Dublin Clubbing Scene RIP?
April 25th, 2012 | By admin
Bit of a warning on this post, its a little serious and maybe a little dry but we have been hearing lots of talk about how Irish clubbing is dying and how Irish people don’t care about good music any more.
Its now over two months since the iconic POD complex closed its doors. All the talk of Dublin’s scene falling apart might have been a little bit dramatic but the loss of the POD complex still represents a sea change in Irish clubbing, not necessarily a bad one. It means one less quality venue where music was a key part of the night out and it means one less place for Dublin’s electronic music fans to go and see DJs and artists perform. Its loss cant be overstated but it should not be over played.
Most of the club nights have managed to find a home in one of the other venues around the town, where the POD has fallen venues like Twisted Pepper, the Lost Society, The Academy, Bia Bar etc.. all have steadily grown in popularity. A new generation of clubbers have come through thanks to club nights like “Junior Spesh”, “Not Saying Boo”, “Train Wreck”, “Hustle” and these nights have a loyal and dedicated following. New nights like “MUD” and “Strangeways, here we come” have been helping push dubstep, D&B, grime and the more underground side of dance music. The recession has led to friends and party people leaving the city whilst others don’t have as much money but creativity and the local producer scene has started to flourish all over Dublin. For many older clubbers the memories from the Red Box surpasses anything from “POD”. For others again “The Kitchen” back in the 90s will never be beaten. Nostalgia is a powerful thing but venues and club nights live and die by the amount of people that come through their doors and venues popularity rise and fall because of many things. Music policy, being in fashion and any number of smaller details but the atmosphere a venue creates is key.
It would seem that the debt accrued in the refurbishment of the Tripod was ultimately the downfall of the POD complex, healthy club nights have moved on from there. A lack of investment and a failure to maintain facilities and equipment in the three venues was obvious towards the end of the complex’s life. Faulty toilets, grubby decor and even broken DJ equipment were are common occurrences. Costs and corners were cut as much as possible and Dublin club goers could pick up on this.
The POD complex had been in decline since Bodytonic decided to move their operations and Saturday night POGO club to Twisted Pepper. Without the good regular numbers that POD had been experiencing and with the failure of Tripod to hold down a regular club night it was doomed to failure. Estimates for the refurbishment costing close to €20 Million give some idea of the scale of the costs associated.
So where now does clubbing go in Dublin? Well thats the great thing, no one can dictate the direction. Promoters can set up the best nights but without the crowd a night fails. That special magic that comes from a happy buzzing crowd, a DJ who is on form and a venue that is just perfect for music is available nearly every weekend in the city but its up to you to tell us where you are loving and where the best music is.
Certain derided journalists in the national press take delight in telling us that Irish people don’t like underground electronic music, that popular music is much more popular than the underground equivalent and that must mean the underground is dying. A self-perpetuating myth that ignores the growing number of Irish club nights and a scene that might not be growing tall but is growing wide. While no one club might be pulling in the thousands and thousands of people like other major European clubs there are plenty of small Irish nights that are surviving, thriving and planning for their next gig. Then again the Irish dance scene has always been underrepresented while the rock and indie scenes get much much more coverage.
Let us know what is rocking your world, where are the best places to catch the best music. So the only question that remains is to you, “where is good to go this weekend?”
