Moodymann, Dublin, March
I can’t kick this feeling when it hits: the awesome Moodymann plays Dublin’s Twisted Pepper on Sunday March 18. Tickets are €15 in advance (€12 for members) or €16 on the door.
On The Record »
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You still dancin’? You still askin’?
For most of this week, Una Mullally’s piece in Saturday’s paper on the current health of Dublin clubland, written on the back of last week’s news about the changing-of-the-guard at the POD complex, has featured in the most-read column in The Irish Times. It’s also attracted tons of comment and response, both of the considered, thoughtful kind (see Ian Maleney’s fine piece for more on this) and the usual online ad feminam attacks on the author because they disagree with her point of view (a thread which then turned into something about the difficulties of changing a baby’s nappy in the middle of a packed dancefloor or maybe I was imagining that). Plus ca change and all of that, to keep it foreign.
There’s nothing factually wrong with Una’s piece, just as there’s nothing factually wrong with Ian’s reply. The former is pointing out that the closure of the POD complex and the imminent arrival of a Copperface Jacks’-type club on the space helmed by the people at the nearby Flannery’s pub is a sign of the times in Dublin clubland, that the city’s clubosphere is full of places offering cheapo drinks’ deals and cheesy pop music to get folks in the door because that’s what works. The latter is pointing out that, actually, there still is an undergound element to the city’s clubland despite the lowest common denominator approach of the super-clubs. There always was an underground, there always will be an underground. Yes, Watson, it looks like another case of the farmer and the cowman.
But they should be friends because the truth is that Dublin clubland has always been like this and the data exists to back this up. I’ve been compiling Dublin and Irish club listings for various publications (first, the Event Guide, i-D and dSide; later, The Ticket) since 1992 and it’s fascinating to look back and see what has changed – and what has not. The one mainstay during all this time? The Leeson Street dives, believe it or not, who are still operating in boozy, bolshie independence after all these years.
Over the last two decades, we’ve seen clubs and scenes come and go with great frequency. Leaving aside an earlier underground based around the legendary Sides and clubs at the Hirschfeld Centre (see Paul Tarpey’s amazing post from the OTR archives on this), we’ve seen music-first club nights and venues since the early 1990s like (deep breath) the Temple of Sound, UFO, Columbia Mills, the Gardening Club, JuJu Club, DropOut, Powderbubble, Gag (maybe not music-first in that case), Influx, the Tivoli, the Asylum, Blue, Club So, the Furnace (thanks Fin in the comments for jogging my memory), the Funnel (likewise h/t to OC) the Ormond Multimedia Centre, Strictly Fish, HAM, Monkey Tennis, Horny Organ Tribe, Mars Needs Women, Firehouse Skank, Louder, the System, Wax, Refuge, Quadraphonic, Stereophonic, Fresh Mode and dozens, nah, hundreds of more during this time (this list is far from exhaustive or even comprehensive – I’m leaving out tons of clubs from more recent years like POGO, Big Dish Go, Fatty Fatty and Electric City, for example, to concentrate on the history lesson). And that’s just the capital – we could go on and on if we headed out of here and took in everything from SugarSweet up north to Jazz Juice out west to Sweat down south to that place in Wexford whose name escapes me which was a big techno mainstay for a couple of years.
And yet at the same time as all of this was going on, you always had an equal number of joints which didn’t care what the DJ was playing as long as it was in the charts and people were filling their boots at the bar. For example, as long as I’ve been compiling club listings, Fitzsimons has stood tall on a corner of Temple Bar offering just that kind of fare. I remember the nice man from the club dropping into the Event Guide every so often during the 1990s when I worked there to talk to advertising super-woman Joan Kerins, but I don’t think I ever listed anything from there because the listing were always supposed to be music-led. He didn’t need the listings because he had all the traffic he could handle.
There’s a cycle to everything so it’s no surprise that we’re currently seeing many bemoaning how much mainstream clubbing has taken over, while others will shout that we’ve never had it so good if you go looking for it. Remember that when the POD opened in 1993 that the city didn’t have that many venues for music-first club nights. Such was the lack of venues at the time that I was involved in a number of clubs which used to operate in the foyer of what’s now the Irish Film Institute and others put on clubs in restaurants around town. But 12 months after the POD opened, you had the Kitchen and Ri-Ra opening for business and there was a strong media focus on the new breed of clubbing which led to more people checking out these places.
Everyone points to the Twisted Pepper on Middle Abbey Street as a sign of just how vibrant things are right now and certainly the venue, going on what I’ve seen, is rammed from Thursday to Saturday nights. But that’s just one venue in a city of 1.5 million people. If one thing has changed in the last few years, it’s that the number of venues open to having music-first clubs on the premises has dropped. Independent promoters used to have a rake of venues open to persuasion in the past, but the number of club-friendly venues in the city-centre is currently smaller than it has ever been. You can probably now take the Button Factory out of the equation for independent promoters too, seeing that POD Dance have established a base there on Fridays and Banquet are in situ on Saturdays.
But yet it’s at times like these that innovation comes to the fore. One of the truly brilliant Dublin answers to a Dublin problem came roughly a decade ago with the whole club-in-a-pub buzz. Down-at-heel gaffs like the Thomas House became home to a slew of vibrant, smart, fun nights out (like the aforementioned Monkey Tennis) and suddenly, you had a new gang of promoters with a dedicated following who could move onto established venues and give them a sprinkling of fairydust. Perhaps, given the problems the pub trade are having at the moment (see the series of articles like this one which have been running in the paper all week about problems in the pub trade), there is scope here to manipulate things.
Then again, you have to wonder if there are enough people around to give this a shot of working. Clubs need promoters to bring in the crowd and this recession has seen people who should be taking chances and having the crack with their own nights here head to Berlin or London or somewhere else on the emigration trail instead. At the same time, though, their potential audience is also leaving, adding to the problem.
Clubs need new, younger promoters because they’re the ones who will bring in new ideas and new faces and ensure they stick around. Established club promoters have always had a hard time moving over to let new blood have its turn in Dublin. What used to happen was the older promoters went on to own or operate a venue themselves and provide the space for the newer promoters to have a go. This is something which rarely happens now because, despite the opportunities you might think the recession provides, a combination of rents, overheads and prohibitive licensing regulations make this an onerous task.
But as both Una and Ian agree, there’s always been bright sparks and silver linings when it comes to Dublin clubland. Even with the natural imbalance in the numbers between the mainstream and underground clubs, there’s always been room and demand for the latter. Everything comes in cycles. Expect us to be marking a new rake of underground clubs and nights out which sprung from seemingly nowhere within the next two years.
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A FYI memo for musicians and producers
We’re big fans around these parts of the Red Bull Music Academy and how it works. A school for DJs, producers and music makers, you’ll find many of the RBMA’s past pupils in your record collection. Craftsmen and women like Hudson Mohawke, Flying Lotus, Katy B, Mike Slott, Mr Hudson, Onra, Aloe Blacc, Andreya Triana and Jamie Woon are just some of the hundreds of producers, artists and musicians who have come through the RBMA.
The RBMA sets up shop in a different city in every year and, over a fortnight-long term, music makers come together, attend lectures from music legends, work their asses off in the academy’s studios and then get to perform in that city’s clubs and halls by night. For anyone involved in music who is looking to up their game, it’s a huge opportunity. As you can see from the list of academy graduates listed above, the RBMA has ample talent-spotting game. You’ll find a full list of all previous participants and lecturers here, including a list of previous Irish participants. You’ll also find videos and podcasts galore from students and lecturers, as well as an ace online radio station, on the RBMA website.
RBMA 2012 will take place in New York in October/November and is seeking applications from “interested producers, musicians, DJs, instrumentalists and vocalists”. Download the application form (which will be online later this week), spend some time on it (some weirdbeat questions in there) and send it and your music demo to the RBMA HQ before April 2 to be in with a shout of being one of the 60 participants heading to NYC.
To help folks get their heads around the RBMA concept and see if it’s worth their while, there will be workshops at the Harlem Café, Belfast (March 2) and No 5 Spencer Dock, Dublin (March 3) with words of advice from Kerri Chandler and Just Blaze. Places at the workshops are available on a first come first basis so email ashlee@admarketingevents.com if you’re keen to attend and tell ‘em that OTR sent you.
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The news at 9: Sligo Music Industry Day, OTR Presents & Arthur Russell Tribute
One for those in the north-west: Sligo Music Industry Day is an initiative from the Sligo Music folks and will see an assortment of music business talking heads trying their utmost not to utter phrases like “going forward”, “piracy” and “IMRO” at The Model, Sligo on Thursday October 27. I am one of said talking heads and will be taking part in a Meet the Media panel with Niall “NIaller9″ Byrne and Una “Una” Mullally on the day. Full rundown on all the panels and other relevant information here.
The next OTR Presents gig will feature live sets from The Field and Walls at the Twisted Pepper, Dublin on November 19. Tickets are €15 (or €12, if you’re a Bodytonic member) in advance and can be purchased here (no booking fees or TM charges). But that’s not all: you can also hang around for the Twisted Pepper third birthday bash afterwards which features Joy Orbison, Floating Points, Barry Redsetta, The Vertical Rhythm Joint and much, much more. OTR Presents: spoiling youse….
There’s a special celebration of Arthur Russell’s life and music happening at the Bernard Shaw, Dublin on Sunday October 30 as part of The Beatyard weekender. Sound Now, Seek & You Will FInd will feature performances from Angkorwat, Patrick Kelleher, School Tour, TR One, Quarter Inch Tape Collective, Conor L, David Kitt and Louis Scully plus The Eatyard food festival and an exhibition of Arthur Russell memorabilia. I’ll also be having a Banter conversation with Tim Lawrence, the author of the fantastic “Hold Onto Your Dreams” biography of Russell (and the excellent “Love Saves the Day” history of 1970s’ American dance culture). Admission to this one is free and proceedings get underway at 2pm.
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Competition: win tickets to see The Vaselines
The Vaselines play Galway’s Roisin Dubh on Thursday night and we’ve THREE pairs of tickets to give away to the show.
The band also play Whelan’s, Dublin (tonight), Cyprus Avenue, Cork (tomorrow) and Black Box, Belfast (Friday).
I’m DJ-ing at Strange Brew after the Galway show with Gugai so to win one of those pairs of tickets, simply tell us what tune you want us to play at Strange Brew and why. We’ll pick three winners tomorrow morning.
If you can’t make it along to Strange Brew on Thursday night, make a date in your diary for the Strange Brew Summer Shindig on July 28 with live sets from Le Galaxie, Lost Chord, Daithi, We Are Losers, So Cow, Jogging, Funeral Suits, Go Panda Go, Sleep Thieves and Elaine Mai. The Shindig will also feature Gugai on the decks afterwards, loads of sweets and more music in the Acoustic Room upstairs. Admission to this extravaganza at the Roisin Dubh? Zilch, nada, zero, absolutely free. Bargaintown.
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Live Nation get into the groove
Live Nation are about to go raving. As reported by Digital Music News this week, the giant music company are hoping to grab a slice of the US dance music event market with their new Electronic Nation division.
It’s a smart move. 2010 was a bad year for Live Nation and everyone else in the live music business Stateside. They’ve spent the early part of this year trimming costs, selling lots of tickets for Prince, Lady Gaga and U2 and instigating better pricing policies (which may be behind a 10 per cent year-on-year jump in ticket sales between ’10 and ‘11).
Expanding into the growing market for dance events could also pay dividends. The stats for events like the Electric Daisy Carnival, Ultra and Monster Massive are impressive.
Aside from its main event in Las Vegas, which will attract 120,000 for Tiesto, David Guetta and Swedish House Mafia, Electric Daisy Carnival also has festivals planned for the coming months in Orlando, Puerto Rico, Dallas and Denver. That’s a lot of ker-ching for promoters Insomniac which has obviously caught the eye of Live Nation.
Per the Digital Music News’ report, Live Nation intend to compete agressively with the existing players rather than simply buy out an operator like Insomniac.
It’s good news for the artists and DJs and not just because competition will drive up fees. In order to get exclusitivity, Live Nation may well offer deals which could also cover record sales and other revenue streams. The signing-on fees may not be in the same league as those received by Jay-Z or Madonna when they signed their deals, but it’s still a sizable payday. All in all, a good time to be in the trance business Stateside.
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Superstar DJs? They’re still going
There’s no escaping their mugs on the billboards on the road into Ibiza Town from the airport. While some may think that the golden age of Ibiza superclubs and DJs larging it afterwards in the lovely villas and fincas dotted around the island ended a long time ago, the billboards and stories from the island tell another tale. The superstar DJs are still going strong here at least.
It’s coming to the end of what has been a very good season so the current promotional push is all about the final parties as venues prepare to sweep the floors, count the cash and close their doors for another year. From David Guetta to Pete Tong, the DJs and clubs attempt to flog their wares as you pass by. Even Carl Cox is still getting the gigs out here and banging ‘em out.
But that’s Ibiza. Elsewhere, there may be still a market for the lads who were larger than life characters through the last few decades – Sasha is coming to town for a gig at Tripod this weekend, for instance – but, like the Irish economy this morning, it’s a much different powerhouse to the one it once was.
Certainly, anyone who has read Dom Phillips’ “Superstar DJs Here We Go” book on the phenomenon of British superstar DJs and clubs who held sway during the 1990s and early years of the Noughties will be under no illusions as to who, what, why and how of that rise and fall.
Apart from tracking down once ubiquitous club draws like Jon Pleased Wimmin, Jeremy Healy, Danny Rampling and co to see where they are now (some very sad stories about what happened to some folks when the party finally ended and they had to go home), Phillips also looks at how the whole scene which had spung up around these DJs played itself out.
What had begun with glammy nights out in unlikely and down-at-heel northern English towns eventually just got too greedy, too coked-up and too self-important for its own good. Millennium Eve was the tipping point and it was all downhill after that. The outlandish and ambitious projects and events (like the Home nightclub in the middle of London’s Leicester Square tourist trap) ended in tears. By 2003, that particular acid house revolution had come to an end. There may be some people pining for it – Phillips compares the Facebook groups and online nostalgia which has sprung up around nights like Renaissance and Wobble to the Northern Soul scene – but the music and the clubs have moved on.
The smarter DJs also moved on. The premier league players headed to foreign parts and found new lucrative circuits for themselves with Sasha and Paul Oakenfold, for instance, finding a lot of love for themselves in the Americas. A new generation of superstar DJs came to the fore – Phillips talks about how David Guetta in particular is more like a rock icon with mainstream appeal than the characters of old – but it’s now just part of the fabric instead of being the main focus as it once was. Yes, you could stick on Guetta or Tiesto in the O2 or Odyssey and they’d probably do better business than any number of big acts you care to mention, but the notion of a fellow who spins records as a game-changer is well and truly over.
And yes, there are still superclubs in existence – Una Mullally had a good piece in the Tribune recently on the first year of The Wright Venue, the superclub in the middle of a north county Dublin retail park – but they’re no longer the big beasts of the entertainment jungle that they once were. A new generation of clubbers wanted something else from 2003 onwards and that meant a shift to smaller spaces, more interesting nights and more variety. They also got their kicks from live music and festivals leading to a huge upward spike in both the number of events and the audiences they attracted. Maybe, just maybe, a future generation will wish to return to the glitz and ritz of the superclub era. If that’s the case, all they’ll have to do is dust down the infrastructure.
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On the Record Presents: Mount Kimbie tonight
No transport SNAFUs here so that means we’ll have Mount Kimbie in the Twisted Pepper (Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1) tonight from 11pm. Full info on the rest of the bill here. Hopefully, we’ll see you there.
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On The Record at Sonar
Much has changed at Sonar since the first time I found myself standing on that astroturf in the middle of Barcelona’s CCCB/MACBA in June 1999 taking it all in. Back then, Sonar was something of a bit of a best kept secret beyond Catalunya and wasn’t attracting the kind of heat and traction which was to soon come its way. In fact, as I was reminded this year, myself and my two companions represented a very exotic breed that year: the first very pale Irish yahoos to find their way to Sonar. If only the poor Catalans had known then that we were actually the acceptable face of Irish yahoos…..
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Ace of clubs
It was the kind of publicity money couldn’t buy. Just as well really, because Robbie Fox probably doesn’t have a bean to spend on PR at the moment. The club and restaurant owner spent much of last week talking to newspapers and radio shows about his troubles. With the companies behind such Fox fixtures as Renards, Tante Zoe’s, Brown’s Barn and Barracuda now in liquidation, the owner was in a talking frame of mind. The liquidator is in place, the creditors have formed an orderly queue and the process of paying them some of what they are due has begun. Many of these creditors are probably also in similar queues elsewhere, waiting to get paid by other debtors as Recession 2.0 bites.
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Weekend of turntables
Once upon a time, club weekenders were all the rage, but they’re fallen out of fashion in recent years.
The Babalonia crew hope to rekindle those flames with Turntables in Dublin’s South William bar next weekend.
The headliner is Nickodemus, the New York producer and DJ behind such cuts as Cleopatra in New York and Desert Dancer and the Turntables on the Hudson club night (video below)
Others appearing include the Afronova Project, Choice Cuts DJs and various Babalonia residents.
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Etc
Got something to plug? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Plug your gig, new album, gig, happening, hamster or haircut here. Just be sure to declare an interest please
The Oscar-winning Swell Season have rescheduled their charity fundraiser at Dublin’s Vicar Street for February 5th.
Shine’s first outing in 2009 is on January 31st at Queen’s University Belfast, with Tiefschwarz, Silicone Soul, Psycatron and the excellent Fake Blood.
Capital city dubstep dons Kaboogie celebrate a third birthday at Twisted Pepper on January 16th with Sunken Foal, and many more.
Awesome jazz guitarist David Torn brings his new Prezens band to Cork’s Triskel on April 15th and Dublin’s Sugar Club the following night.
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Tonic for the troops as Irish promoters hit the Balkans
Anyone for a good news story this morning? How about a brand new festival in 2009 from the Bodytonic and Nightflight club runners?
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Etc
Plug, plug, plug, plug away to your heart’s content. One rule: declare an interest or one may well be declared for you.
Independents Day is a feast of indie and DIY culture from fanzines to music (and a screening of Dylan Haskins’s Roll Up Your Sleeves documentary – trailer below) at the Dublin Food Co-Op, 12 Newmarket, Dublin 8 on Sunday.
Road Records are having a one-day sale at their Fade Street, Dublin store tomorrow (Saturday). They’re knocking 50 percent off all secondhand vinyl titles, 25 percent off all 7″ singles and 15 percent off all new CDs and LPs.
Enjoy some Christmas love with You’re Only Massive, the awesome R.S.A.G, Babybeef and Landlovers at Dublin’s Andrew’s Lane Theatre on December 21
The Dance returns as the Ronan Collins Showband Show takes over the ballroom at Dublin’s Burlington Hotel on December 28.
Brings the Toys, Bodytonic’s fundraiser for Crumlins Childen’s Hospital, takes place at the Bernard Shaw (Portobello, Dublin) next Thursday. Those taking part in the Rockers v Ravers showdown include Nialler 9, Jon Averill and the Skinny Wolves DJs. Admission is a tenner or a toy.
The latest run of Leviathan’s political cabaret takes place at the Button Factory, Dublin next Wednesday. Such characters as Michael O’Leary (Ryanair), Dan Boyle (the Green Party senator whose late lunch yesterday resulted in the government losing a vote) and others will discuss the future of capitalism. David “Maccer” McWilliams will ask the questions and crack the jokes. Admission is €17.50 and this allows you to heckle Maccer about David Brooks all night long.
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Ding-dong-ding-dong – news round-up
Due to, uhm, “unforseen circumstances”, On The Record was away yesterday and missed the following stories
Awesome! Ladyhawke comes to Ireland next year. She plays Dublin’s Academy on February 5. Video from herself below to mark this news
Bob Dylan to play the 02 in Dublin on May 5.
Lovefoxxx obviously didn’t get the memo that we’re sick and tired of seeing the same acts coming round like a bad penny. The CSS lead lady comes to Ireland in March to see if we can spare some more recession-euros for her DJ set at Dublin’s Button Factory on February 21
Lily Allen – remember her? She was sort of big in 2007 – plays Dublin’s Academy on March 16. That’s the night before Paddy’s Day. Brave (and perhaps stupid) woman.
“Dark Was The Night” is a double-album compilation coming in February on 4AD. From the Red Hot folks, we will be calling it “Red, Hot & Indie” as it features exclusive or new tunes from such acts as Antony, Arcade Fire, Beach House, Beirut, Bon Iver, The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez (a version of Nick Drake’s “Cello Song”), Grizzly Bear, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, The National, Sufjan Stevens and Yeasayer.
Pinnacle Entertainment, which distributes over 400 labels and such acts as Fleet Foxes, has collapsed..
Proof that an old dog is best for the hard road: Vinnie on Nighty Night with Vincent Brown gave Eamon Ryan a well-deserved and overdue drubbing last night for what seemed to be the entire show. Talk about being all up in your grill: Vinnie just never stopped with the bashing. Even when they were reviewing the papers, Vinnie was hounding the smuggest man in the cabinet about everything from the RTE Authority to the Green ministers asleep in their beds as the government organised a bail-out for the bankers. It reminded you that the coursing season is in full swing nationwide. Video of some of the exchange is here.
On The Record is now in the red. Yes, we have our colour-coded links back thanks to the IT IT guys working like the clappers on this for, oh, months.
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Competition – win tickets to go dancing!
Michael Mayer is coming to town. Few can bug out a dancefloor like Kompakt’s minimal kingpin and you can check him out at Spy/Wax in Dublin on December 5.
Besides Mayer, the gig also features label-mates Jennifer Cardini and French electro geek Maxime Dangles.
Thanks to our buds at Remedy, we have a pair of tickets to give away to this Kompakt session. To win, simply tell us who is your favourite German DJ or act and why. As simple as that. Entries remain open until the crack of dawn tomorrow. Judge’s decision is final and all of that.
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Christmas crackers
You may be trying to avoid the “C” word for a little while longer, but some people are already compiling lists and checking them twice.
The 12 Nights to Christmas festival sees a host of Irish and international names gigging and DJ-ing in various venues around Dublin.
Acts on this Christmas run from December 12 to 23 include David Holmes, Hot Chip, Lee “Scratch” Perry, DJ Vadim, Mixmaster Morris, A-Skillz and the Lost Vagueness performers.
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Etc
You know the rules – plug away to your heart’s content, but declare an interest where appropriate or don’t be surprised if one is declared for you.
Birthday one: Belfast clubbing institution Shine turns 13 on November 1st, with DJ Sneak, Green Velvet and many more blowing out the candles.
Birthday two: AU magazine marks 50 issues on the newstands with a Top 50 Northern Ireland Songs of AU’s lifetime poll.
Birthday three: Analogue marks its first birthday with “Peek!”, a compilation of Irish producers and acts to coincide with the latest issue. The mag throws a party at Dublin’s Twisted Pepper on October 16th.
Scandinavian jazz trio The Thing join Japanese noise scene kingpin Otomo Yoshihide at Dublin’s Andrew’s Lane on November 22nd.
Over-rated Las Vegas chancers The Killers play Dublin’s 02 (Feb 20th) and Belfast’s Odyssey (21st)
Quote of the week: “Pen a bit harder!” – Girls Aloud’s Nicola Roberts advises Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who says he has been trying to write a song for them
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Etc
As always with the weekly Etc post, the floor is yours to plug, plug, plug. Be polite and declare an interest where relevant (ie if you are involved in putting on the show or releasing the record) or it will be declared for you.
Glasvegas do a spot of DJ-ing at Strictly Handbag’s 14th birthday soiree at Dublin’s Spy on Oct 27.
First must-see gigs of 2009: David Byrne plays songs written by himself and Brian Eno at Dublin’s National Concert Hall (April 6) and Belfast’s Waterfront Hall (7)
Irish indie label Out On A Limb marks five years in the business with a bash at Limerick’s Dolan’s on Nov 21 with Crayonsmith, Giveamanakick, Hooray For Humans, Ten Past Seven, Rest and Windings.
On The Record hearts Lykke Li. The Swedish popster plays Dublin’s Button Factory on Nov 24.
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Guest post – Notes on an Irish disco landscape
Paul Tarpey is a Limerick-based DJ and writer from the Cheebah crew who has begun to sketch out a history of the Irish dance scene and clubland. Here’s what Paul has to say about this project.
“Booking DJs for Cheebah nights in Limerick, I tended to seek out those who DJ-ed around the original spirit of hip-hop that existed in this country since the early 1980s because this breed were morally obliged within themselves to mix all types of beats with active respect to a black history mediated through an Irish experience. As I talked to them about trends coming and going, and particularly the digitalism that is accelerating the scene, the most interesting stories were those where people got the fever before the DJ was taken for granted and gigs happened out of pure enthusiasm.
I realised that the period before 1993 was overshadowed by the rockist history of the Irish music scene and that these early days merit some sort of record before memories fade and we forget about that scene’s pioneering activities.
This piece is my introduction to the idea of collecting information for what is hopefully is a definitive story. I intend to seek out more of the participants as the story is not strictly Dublin based. If anyone would like to take part, I can be contacted at tarpeypaul@eircom.net”
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