More gigs, Vicar?

MUSIC:Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Justin Timberlake, The Frames and Damien Dempsey have all stepped up to the mic at Dublin's Vicar Street, which is celebrating its 10th birthday. Jim Carrolllooks back at a decade of gigs

THE CAPITAL city's gigging infrastructure has seen many changes over the past decade, involving once-thriving venues that disappeared as developers flipped them for apartment blocks and shops. But the past decade has also seen one venue slowly establish itself as one of the finest in Europe. And this year Vicar Street won three gongs at the Imro Live Music Venue of the Year Awards.

Vicar Street opened on an unsalubrious corner of Thomas Street in September 1998. Local lad Shay Cotter christened the venue and Tom Robinson headlined.

Vicar Street has since witnessed many memorable nights. Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Justin Timberlake, Al Green, Wilco, James Brown, The Frames and hundreds of others have walked onto that long stage and stared a full house in the eye.

It's now so well established that even those involved from the very start find it hard to remember what was on the site before Vicar Street. Peter Aiken from Aiken Promotions, the company that run the venue, reckons there was an abattoir there; his colleague Bren Berry thinks it might have been a pub before Harry Crosbie came along and took over.

In 1998, Thomas Street was not a great location for a new venue. "The ideal place to go would have been where people like going, like Camden Street or somewhere in the centre of town," says Aiken. "There was loads of talk about the street being on the up when we opened, but it hasn't happened. We're still the brand new penny."

The initial plan for Vicar Street was to provide a room for regular Christy Moore gigs.

"Christy wanted somewhere to play in Dublin, a small, intimate theatre," Aiken notes. "He was going to play there two nights a week and they would have booked lots of similar acts for the venue. With one thing and another, it didn't happen with Christy. I met Harry and he took me to see the venue and I said I'd look after it for him. We did the deal there and then on the pavement outside."

The early days, says Berry, were not easy. "It was a struggle to establish Vicar Street. Our competitors certainly didn't want it to succeed and they made a point of criticising it. They called it a cabaret club."

The act who put the venue on the city's entertainment map were D'Unbelievables. In 1999, Jon Kenny and Pat Shortt played the venue six nights a week for eight weeks. "All of a sudden, it was a destination venue," says Berry. "A big successful show like that had the knock-on effect of bringing in media and press and other artists," adds Aiken. "We knew the place would work after that."

While shows by Dylan, Young and Timberlake would always have made the headlines, Berry believes the venue's relationships with such local acts as The Frames, Damien Rice and Damien Dempsey have been just as important to its success.

"Irish acts are the ones who are there all the time. They go to shows in the venue regularly and see it from both sides. A lot of acts come in to a venue to do a show and don't ever go near the front of house, so they don't know how it looks from that side. All the Irish acts can see how the place is run from the point of view of the audience and they know we deliver."

Vicar Street has also built a reputation as a successful comedy venue, something Berry admits came about as a complete accident.

"Jason Byrne grew up in Ballinteer, where I'm from. He supported my band Revelino and, like anyone who ever supported Revelino, he went on to be much bigger than us.

"We put on Jason at Vicar Street and his agent was also Tommy Tiernan's agent, so we started doing Tommy and he did big business right from the start. It just grew from there and we've had Après Match, Des Bishop and all the rest of them.

"The comedians are very savvy. They go to each other's gigs and they can tell if an event is well run or not. We treated them with a huge amount of respect, which they might not have got elsewhere because comedy is often ghettoised."

As far as Berry is concerned, Vicar Street works because the fundamentals are sound. "It has fantastic sightlines and, acoustically, it's an amazing room. Harry did a lot of research work on the venue before the builders ever started and he got it right. There are so many state-of-the-art, purpose-built venues around, yet you go in and they're shit."

Both Aiken and Berry are confident that the venue will continue to thrive in a recession. "There are undoubtedly parts of the market where ticket sales are dropping," admits Berry, "but I still think people will want to go out and bands want to play. We have to be canny about what we book and how we promote those shows."

"It won't affect us on a Tommy Tiernan or Christy Moore or Frames level - it's the next rung down," says Aiken. "But a new band will come along and everyone will want to see them and if we're lucky, they'll be playing five nights at Vicar Street."

Raising the roof: Readers recall their Vicar Street highlights

We asked On the Record blog readers for their favourite Vicar Street shows. Here's a selection of the comments. . .

Television's first ever Irish gig there was one of my musical highlights, Totally did justice to their legend, though some of their subsequent reappearances haven't been as top-notch. - Dermot

I've seen lots of great gigs in Vicar Street. Best was possibly Antony and the Johnsons. Or the time, pre-smoking ban, when Nick Cave inhaled cigarettes on stage but no one else was allowed smoke or get out off their seats to get a drink. He was just cross because his hair was a bit stupid looking. - Cacamilis

Wilco, both nights, around this time last year. - Chalkie

The best gig I've seen there was David Rawlingsand Gillian Welch. Fantastic performance. - Brian

Elvin Jonesa few years back. Superb. - Michael

There were some great Framesgigs there, most notably around the time For the Birdswas released. Antony and the Johnsonsa few years back was great. In fact, I would go so far as to say I haven't seen a bad gig there. - Ciaran

So, so many to mention. Solomon Burkewas outstanding. There were roses for the ladies and everyone was invited up on stage at the end. - Chas

Dylan Moran's Monsterwas a classic night and Tommy Tiernanwhen he was actually funny, somewhere in-between his 23,456th joke about his overweight daughter and Late Late-gate. - Ciara B

My favourite was Battlesearlier this year. I've never seen Vicar Street as heaving as it was that night. Toots the Maytalsa couple of years ago was also sublime. I've never had a night there where I've thought the sound was bad. - PM

The Dexy'sre-union gig - brilliant reworking of material from all their incarnations. - Dr Nightdub

Erykah Baduthis summer was pretty great. Also saw Après Matchthere about eight years ago, which was classic. - Pandemic

I fondly remember my first Vicar Street experience. It was an anti-war gig and Christy Mooreplayed, long with others. Made for a great night.- Raptureponies

Tony Bennettin 2003. Just a little jazz trio fronted by that incredible voice. I still dream about that gig.- Johnnie

Best place to see a band in Dublin: great sound, good view from most seats, easy access to bars and what not. - Allen

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