Nightlife in Waterford in 80s,90s, early 2000s

friendlyfun

I am in my 20s and when I talk to people in maybe their 30, 40s, 50s etc I feel like going out on the town in Waterford was better in the 80s, 90s, 2000s. I'm curious why people feel this way. Lack of drugs? No social media? The different fashion. Happy to hear people's experiences.

Wanderer78

lack of drugs! fcuking hell! twas always fairly ****e to me, but sure im an aspie, seen some rocken gigs though

bullpost

friendlyfun wrote: »

I am in my 20s and when I talk to people in maybe their 30, 40s, 50s etc I feel like going out on the town in Waterford was better in the 80s, 90s, 2000s. I'm curious why people feel this way. Lack of drugs? No social media? The different fashion. Happy to hear people's experiences.

80s - Very vibrant pub scene, no home-drinking and no social media to zombiefy us.

bullpost

bullpost wrote: »

no social media to zombiefy us.

Was a student in WIT there 1996 - 2000

A couple of garda raids on the Roxy about the most notable. But no social media to suggest the right virtue signals one should be doing etc. Alternatively go to the Ard Ri Hotel on the Hill, but bare in mind the management would let any old riff raff gatecrash your college party, the staff could'nt care less.

The Bridge Hotel was more professional to host things like the Computer Science Ball etc.

Harry Palmr

Music music music! Every Friday or Saturday night there was someone somewhere who you'd not be appalled to listen to for 60-90 minutes be it the actual Waterboys or Human League or some proficient covers band and then the disco!

Wanderer78

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Music music music! Every Friday or Saturday night there was someone somewhere who you'd not be appalled to listen to for 60-90 minutes be it the actual Waterboys or Human League or some proficient covers band and then the disco!

the bok, the bok, the bok, ffs!

PTH2009

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Music music music! Every Friday or Saturday night there was someone somewhere who you'd not be appalled to listen to for 60-90 minutes be it the actual Waterboys or Human League or some proficient covers band and then the disco!

Def Leppard played one of the gigs down there

mooseknunkle

friendlyfun wrote: »

I am in my 20s and when I talk to people in maybe their 30, 40s, 50s etc I feel like going out on the town in Waterford was better in the 80s, 90s, 2000s. I'm curious why people feel this way. Lack of drugs? No social media? The different fashion. Happy to hear people's experiences.

Lack of drugs :D

The late 90's early 00's ,the celtic tiger was booming,block layers taking home 2k and more a week ,coke was hitting Waterford in a big way ,pubs and clubs were packed no social media no phones you just met up and had a good time!

aziz

PTH2009 wrote: »

Def Leppard played one of the gigs down there

That gig in Katie's was Rick Allen's first gig after losing his Arm,he wasn't supposed to play the full gig as they had the drummer from status quo there to back him up ,but the stage was too small for two drum kits so he had to play the full gig by himself

hardybuck

There was also a steady influx of people from outside town coming down for the night to socialise from surrounding counties, and from places like Dublin.

This was before Kilkenny became the place to go to, and they've taken at lot of that crowd away from Waterford.

In my opinion a lot of this could be revived by more residential development in the city centre which faces a daily exodus of people after the shops shut in the evening.

At the moment if you come out of a restaurant around 9-10 and are thinking about having a drink, the streets are far too quiet and it can feel a bit unsafe. No buzz around the place. Any later than that and you can encounter a pretty messy crowd who've done their pre-drinking and are falling into the clubs.

BBM77

friendlyfun wrote: »

I am in my 20s and when I talk to people in maybe their 30, 40s, 50s etc I feel like going out on the town in Waterford was better in the 80s, 90s, 2000s. I'm curious why people feel this way. Lack of drugs? No social media? The different fashion. Happy to hear people's experiences.

Going out was very different in the 80s, 90s, 2000s. As others have said, there was much less home drinking/house parties, no smoking band and people talked to each other more pre mobile phone days.

Everybody looks back at their twenties with rose tinted glasses. Of course there were dick heads in the 80s, 90s and earlier 2000s. However, I do think there is a nastier atmosphere about the whole going out thing that was not there to the same extent as in the 80s, 90s and earlier 2000s.

Flow Motion

I socialised in town a lot from the Summer of 1990 till probably 2010-ish. It was a completely different town to go out in than now I reckon. Lots of choice of pubs, clubs, & music throughout that 20 year period. Initially Breens/The Bridge was the place to be & go to. Then Preachers. Flow Motion @ the back of Egans. The Roxy. The Metroland. Big dance music scene mid 90's. Even the smoking ban did not put much of a dent in pub trade as we were in the midst of the Celtic Tiger. As others have said a lot of the pubs were jammers. Many people went out to watch the Premier League before came affordable to get it at home. So the pubs would be busy even on midweek especially from Wednesday on (college night). Not much aggro apart from the odd local headdaball. It was a great place to socialise and go out in. Then you have place like The Forum, Club LA, Junction Bar, Sinnotts, Sheffs, The Reg etc. There was always a big choice on offer no matter what your taste. The major difference IMO is the lack of social media up to say the mid 00's. People could let themselves go w/ being photographed & shared to the wider world. The absence of phones meant people talking face to face constantly. Looking back I guess this, cheap off licence prices, the crash & recession, house parties, the healthier lifestyle movement accelerated the decline in town. Also people forget that the closure of the Glass had a major economic impact of a small city like Waterford. People were earning big bucks and the shops & pubs prospered off the back of that. Also if you were one of my generation that got a huge mortgage on a modest house in the boom times that subsequently shrunk in value than going out on the razz every weekend would have vanished. So a perfect storm of events tore the heart out of the nightlife scene. Take a pub like Geoffs for example; back in the 90's, even after the extension in size, it was purely a drinking pub and a place that you could find yourself queueing to get into @ the weekends anytime after 8 o'clock @ night. There wasnt even standing room on a usual Sat night FFS! Within a decade they began serving food and today I reckon it makes more on food than it does on booze. Take a look in there on a Saturday night and its mostly families dining than people drinking. Not that I am saying that it is a bad thing but anyone below the age of say 35-ish would not recognise this pre mid Noughties version of Waterford.

hardybuck

I also don't think that the current generation of 18-30 year olds drink as much as their predecessors from previous generations.

Drink is more expensive, and contains more calories, than certain chemical alternatives.

Wanderer78

hardybuck wrote: »

I also don't think that the current generation of 18-30 year olds drink as much as their predecessors from previous generations.

Drink is more expensive, and contains more calories, than certain chemical alternatives.

hard to tell, am i right in saying alcohol sales are slowly falling?

JimWinters

There was never really the going out crowd in Waterford to support two full clubs, there was always one busy club and half full. Late bars killed the nightclubs in town, why would people pay in to a nightclub when they can stay in a bar wth the same closing time? There was a race to the bottom in the late 00s where clubs dropped the price of drink and free entry. They've never fully recovered from that, Waterford people won't pay in.

Bars and clubs used to busy four or five nights per week, at the start of this year it was barely busy on a Saturday night. Predrinks have killed the town too with pubs not getting busy until 11 on a Friday or Saturday three or four busy hours a week aren't enough to sustain many businesses.

Many of the venues in town are seen with rose tinted glasses, the music of their time and great mates around are what made the great nights out for people in venues like The Roxy, The Reg, Axis Mundi, Metropole, Bridge Hotel, Preachers, Club LA, Merlins, Oxegen, Rubys, Ten, Factory, Foundry, Shortts, Kazbar and others. There was some great nights for big acts in town too!

Geoffs has been the one constant through it all...

PTH2009

JimWinters wrote: »

There was never really the going out crowd in Waterford to support two full clubs, there was always one busy club and half full. Late bars killed the nightclubs in town, why would people pay in to a nightclub when they can stay in a bar wth the same closing time? There was a race to the bottom in the late 00s where clubs dropped the price of drink and free entry. They've never fully recovered from that, Waterford people won't pay in.

Bars and clubs used to busy four or five nights per week, at the start of this year it was barely busy on a Saturday night. Predrinks have killed the town too with pubs not getting busy until 11 on a Friday or Saturday three or four busy hours a week aren't enough to sustain many businesses.

Many of the venues in town are seen with rose tinted glasses, the music of their time and great mates around are what made the great nights out for people in venues like The Roxy, The Reg, Axis Mundi, Metropole, Bridge Hotel, Preachers, Club LA, Merlins, Oxegen, Rubys, Ten, Factory, Foundry, Shortts, Kazbar and others. There was some great nights for big acts in town too!

Geoffs has been the one constant through it all...

I don't get the love for Geoffs. Is it the large smoking area ??

The staff in there can be very rude and the place itself doesn't have that pub feel. Your not allowed sing or have too much craic

kuang1

PTH2009 wrote: »

I don't get the love for Geoffs. Is it the large smoking area ??

The staff in there can be very rude and the place itself doesn't have that pub feel. Your not allowed sing or have too much craic

Yes I was having too much craic there one night and got warned. Then we started having the normal amount of craic and they left us stay.

dzilla

PTH2009 wrote: »

I don't get the love for Geoffs. Is it the large smoking area ??

The staff in there can be very rude and the place itself doesn't have that pub feel. Your not allowed sing or have too much craic

kuang1 wrote: »

Yes I was having too much craic there one night and got warned. Then we started having the normal amount of craic and they left us stay.

Me a few friends breached the level of craic allowed to be had there also one night and where advised to bring the craic level down a notch.

True Story

Flow Motion

PTH2009 wrote: »

I don't get the love for Geoffs. Is it the large smoking area ??

The staff in there can be very rude and the place itself doesn't have that pub feel. Your not allowed sing or have too much craic

Geoffs is the thinking mans pub. The art of conversation & good music on rotation. Hence the absence of TV's. Depends on what you are into. Downes is in a similar vein to Geoffs. Not everyone wants to have to be able to shout over breakbeats and wade through messy lairly lads whos idea of the "craic" only belongs in the dressing room or one of those "Brit Abroad" tv shows :pac::pac:

Murphy2020

Really enjoying this thread. My nights out in town started early 1998 to end of the 00's before kids arrived. After that it was random nights out when babysitters allowed ðŸ˜
1998 to 2000: Egans, Flare, Flo Motion, Preachers, Temple Bar, The pulpit, Club LA and the Junction Bar, Fitzgeralds
2000 to 2002: Rubys, Merlins, Muldoons, Flashs
2003: Axis Mundi and The Old Stand
2004 to 2005: Gingerman, Masons, Muldoons, Oxygen, Revolution, Geoffs, Kazbar
2006 to 2009: Harvey's, Rubys Lounge, Woodman
2010 onwards: The Reg
Now the pubs I prefer are Tully's, Walsh's, Jordan's, The Tap Room, Geoffs
Any I've forgotten??

Rustyman101

Murphy2020 wrote: »

Really enjoying this thread. My nights out in town started early 1998 to end of the 00's before kids arrived. After that it was random nights out when babysitters allowed ðŸ˜
1998 to 2000: Egans, Flare, Flo Motion, Preachers, Temple Bar, The pulpit, Club LA and the Junction Bar, Fitzgeralds
2000 to 2002: Rubys, Merlins, Muldoons, Flashs
2003: Axis Mundi and The Old Stand
2004 to 2005: Gingerman, Masons, Muldoons, Oxygen, Revolution, Geoffs, Kazbar
2006 to 2009: Harvey's, Rubys Lounge, Woodman
2010 onwards: The Reg
Now the pubs I prefer are Tully's, Walsh's, Jordan's, The Tap Room, Geoffs
Any I've forgotten??

original olde rogue n Bobby mc gees, loved the rogue back in the day !

Roanmore

aziz wrote: »

That gig in Katie's was Rick Allen's first gig after losing his Arm,he wasn't supposed to play the full gig as they had the drummer from status quo there to back him up ,but the stage was too small for two drum kits so he had to play the full gig by himself

Not his first gig, that was Connolly Hall in Cork (I was at it).
My have been his first on his own though.

Boooourns

PTH2009 wrote: »

I don't get the love for Geoffs. Is it the large smoking area ??

The staff in there can be very rude and the place itself doesn't have that pub feel. Your not allowed sing or have too much craic

Treated their former staff like sh1te, the staff that were great to go into and have a chat with. There's one or two stories i know about the place that keeps me away from it, the management are full of themselves. It's completely lost that interaction between staff and the customer.
Massive shame how that place has turned out.

friendlyfun

Boooourns wrote: »

Treated their former staff like sh1te, the staff that were great to go into and have a chat with. There's one or two stories i know about the place that keeps me away from it, the management are full of themselves. It's completely lost that interaction between staff and the customer.
Massive shame how that place has turned out.

The staff don't really come across as friendly or personable. Not the sort of place I'd want to have a relaxing drink. So much they could be doing with the large smoking area too instead of it been filled with furniture falling a part because it looks "retro" or some ****e.

aziz

Roanmore wrote: »

Not his first gig, that was Connolly Hall in Cork (I was at it).
My have been his first on his own though.

Yeah, I can't remember the tour dates but they were I think two gigs before the Katie's gig and they were able to use the back up drummer and Katie's was the first he played solo and I think the next solo gig was monsters of rock in donington,

aziz

Oh yeah, talking of Geoff's
I can't understand how one pub can employ so many arsehole bar staff.
Even going back 35 years when I first went in there, in was the same.
A couple of them were fine but then you had the ones that would bar on because you looked at them side ways or some other bull excuse

PTH2009

aziz wrote: »

Yeah, I can't remember the tour dates but they were I think two gigs before the Katie's gig and they were able to use the back up drummer and Katie's was the first he played solo and I think the next solo gig was monsters of rock in donington,

http://www.deflepparduk.com/2016newsnov184.html

Great read up on it

I was at a Leppard gig in the 3Arena a couple years back and Rick Allen paid tribute too Ballybunion and that was in fact the first time Allen played on his own

http://www.deflepparduk.com/1986ballybunionmedia.html

I suppose a band like that have played 1000s of gigs and surely most of its a blur.

aziz

Yeah that's the story that Clive from the first link told me,
Ballybunion was the first solo gig but Waterford was the first without the safety net( second drummer) if that makes sense

joeguevara

Was club La ( pronunciation like the a in bla) in Waterford. Been racking my brain for the name of the club I was brought to in 96.

Got a laugh at the lack of drugs comment in OP.

Santan

One thing that makes me teary eyed, every Saturday night my father, me with him, driving my sisters into town dropping them off at eagans I think, and then the golden prize, up to Johnny Walker's for chips, the best chips in town in the 90's, great times

friendlyfun

Back in 2003, Des Bishop did a show where he worked low paying jobs across Ireland. In one he went to work in Abrakabra on John Street ( Where Apaches is now). Mad to see how much times have changed in Waterford. . Not a fan of his comedy but the series was entertaining and better than most ****e on RTE these days

https://youtu.be/S2ecKb-XmBI

aziz

aziz wrote: »

Oh yeah, talking of Geoff's
I can't understand how one pub can employ so many arsehole bar staff.
Even going back 35 years when I first went in there, in was the same.
A couple of them were fine but then you had the ones that would bar on because you looked at them side ways or some other bull excuse

I can honestly say that I've NEVER experienced a negative or a bad attitude

from ANY staff at Geoff's!

Murphy2020

That tv show with Des Bishop brings back so many memories of crazy nights in town.

PTH2009

Murphy2020 wrote: »

That tv show with Des Bishop brings back so many memories of crazy nights in town.

A little bit before my time but pretty similar experience to what after hours looks like before covid

Jesus whittles shop where Centra is now, the kentucky around the area

I think the manager of Abra is still manager of one Apache today could be wrong?.

Tragically someone who appeared in that episode was killed in a car crash a few years after

road_high

hardybuck wrote: »

I also don't think that the current generation of 18-30 year olds drink as much as their predecessors from previous generations.

Drink is more expensive, and contains more calories, than certain chemical alternatives.

I think the kids now are way more into image i.e. Physical appearances than we were in the early 2000s when i was starting "going out". Now it's all Instagram and gym culture whereas we didn't give a ****e really. Going to the gym was not mainstream like it is now.
As result they don't drink as much as we did I reckon, more health conscious.

friendlyfun

Murphy2020 wrote: »

That tv show with Des Bishop brings back so many memories of crazy nights in town.

When he's talking in Red square you can see Egans and the old Pennys. Brought back a flood of memories.

Smell the glove

PTH2009 wrote: »

Tragically someone who appeared in that episode was killed in a car crash a few years after

It aired very shortly after his funeral.

PTH2009

Smell the glove wrote: »

It aired very shortly after his funeral.

Was it his house mate or the bouncer ?

Smell the glove

PTH2009 wrote: »

Was it his house mate or the bouncer ?

Neither. He's a customer.

Flow Motion

road_high wrote: »

I think the kids now are way more into image i.e. Physical appearances than we were in the early 2000s when i was starting "going out". Now it's all Instagram and gym culture whereas we didn't give a ****e really. Going to the gym was not mainstream like it is now.
As result they don't drink as much as we did I reckon, more health conscious.

I'd agree 100% on this point. I dont think anyone frequented a gym other than elite athletes back then. Probably only the Glass Leisure Centre and a handful of other small place dotted around town at that point. Whereas it is all gym culture/running/cycling these days for the younger generations. A game of 5 a side soccer was the limit of my exercise in my early 20's and the odd summer swim in Tramore. It was all about going out at the weekends. All the time. Looking back I had a ball and it did not do me any harm. There has been some huge changes since the year 2000. And not all for the better. Life was a lot more straightforward back then.

dzilla

Flow Motion wrote: »

I'd agree 100% on this point. I dont think anyone frequented a gym other than elite athletes back then. Probably only the Glass Leisure Centre and a handful of other small place dotted around town at that point. Whereas it is all gym culture/running/cycling these days for the younger generations. A game of 5 a side soccer was the limit of my exercise in my early 20's and the odd summer swim in Tramore. It was all about going out at the weekends. All the time. Looking back I had a ball and it did not do me any harm. There has been some huge changes since the year 2000. And not all for the better. Life was a lot more straightforward back then.

100%

giles lynchwood

aziz wrote: »

Oh yeah, talking of Geoff's
I can't understand how one pub can employ so many arsehole bar staff.
Even going back 35 years when I first went in there, in was the same.
A couple of them were fine but then you had the ones that would bar on because you looked at them side ways or some other bull excuse

If you ever met the manager, that would answer your question. Used to go into Dooley's for the breakfast (massive by the way) all the girls there were super chatty attentive just good at their job. One of them got a job in Geoff's and within weeks her attitude had changed for the worst, how a workplace can have that effect on somebody, baffel's me to this day.

Quigs Snr

Flow Motion wrote: »

I'd agree 100% on this point. I dont think anyone frequented a gym other than elite athletes back then. Probably only the Glass Leisure Centre and a handful of other small place dotted around town at that point. Whereas it is all gym culture/running/cycling these days for the younger generations. A game of 5 a side soccer was the limit of my exercise in my early 20's and the odd summer swim in Tramore. It was all about going out at the weekends. All the time. Looking back I had a ball and it did not do me any harm. There has been some huge changes since the year 2000. And not all for the better. Life was a lot more straightforward back then.

I was just saying to someone that when i moved back to waterford in 2000 i used to go out running around by ballgunner and i was usually the only person out there.. now you see people running all over the city.

91wx763

PTH2009 wrote: »

I think the manager of Abra is still manager of one Apache today could be wrong?.

"WW" owns Brooklyn etc nowadays.

91wx763

Oscar Madison wrote: »

I can honestly say that I've NEVER experienced a negative or a bad attitude

from ANY staff at Geoff's!

The only two old timers that were any good their names start with W and M and they're still about. There were a lot of other c*cks back in the day, some related to the guvnor. General barstaff everywhere can be idiots so it's not just here.

Flow Motion

Quigs Snr wrote: »

I was just saying to someone that when i moved back to waterford in 2000 i used to go out running around by ballgunner and i was usually the only person out there.. now you see people running all over the city.

There's been a huge increase in road running here in Waterford. Not a car journey passes without seeing individuals & groups of men & women on our roads. Fair play *but* it wouldnt be for me.

In terms of the effect it has had on the local social scene if you are one of these runners than drinking & socialising would be very low on your list of priorities IMO. However even such a wholesome activity is not w/o its risks: the effect of pounding the roads results in many runners developing or needing hip/knee replacements in later life due to the impact.

I'll raise a glass to them as they pass by the window of my local :pac:

kooga

I lived in Waterford from 1974 - 1986 left when I was 13 but for a good few summers after that till the mid 90s used to go back down. I have great memories of the bridge hotel - did the nite club become Olympus/olympics? Trying out my first few pints of smith wicks. Plus the old cinema on Patrick street it had three screens / the palace Pullman and the mini. Inside you had all the posters on the wall in the q area - was their two old ladies who rang the ticket office and shop. Fond memories. There was a pub bar off o Connell street which reminded me of someone’s living room but I can’t remember the name.

Flow Motion

kooga wrote: »

Plus the old cinema on Patrick street it had three screens / the palace Pullman and the mini. Inside you had all the posters on the wall in the q area - was their two old ladies who rang the ticket office and shop. Fond memories.

The old cinema was a lot better looking inside & outside than what replaced it. The main screen upstairs was absolutely huge. If you had any of those old posters they would be worth a fair bit by now.

PTH2009

Where was the old rogue ?

Had a few pints of Harp yesterday bloody hell its toxic

Hard to believe we have 1 pub in our City Centre

aziz

PTH2009 wrote: »

Where was the old rogue ?

Had a few pints of Harp yesterday bloody hell its toxic

Hard to believe we have 1 pub in our City Centre

The rogue is now the hub

PTH2009

aziz wrote: »

The rogue is now the hub

saw it in the des bishop episode but couldn't make out where the pub was. Revolution was only being build back then.