Dublin clubbing history

To be honest I'm very suprised to hear people saying it never
took off to a huge extenet. It was smaller, later and always
over-shadowed by the English scene but it was always thriving. But
you're right about the consumption:contribution ratio being very low,
giving the impression that it was smaller then it really was. Here's one
I made earlier :) Be warned its rose tinted and 3 years old.

History of Dublin Clubbing

1988, heralded as year zero in clubland. In the UK maybe but over here
our summer of love kicked off in true style some two years later. Before
the barrage of genre splicing in today's electronic music, the few
styles we had then fitted neatly in to two scenes, raving and clubbing.
The first true dance club in Dublin was Sides, residing in Dame lane,
owned by John Murphy and ran by Ken Kelly. In true form to the history
of club culture, sides was originally a gay club that opened in the mid
1980s. As the indie music policy began to take a back seat to more dance
orientated sounds, resident DJ's Martin McCann and Liam Fitz were
eventually joined by Johnny Moy, Liam Dollard, Billy Scurry, Dave Hales,
Dave Moore and Joe McHugh. By '91 the club really took off attracting
hoards of loyal regulars and dedicated house lovers.

At the other end of the spectrum and just up the road on Wexford Street,
was the Olympic Ballroom, a very popular and infamous venue for dancers
in the 50's and 60's. Owner Liam Ryan didn't need much coaxing to
realise the potential of refilling the Olympic with dancers of a new
generation. The first rave was held there in April 1990, the night was
called Orbit and Dave Hales, Johnny Moy, Mark Kavanagh and Niall
Comiskey took control of the ones and twos that night. Shortly after
that Marcus O'Neill took over to run a night called Dance Crazy which
ran for six weeks before passing the reins back to the owner. Ryan got
Mark Kavanagh back on board, who remained as head resident until a
series of raids in '94 which led to the venue losing its license.

Even two years after the biggest culture explosion had occurred, the
Irish media still hadn't really cottoned onto the fact that it was going
on in their own country and continued to copy scare stories from the UK
tabloids. It wasn't until promoters started staging events in the
Mansion House that the press really sat up and paid attention. They made
sure to cover one particular night when TD Tony Gregory and a select
committee lined the balconies of the Mansion House to determine just how
drug fuelled these raves were. They gave it the thumbs up. Unknown to
them at the time the very reason the night was bereft of any trouble was
the full-scale use of Ecstasy rather then the naively presumed lack of.
The Mansion house staged big extravaganza's rather then weekly regulars,
featuring state of the art sound and light systems, and acts such as
Shades of Rhythm, Altern8 and the Ragga twins. UK legends like Jumping
Jack frost, Grooverider and Tin Tin joined Dublin regulars like the
Banana boys, Brenda Morrisey and members of the the DFC, (Dublin funk
Collective) Speedy D, DJ Noel and DJ Bass.

What was it like then? Firstly, it's fairly important to paint a picture
of the dance scenes status in society back then. It hadn't much
representation in the media, no TV programmes, no books, no club
listings in evening papers and a far cry away from any full length
movies. Undocumented, unknown, underground. So to walk into a crowd of
1000+ nutters dancing like no one's watching, with lasers flying
overhead, music from the next century and strangers instantly becoming
best friends was an exhilarating slap in the face, like walking into
another dimension, let in on one big secret. Even buzzing about town on
a Saturday afternoon and catching the eye of someone similarly clad
would warrant a knowing smile. This is where the real magic lay, what
created such a gargantuan atmosphere, everyone on the same level, going
through that initial honeymoon phase together.

Just before the ballroom closed down, a new three level, all night club
called the Asylum opened and that's exactly what it was. It bore witness
to the first batch of E casualties, burnt out ravers desperately chasing
that initial rush, the dawning realisation that nothing this good lasts
forever painted across their jaded faces. However, a fresh batch always
arrived to fill the void and this new crowd kept the balance in check.
The Asylum also welcomed in a new batch of DJ's. Dilly, the then
Northern Ireland mixing champ, took residency in the Asylum along with
Dublin's Ed case, Warren K and Pressure. The clubs eventual downfall was
its very open display as a drug haven and was soon shut down.

The Temple of Sound opened soon after and was in complete contrast to
the Asylum. Along with G1, another legendary club in Phibsborough and
the later to come Kitchen, it had a full bar. By then many clubbers
re-embraced alcohol as the drug of choice, laughing off the days of
chastising the demon liquid. Manager Ken Kane gave a new home to Scurry,
Moy, house maestro Mark Dixon and introduced Stephen Mullhall and Paddy
Gallagher as well as top class international guests. Like Sides, after a
couple of years the Temple sadly changed management and in turn, the
DJ's and music policy, before eventually closing down altogether.

Taking this more professional standard to the next level John Reynolds
opened the POD. With an award winning interior design and
re-incarnations of club 54 bouncers on the door the original ethos was
somewhat lost. Granted it boasted a pristine sound system but was
strictly for the ears of the beautiful people. In 1996 the POD's sister
club the Red Box opened next door which thankfully had a slightly more
relaxed approach and a more varied music policy.

Two clubs that worked away in the background, slowly building from the
ground up were McGonagles and UFO. In '88 McGonagles started off with a
mixture of indie, acidhouse and popdance under the banner of the Voodoo
club, and later as En-duce giving residence to the Banana Boys (Mark Cee
and Dave MCDonald). The venue eventually got a facelift and thrived for
a few years as The System. UFO started off as a small affair in the UCD
bar in 1989 and moved to the Rock Garden in Temple Bar three years
later. After a brief stint in Powers hotel, the brainchild of François
Pittion and Mick Heaney finally moved to Columbia Mills (on Sir John
Rogerson's Quay) in 1994 where it gained a religiously loyal crowd, one
key to atmospheres of such electric status. Columbia Mills also played
host to the Beat club, the early incantations of Influx boys Paul Davis
and Johnny Moy, with guests such as Andy Weatherall, Darren Emerson and
regular Dublin visitor David Holmes (then known as Homer). The Beat club
was like a re-incarnation of early sides, nights put on in style with
cutting edge sounds attracting devout music lovers and was a recipe for
success.

Today, Influx, the Redbox and the Kitchen are still thriving and people
like D1 and Ultramack continue to push the original idea of quality
music in a friendly atmosphere, by music lovers for music lovers. Almost
ten years later now, clubs are still opening and closing and no matter
how big or small, all face the constant battle against Ireland's archaic
authorities. A major cheers to all who've fought the battle and
apologies if I couldn't fit you into this space, you know who you are.

John Braine