Friday Night @ Whelan's, 2nd Dec.

After being told several times that Whelan's apparently was the place to go for, descent, alternative independent rock in Dublin, we had to follow the advice and go there. The amount of electronic music had been somewhat exaggerated lately, and we were all looking forward to some good rock music in what is said to be a legendary venue.

This is first and foremost a concert venue with live gigs almost every night of the week. However, there were no concerts on the night we were there. There was a DJ playing, though, and the place was really packed. The music consisted of good alternative rock as expected, and the DJ delivered a nice selcetion of good party tunes. Some of the most memorable were Arctic Monkeys - I bet that you look good on the dance floor, Kaizer Chiefs - I predict a riot, Aerosmith vs Run DMC - Walk this way etc, etc...


Some negative remarks on that matter though, The technical skills of the DJ were beyond bad, and when you can't mix, DON'T TRY! Also, I think it does a lot for the atmosphere when the DJ looks like he's enjoying himself, and that was definitely not the case of this 50-something year old geezer. I'm also pretty sure that when I go back to Whelan's some time in the future, 95% of the music he played, will be played again the next time. But I guess I'll have to worry about that then.

Corrugated Tunnel & The Hacker Live @ Temple Bar Music centre, 26th Nov.

So, once again Temple Bar Music Centre was the designated destination of the night. This night as well, the line-up was interesting, with The Hacker headlining, and a live performance from Corrugated Tunnel, as well as the Local DJ Jon Averill warming things up before the Live Shows kicked off.

I have seen the hacker before, DJ'ing in the excellent club Fuse in Brussels, and I remember him playing dark, high-energy and somewhat progressive electronic techno. Not the ideal music for me, but due to the amount of cheesy places I've ended up on lately, I was dying for some real alternative electronic madness. The warm-up DJ (who was already playing when we arrived) presented a nice selection of electronic house cuts, many of them a bit old, but all of them helping to build up a nice atmosphere for the anticipating crowd present.

When the first act started his live show, the venue was close to full, and the crowd had been properly warmed up. I had never heard of Corrugated Tunnel before, and did not know what to expect. It started out kind of floaty, with a nice, yet a bit ambient sound. After some time, though, things started picking up, and crisp, clean electronic noises started filling the speakers. All the songs melted nicely in to one another, and the set was professionally performed. The guy obviously has a lot of experience playing live, and he got a good sound out of the big sound system present at the club. As usual (apparently) at Temple Bar Music Centre, the crowd was liking what they heard, but compared to last time I was there (see previous post) the glowstick percentage was significantly higher. A lot of brits in the crowd as well apparently, and we have all met brits abroad before..

At 2.15, after a 3 second break, the music took a drastic turn of events. After the hour and a half of funky floatiness (or floaty funkiness if you will), a deep dark sound emerged from the stage. And when the drums kicked in the entire place kind of lost it. How the Hacker can make just a drum loop sound like pure evil is beyond me, but it sure was enjoyable to feel it there and then. Unfortunately, after 20 mins or so with techno madness, my legs would not carry my body anymore, and the same was the case for my French and Portugese companions. Also, the insanely long line to to get the coat the last time i was at the venue was fresh in mind, so we decided to call it a night.

Since Mylo is playing a DJ-set on the 30th of December at Temple Bar Music Centre, I guess it's not long before I go back there!!

Butch Cassidy Sound System DJ-set @ Ri-Ra, 18th Nov.

My third weekend in Dublin, and I still feel like I don't have a clue regarding which places are great, and which places I should stay away from all together. With last week's excellent concert fresh in mind (Kid Koala & Four Tet), my belief that Quality places were plentiful, and musical treats were in abundance was still strong. After seeing a poster in The Globe (great place, more on that later..) that Butch Cassidy Sound System(BCSS) were playing in the Globe's basement, Rí Rá (aparently meaning party in Gaelic, but not to be confused with craic which means fun...???), I was convinced that this was something I had to see.

I have some previous knowledge about BCSS from before as a producer, and his trademark sound of fast, sort-of-skippy western style dub, mixed with a bit of everything, was appealing to me, given that the setting was right. I noticed that on the given night, BCSS would be playing a DJ-set. I have varying experiences with producers playing DJ-sets, and tend to get disappointed due to high expectations. My fingers were crossed that this would not be the case now.

The club in itself looked nice. An intimate basement with rooms half-divided, and a small DJ-box conveniently located on the dancefloor, but with possibilities for the DJ to see everything happening in the club. A friendly staff, and an apparently cool crowd gave the club a comfortable atmosphere. We arrived early because we heard that there might be a massive que after 12pm, but the club was still half-empty when we came. The DJ started out great, playing one of my all-time favourites when I walked in the door, Sly Stone - If You Want Me To Stay, which always puts me in a nice, mellow mood. After some nice, chilled funk-soul classics, the DJ quickly switched to a more hip hop-oriented direction. Still a good selection, with many of the quality classics being spun. But the DJ never moved on from there, unfortunately. After hearing De La Soul - Hey, How you doin', Del The Funky Homosapien - Mr. Dobolina, A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It? and many more, I got a bit fed up, and I was eagerly awaitng a more interesting turn of events musically. All a bit predictable, really... The people there turned out to be more reserved than I've seen in Dublin until now as well, so at 1.30 we decided to call it a night. We stopped by the top floor on the way out, but the sound was bad and the music was weird, so we decided to call it a night.

I will definitely try out this place again on a different night, but with lower expectations than the ones this night, which kind of ruined it a bit.

Kid Koala & Four Tet @ Temple Bar Music Centre, 12th November

My first proper concert here in Dublin (if you don't take the typical Irish musicians at the local pub into concideration), and I must say that I was positively surpised! Not that I didn't think it was gonna be any good, I just didn't have any axpectations at all, since I had only lived in Dublin 1 week at the given date.

First of all, I believe a short review of Temple Bar Music Centre is in place. The venue is small for a concert hall, but big for a club. It looks like a concert hall, but has the atmosphere of a club. I guess that's why I liked the place so much. Not surprisingly, the people there on the night were friendly and openminded, and the beer was reasonably priced for that type of venue. I would guess that this place feels somewhat different when other concerts are held there, but that's for me to find out later. The location is also convenient, In the Centre of Temple Bar, which the name suggests. This is definitely a place I will go to frequently, as long as they keep up the good work with booking interesting acts.

So, on to the night in question. Not having too much knowledge about the artists (Kid Koala & Four Tet) besides knowing that Kid Koala was a scratch-DJ of a certain caliber, whilst Four Tet is an electronic act with jazzy influences and a love for the quirky sounds, I had an open, yet curious mind when arriving. Two local DJ's started the show with a nice, though somewhat bland mix of hip hop and funk. Both Cypress Hill, ODB, James Brown + many more artists were spun, and they did some nice live acappella mash-ups. The sound quality messed up their act a bit though, and the crackling noises were almost painful at times. However, my fears of a night ruined by poor sound quality quickly vanished when one of the main attractions, and my main reason for going, showed up.

Kid Koala quickly drew the attention of a somewhat distractred crowd, with his unique technique of using the record players as instruments, and actually "scratching in tune"! He played around with different styles, from blues to hip-hop to metal, all very elegantly, but the stand-out moment of the night was for my part when he played Slayer - South of Heaven - close to the end. impeccable techinque, great selection of music. all in all a fantastic perormance. If only it lasted longer...




The Next headliner entered the stage shortly after; Four Tet was set to play a "lap-top concert", which can be great, but also boring of not done with feeling. However, the concert was great and the crowd, including me, loved it. Too bad I don't know the names of any songs he played (note to self: buy more Four Tet). He did abuse the effect button on his Pioneer 600 mixer though, but it fitted nicely in with the rest of his musical landscape, and all in all it was a surprisingly good session.



This night will certainly be remembered for a long time, and it was a great first musical nightlife-experience for me here in Dublin!

First post..

Hi everyone! Finally I have my very own personal blog. I'll try to keep you frequently updated on all the stuff that's happening here. i will focus the posts on concert- and venue reviews of places I've been and acts I've seen here in Dublin.

Hope you'll all enjoy reading it!!