i can see are not interested in the real indie music but mearly an image!!

Just reading the thread there and realised how crap Whelan's has become. I was there the other night and a few weeks ago and noticed the same bloody songs being played - Debaser, Panic etc. Every bloody time you're there.

Going to see Girls there on Monday night. Any suggestions where to go afterwards?!

Solas is meh too. I like Crawdaddy but on a Monday?

The city's really lacking somewhere that stands out.

electrogrimey

jessk wrote: »

Obviously a club has to have its style and i respect that! Are you telling me that playing whatever the charts call indie music is having an unique style?? I dont think so! The point is that the clubs that used to be individual in dublin have become all the same....! And the crowd as far as i can see are not interested in the real indie music but mearly an image!!

Didn't once say that chart music gives a club a unique style. Just finished a set a C.U.N.T in Crawdaddy, and I think that'd a pretty good indie night. I was playing tunes from Maccabees, Foals, Arctic Monkeys, and even a small Dublin indie band called Harrows. If you don't like the nights you go to you just need to try different ones until you find a night you do like.

jessk

electrogrimey wrote: »

Didn't once say that chart music gives a club a unique style. Just finished a set a C.U.N.T in Crawdaddy, and I think that'd a pretty good indie night. I was playing tunes from Maccabees, Foals, Arctic Monkeys, and even a small Dublin indie band called Harrows. If you don't like the nights you go to you just need to try different ones until you find a night you do like.

Well i must check that out! Can you honestly tell me that you think whelans and thomas reeds are playing decent tunes? What about playing the stone roses, happy mondays, primal scream etc??

Tiddlers

nm wrote: »

Forgot about The Oak. Havent been in about 3 years I reckon, music did used to be bang on mostly but the smell in the place was shocking!

I was only introduced to The Oak 4 years ago and it became my favourite place to go in Dublin. Love it though haven't been there in about 6 months.It was still pretty good but they played the odd song which just seemed out of place,like Dizzee Rascal.

nicbel76

Thomas Reads/Oak downstairs was the only decent indie rock place left in Dublin until these bunch of muppets took over the place a few months ago and turned it all into this crap post teenagerial elettropopindiewannabetopshop saga. True that the girl and other previous dj's ther were mostly taking requests but they managed to keep a good standard and you could see that 90% of people there was really into the music. Whelans has been a joke (except for live music) for ages now and there's loads of so called "indie nights" around, starting and dying before you can ever realise about it, probably playing the usual killers and kings of leon tunes over and over.

No passion and possibly not much indie background from most of dj's around but also the vast majority of drunk people hangin around indie places would dance anything so why bothering... I might check out the Bleeding Horse's new sat nite to see if is any good without expecting too much.

me-skywalker

electrogrimey wrote: »

Taking requests is a sign of a mediocre DJ and a club without its own style and sound, generally not a good thing to say about a venue.

Whaaat? hahahaha good joke!

electrogrimey

me-skywalker wrote: »

Whaaat? hahahaha good joke!

I'm hoping you're a DJ, because if you're not then you don't know what you're talking about...You don't see good DJs taking requests from drunken idiots in the crowd. DJs are employed by the venue, because their style suits the venue. Here's some examples of why DJs don't listen to requests:

I was DJing an electro-house night in the Twisted Pepper last week, I was asked to play Paul Simon. 'I swear, everyone will love it'.

DJing an indie set in Crawdaddy: 'will you play some Vengaboys'
'will you play some Calvin Harris'

Loads more in this thread.

lanyonwhites

Sorry to say club seen is dead, go to berlin

me-skywalker

electrogrimey wrote: »

Taking requests is a sign of a mediocre DJ and a club without its own style and sound, generally not a good thing to say about a venue.

electrogrimey wrote: »

I'm hoping you're a DJ, because if you're not then you don't know what you're talking about...You don't see good DJs taking requests from drunken idiots in the crowd. DJs are employed by the venue, because their style suits the venue. Here's some examples of why DJs don't listen to requests:

I was DJing an electro-house night in the Twisted Pepper last week, I was asked to play Paul Simon. 'I swear, everyone will love it'.

DJing an indie set in Crawdaddy: 'will you play some Vengaboys'
'will you play some Calvin Harris'

Loads more in this thread.

What woudl you say if someone asked you to play a song you actually liked?

Its part and parcel to be honest. All you have to do is say no or nod. Your there to entertain the crowd. With the ever changing tastes in music and people's opinions on venues and places swaying week by week, a bit of communication or customer service woudlnt go too far astray. I personally like when a DJ plays a request but then usually im in places where the people that are placing requests are requesting music that is being played anyway. Its all relative to the crowd you have coming up as you said asking for 'vengaboys' cmon lollity...

electrogrimey

me-skywalker wrote: »

What woudl you say if someone asked you to play a song you actually liked?

Its part and parcel to be honest. All you have to do is say no or nod. Your there to entertain the crowd. With the ever changing tastes in music and people's opinions on venues and places swaying week by week, a bit of communication or customer service woudlnt go too far astray. I personally like when a DJ plays a request but then usually im in places where the people that are placing requests are requesting music that is being played anyway. Its all relative to the crowd you have coming up as you said asking for 'vengaboys' cmon lollity...

If someone requested something already on my list, or a different track by an artist on my list I'd happily play it, but 90% of the time you get drunken idiots with awful music taste, who think they represent the whole crowd.

TheMoon

this is a bit of a plug , but tonight upstairs in Whelan's you'll see a club night that's not confused about identity or samey- it's run by Any Other City Records, (James Byrne), there's two bands from the label playing, up to the bands and afterward James will be DJing from his little set of decks, it's happening every month.
Being part of the label myself I know I am biased but this is more in line with the type of club night/ night out I'd be after. It's got purpose and individuality. You won't hear the same playlists you'd hear elsewhere and is a definite new buzz to Whelan's, last month was great. Blurb below.

Ey up,

Any Other City Records (former home of Villagers and run by Villagers drummer and former Life After Mdelling man James Byrne) run a club night now at the end of every month upstairs in Whelan's.
Tonight is Hello Moon (formely Tender Trap), James McMorrow , and Feed the Bears (that's me and me lady and others).
Last one was amazing craic and we hope we can pull this off as well. Starts at 8, 7 euro in.
Hello Moon - 8.30- 9
James McMorrow - 9.15- 10
Feed the Bears 10.15-11

Also, we're supporting the really f**king good 'GIRLS' in Whelan's downstairs on Monday. come to that as well, why don't you.

www.myspace.com/feedthebearsdublin

sweetie

TheMoon wrote: »

Any Other City Records (former home of Villagers and run by Villagers drummer and former Life After Mdelling man James Byrne) run a club night now at the end of every month upstairs in Whelan's.
Tonight is Hello Moon (formely Tender Trap), James McMorrow , and Feed the Bears (that's me and me lady and others).
Last one was amazing craic and we hope we can pull this off as well. Starts at 8, 7 euro in.
Hello Moon - 8.30- 9
James McMorrow - 9.15- 10
Feed the Bears 10.15-11

Also, we're supporting the really f**king good 'GIRLS' in Whelan's downstairs on Monday. come to that as well, why don't you.

www.myspace.com/feedthebearsdublin

won't make tonight but tomorrow sounds like a plan!

keanooo

jessk wrote: »

Well i must check that out! Can you honestly tell me that you think whelans and thomas reeds are playing decent tunes? What about playing the stone roses, happy mondays, primal scream etc??

That sounds suspiciously like a request... If Grimey has any musical integrity he will never play any of those bands at his club.