Legendary Clubs / Raves

First ever proper rave I went to was the Asylum, aged 18 and somewhat innocent, never took 'e', just a couple of flaggins of cider . Turned up at 10.30 with a mate and there was no queue so we decided to go down early, 10 pounds entry which was a lot back then. The bouncer told us "be careful if you're dealing, the Finglas crew are here tonight" ??

Pushed open the door and entered into a scene similar to a mental home, place was packed to the rafters, blokes with tops off and birds in bikini top just staring into the distance, sweat dripping from the ceiling, music absolutely pumping! Heard some classics for the first time ever that night, Prodigy - One Love, Bolivian Angel and Atlantic Ocean - Waterfall was played three times in a row. Even 4th Dimension nearly brought down the house!

Went to the bar to get a drink to find that they had'nt got a drinks licence just Mr Freeze's! Open dealing going on all around me. Vicks and olbas oil in the air, everyone hugging and stretching each other! Remember going into the toilets where guys and girls were shooting up, snorting and doing all sorts in the cubicles....mayhem! Always remember the breakdowns and build up in the music, fantastic strobes and smoke machines on overdrive and in the distance a guy with two crutches in the air giving it loads!

I remember the shutters being pulled up at 6.45am and the crowd still dancing in the sunlight. Remember standing on Middle Abbey street with severe tinnitus and knees like an 80 year old....but best buzz ever, never ever surpassed!

Now, when I look back I see how foolish I was and how dangerous that kip was, drugs everywhere, gangs, etc.

I was all set to go in the following Saturday until it was on the news that a guy had got shot on the Friday at 1.30am, had turned away the ambulance and kept dancing until 7am before collapsing from blood loss!

Crazy crazy times....

I remember going to the one and only Gatecrasher event that came to the Point Depot back in Feb 2001.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~bclear/clubie/gatecrasherpoint.html

The line up was actually really cool...
SONARSTATE.COM WINNER (30min set)
ROBBIE BUTLER
JUDGE JULES
TIMO MASS
SANDER KLEINENBERG
DJ TIESTO
SCOTT BOND


This was the most bizarre experience I have come across in my time clubbing! Everything was actually going really well as my mates and I got to the place, got through the large queue nice and quick with only the very lightest of pat downs. Walked in during Robbie Butlers set at around 7ish and found to our surprise that The Point was really full, easily 4-5000 people dancing away in the main arena. There were plenty of Zombies getting their thrills making their way up and down the escalators just for the hell of it, however upstairs was what I could only describe as a moving morgue! Bodies all over the place shape shifting into the most weird of positions.

In the main area there was the usual mixture of speaker stacks, lots of lights, lasers and dances on the stage and hanging about 10ft from the ceiling though were 4 these huge hollow metal squares 40ft high x 20 wide and only 20ft from the dance floor, they had the crasher logo in the middle.

Anyway surprisingly JJ had put on a good set and Timo Maas was just getting stuck into his tunes when suddenly looking to my left a guy is getting a lift up from his mates to the bottom of the Crasher logo, both his shoes fall off as he gets up and he starts dancing away. The music keeps going and the crowd notice the guy and start cheering...Security come over and try to get the guy down but he's having none of it, besides they are 20 ft below him and he feels like a god as the noise in the place is just mental.

What could top this eh?

Well he starts climbing and climbing all the way up to the top of the metal square, he gets easily 60+ feet up and still the music and lights are going at full tilt and the crowd are still cheering....That’s when it all goes pear shaped...
The music suddenly stops and the house lights come on..
Well I've never seen a crowd turn so quickly...6-7000 mad out of it people looking dazed and confused in the bright house lights and their anger is being pointed in one direction, towards the person causing the interruption to their nights dancing....Suddenly the guy starts getting down to the bottom but refuses to jump down to the waiting 30 security types below. This is when object start being thrown, bottles of water, keys, coins, cups anything!
Well eventually he jumps down and the last I saw were two bare feet being dragged away by the security...Say he got some beating though.
Within 30 seconds the music was going lights flashing and to most people in the place the incident never happened

That’s my story of what was the most bizarre and yet the best night I’ve ever had clubbing

KdjaC wrote:

What Bazmo and jonny68 said and add in the place above the icr rink in phibsboro.


kdjac

Now that was a mad spot alright fcuk me that used to go onto until all hours

The clarence in sligo, until it closed for refurbishment at new years, was excellent, never had a bad night in the place

Just have to stick in for the Arena in the Drumsill hotel in Armagh. They used to come from all over the North and the border counties. Massive massive venue and Robbie Nelson used to do resident at the time. For a solid 2 years I could safely say I missed one or two weeks.
It ran into trouble with the provos in 95 and was nevewr really the same after that. So many good times, so many good tunes. I recall talking to 2 guys on the bus one night who were from Dublin and reckoned it topped Sides and the Ormond as a night out...never managed to make it down to Dublin myself round that time so I prolly missed out on a lot. Still nice to have seen how it good it was compared to the sh*tfest most clubs have turned into nowadays...

Anywhere in dublin at the moment that could compete-
underground wit good tunes and a friendly vibe? Along the lines of wax-gutted i wasn't in2 it durin the 90's!! :mad:

all the creation raves i've been to were pretty amazing. especially the one in devil's glen in i think around april 2002... in the natural amphitheatre of the car park in the middle of the woods. had to walk a mile in the pitch black to get there with the tunes and lights gradually becoming clear. there's a video of it knocking around somewhere. it looks like its from the summer of love and that's what it felt like as well. the doanabate one last summer was also one of the best nights of my life. the next day was a schorcher and we all went swimming and got burnt to bits.

Giles wrote:

Creation Rave in Donabate at the end of May 2004.... Now that was one mad mad mad party!!! What made it extra special was the weather the morning after, it was glorious. I got burnt as well unfortunately but I didn't exactly include suncream as an essential part of my "rave-kit"!

I remember(?) pulling loadsa handbrakers in my car on the beach at about 10am in the morning when my car got well and truly stuck in the sand - needless to say about 4 or 5 manglers were immediately on hand to help me get the car unstuck and moving again, lesson learned parked car again and went back to the rave to give it socks!

Lol!! I don't remember much of that rave, however I do remember being one of the manglers helping you with ur car.... I think I gave up pretty quicky though

anybody ever went clubbing in Belgium?
Belgium rooooocks for good clubbing :eek:

The Funnel was a small club down the quays on the southside, past the City Arts Centre, almost directly across the river from where the Jury's Hotel is now. I think the name of the quay it was on is called St. John Rogerson's Quay.

Anyway, The Funnel opened around Nov/December 1997 and was where I lost my clubbing virginity. Because it was so out of the way the only people that went there were people who were really into their music.

My favourite night was Fridays which was run by the promotional team Ultramack (Decal and their friend Timo and a few others helping out). Their night was called Phunk City and they brought over such people as Andy Weatherall, Luke Vibert, Plaid, Jega, Cylob, DMX Krew, Autechre etc. I wrote a mini U:Mack gig history thing which you can read here.

I loved that place, when it first opened it was just a small-ish room upstairs (less than 250 capacity) but then opened the downstairs bar too. It was a terrible loss when it closed in August 1999. Other promoters such as D1, Bassbin etc also ran great nights there.

For those of you that were at the Creation party in Donabate I've still got some photos of it up on the internet here.

u got to know people.

u got to know people.

in the know mate

God you make it sound so protentious. You hear about them from promoters, websites, word of mouth ect. Generally if your on the scene enough. ie go to club nights where the organisers do or are associated with folk who organise these 'raves'. Record stores or folk about the electronic music scene, you hear of free parties that go on.

Another thing on the subject of raves. Anyone who organises an electronic music event these days seems to be calling them 'raves' now hang on a sec my understanding of a rave is an illegal party usally held free of charge in a open location. Not these so called 'Glenart Raves' which were just town nights and promoters holding a special bash in a castle. Even the Rephlex dj assualt crew consider they're organised gigs with entry fee a 'Rave'.

Forgot to add 'Chipping Sodbury' which was kinda funny one year. A local farmer tried to stop the gig going ahead in 92 and ploughed the common or most of the main area as you pulled in from the road.

Didn't stop the Rave and he got done for Criminal Damage to Public Property lmao - served him right imo but it was kinda funny at the time...

Chipping Sodbury is known as 'Common Land' under English law and as such is 'Public Property' though overseen by the heritage trust (I think), Castle Morton, the one I mentioned above was not far away and was the biggest 'Illegal' Rave held upto that time (In England that is) - They did a reunion gig there a year or two back which was licenced etc but well not really the same like....

Wertz wrote:

Just have to stick in for the Arena in the Drumsill hotel in Armagh. They used to come from all over the North and the border counties. Massive massive venue and Robbie Nelson used to do resident at the time. For a solid 2 years I could safely say I missed one or two weeks.
It ran into trouble with the provos in 95 and was nevewr really the same after that. So many good times, so many good tunes. I recall talking to 2 guys on the bus one night who were from Dublin and reckoned it topped Sides and the Ormond as a night out...never managed to make it down to Dublin myself round that time so I prolly missed out on a lot. Still nice to have seen how it good it was compared to the sh*tfest most clubs have turned into nowadays...

use to travel up from dublin mate. was with warren and ed case in 93-94 up there. the place rocked. the dj box was made of glass and sound proof. the dance floor used to move also.. this guy called the wizard use to put a weird live show on.. cracking club gret memories:cool: :cool: :cool:

oldstock wrote:

use to travel up from dublin mate. was with warren and ed case in 93-94 up there. the place rocked. the dj box was made of glass and sound proof. the dance floor used to move also.. this guy called the wizard use to put a weird live show on.. cracking club gret memories:cool: :cool: :cool:

Ah the old spring-loaded dancing stage...you nearly had to queue to get on to it. The bassbins were underneath. ...and the lighting rig used to descend out of the ceiling...gah, miss that vibe a lot.

That wizard guy was called Mark Oberon IIRC...saw him at a NYE bash, and he did this thing with doves (birds not the other kind) and some weird light show trickery...white gloves and olbas oil all round.