Between late 2014 and early 2015, outside of the chart-pumping clubs of Harcourt and Camden St, Dublin’s club scene suffered a mild but unfortunate comedown. Some well-loved resident and weekly nights hit a brick wall, and a number of clubs closed their doors, re-branded or announced upcoming closure to the dismay of thousands. In early 2016, Town is Dead opened in the Abbey Theatre and was heavily advertised by a large mural at Mary’s Abbey, where the Luas passes by. Considered ironically apt by many, and misinterpreted by others as an angst-filled polemic against Dublin’s dwindling nightlife, the mural was photographed and posted online by a legion of bored and upset club goers. Irrespective of whether or not it was divine truth, there was an obvious feeling that nightlife in Dublin was left bereft. There was not much on offer if one was not keen on queuing for 30 minutes to avail of low-cost drinks while listening to the Top 40. However, while it seemed like a dull fog had fallen on a once exciting Dublin scene, new opportunities were opening.
More recent months have seen many young people and once quieter venues take it upon themselves to cater for the needs of many, reinvigorating and broadening the Dublin club scene. Dublin now offers a wealth of club nights in a choice of venues, with big-name venue District 8 now attracting some of the best DJs the world has to offer. However, there is still a feeling that a variety of choices is lacking. This broadening of the club scene in Dublin may arguably have been necessary even before a depression in the city’s nightlife and has been cleverly honed in on. Music is now more important than ever when approaching the club scene, heavily characterizing venues and club nights. Club goers are hungry for thoughtful curation and nightlife that offers something more. They want to use their ID God identification for a good time out with their mates and enjoy themselves going to these clubs.
What has been missing in Dublin is variety without compromise of style, and that is what we hope to bring
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The Grand Social has taken recent initiative to brand their club space, with Hidden Agenda and This Greedy Pig now curating The Wah Wah Club. Following the difficulties their Trinity class faced to find a compromise between the sweaty, packed floors of Harcourt St or the monotonous techno offered elsewhere for a class night out, The Wah Wah Club’s arrival promptly caught the eye of Rob O’Donohoe and Gavin Purcell. Through their work, new club night DISTORTION has taken up residency every Thursday at The Wah Wah Club. Speaking to The University Times, O’Donohoe explains their motivation “mainly stemmed from frustration at what is on offer to students in Dublin, which may come as a surprise to people, given the fact that the city is seemingly flooded with many different club nights”. Dublin’s nightlife has for a while offered two polar opposite options on Thursdays, one of the week’s busiest nights. While there is an inaccessibility surrounding techno scenes, at the same time many people do not want to listen to chart music. Finding this middle ground became the focus for DISTORTION. O’Donohoe explains: “Our solution was to play different genres in a venue across different rooms, to play house music and disco in one room for those who like to dance and appreciate quality DJs and live acts, all the while playing memorable songs from across decades and various genres in another room, with no fixed play. In my opinion, what has been missing in Dublin is variety without compromise of style, and that is what we hope to bring.” While there are now different venues with music and atmospheres to suit people’s tastes throughout the week, O’Donohoe and Purcell aim to provide something for everyone in one place, moving away from the mainstream club focus on drink deals and money making to bring Dublin something more illuminating.
The likes of entertainment promoters and event organisers Discotekken, Welcome, Sense and Subject work in a similar way. They think deeply about venue location and making use of interesting spaces around the city, or using lesser known or smaller venues such as Yamamori Tengu and Izakaya to create interesting and exciting club nights. As nightlife evolves further in Dublin, the loud and bold advertisement adopted by mainstream clubbing has become undesirable. A slightly smaller crowd, good music and pleasant curation has been attracting attention without 30 minute queues and pushy crowds. While this more “low-key” mentality has meant that you must know where to look in Dublin, it has greatly benefitted organisers and promoters in drawing a fun, engaged and desirable crowd.
Dublin’s club scene is now bursting with choice, putting to bed the assumption that its nightlife is dead
Dublin’s club scene is now bursting with choice, putting to bed the assumption that its nightlife is dead. From friends out to party, those looking to get lucky, and people taking legal highs like the ones on smartshop — there is something for everyone and allows people from all walks of life to have a good time. With the middle ground forming to bridge the gap between A and Z club scenes, and international names hitting the city’s decks each weekend, using club nights as an opportunity to showcase local talent has become the main focus across many nights.
The Wiley Fox recently hosted the launch of The Midnight Disco, a product of Matt Dundon, Nevan Jio, David Noonan, Michael Jordan, Trisha Cusack and Tom Collins. “[The Dublin club scene] has become totally oversaturated. People constantly reference establishments like The Twisted Pepper or The Lost Society and talk about how there are no good clubs to go to anymore, but in reality we’re actually spoilt for choice”, Dundon says, speaking to The University Times. Providing a platform for himself and his friends to play music became a centre pillar in their night’s development. Interestingly, even with this acting as fuel for starting the night, The Midnight Disco still aims to provide something for everyone. Dundon explains that “the main problem I have with mainstream night clubs is that they are places for socialising and nothing more. Now don’t get me wrong, I like that as much as the next man, but there’s no passion in it. It is essentially the ‘McDonalds’ of clubbing”. The Midnight Disco stands as an against this. “My favourite thing about The Midnight Disco is that it’s an event where all your friends can go, and you won’t hear the same songs on loop week in week out. You’ll hear music provided by DJs who are genuinely passionate about the sounds they’re playing.”
While those looking for more than the conventional night out may have a tendency to frown upon mainstream clubbing, one cannot deny their incredible success in filling their dancefloors on a weekly basis for years on end. More alternative clubbing scenes often follow one of two patterns. The first pattern being that they become commercialised, they attract more and more attention until that attention begins to taint the core essence of the club’s or night’s original values, and it becomes the same regurgitated mainstream club scene it had originally intended to avoid. A second pattern is that the night merely loses steam. Club goers want something new after too much of a good thing, and lose interest.
Every weekend, thousands of people are spending 20 quid on tickets to see some big DJ, while so many lads in the city are putting on great gigs for a fraction of the price and are being totally overlooked
There is a stark need for club nights that aim to avoid what’s normal, to maintain their momentum. O’Donohoe thinks “clubs and promoters of the alternative clubs to Harcourt St in Dublin have done a really strong job in creating variety and attracting the acts people want to see. What is holding them back is the sheer size and simplicity of those more mainstream clubs”. O’Donohoe argues that strict licensing is an issue for clubs for whom drinking is not the sole focus. Ireland’s licensing laws that enforce club closures before 3am are a hindrance upon those attempting to provide alternative nightlife outlets. They are defended as a control on alcohol consumption, but they often limit what producers and organisers can do. For Dundon, club nights running their course is a natural occurrence. Supporting local DJs, by providing them with opportunities to play, is important, and offers people the chance to hear high-quality music at a lower cost. “I’m very passionate about supporting local DJs as opposed to international ones. Every weekend, thousands of people are spending 20 quid on tickets to see some big DJ, while so many lads in the city are putting on great gigs for a fraction of the price and are being totally overlooked.”
Outlets for allowing this need not happen in a single venue at a certain time, but can flourish through ad-hoc venues. This allows for consistent, interesting and enjoyable nightlife without the need for a specific weekly or monthly space or time. Ad-hoc venues also offer the possibility for events to run BYOB, taking their focus away from drinking and can, in turn, allow for later closing hours. While this is something some event organisers are beginning to explore already, Dundon feels there is a market for more. “I’d like to see a lot more BYOB events in interesting and unconventional venues. Vision Collector are really leading the charge with this, putting on a party a while back in the crypt of Christ Church Cathedral, another in [a disused] warehouse.”
On a separate sphere, Dublin’s queer nightlife scene is characterised by a similar lack of diversity as Dublin’s more conventional nightlife scene, developing at what seems to be a much slower rate. Heavily characterised by events that realise stereotypes, and that do not provide a comfortable and inclusive atmosphere for all in the queer community, or indeed all in general, there is much room for the scene to grow and improve. The scene, which tries to create a safe space for all members of the community to party, has struggled to avoid becoming inherently segregative, excluding both members and non-members of the community. Poorly balanced advertising and the tendency to lean towards the “tacky” has tainted a genre of clubbing that could and should be wholesome and non-judgemental. Nothing yet has truly captured this, and while Dublin’s nightlife scene is reaching new heights, this particular aspect lags behind.
Cities on the continent, Amsterdam and Berlin in particular, have a thriving genre of queer party that opens its arms wide. Such is not beyond the potential of the Ireland
Offering an insight into the scene’s potential were the parties associated with the recent Pilly Willy exhibition, curated by artist collective Pussys. Opening and closing the exhibition were two parties loosely thematic of New York’s “Club Kids”, club personalities from the late 80s and 90s that stood for self-expression without boundaries. The parties were a once-off, but provided a liberal, carefree environment where people could look, dress and dance how they liked without falling under the scrutiny of others. Cities on the continent, Amsterdam and Berlin in particular, have a thriving genre of queer party that opens its arms wide. Such is not beyond the potential of the Ireland. The Pilly Willy parties provided a bittersweet number of hours that shone a light on the generic nature of the current queer clubbing scene.
The temporary deceleration in nightlife in Dublin sparked people to rethink clubbing. Now we have an entire genre of nightlife that is artistic and provocative, exhilarating clubbing experiences at our fingertips.
Dublin is very much awake with a vibrant, exciting club and party scene that will do nothing but grow in the coming months. The search for the city’s best parties may be more difficult than before, but comes with reward of something more fruitful and exciting than ever. Dublin has an abundance of young and imaginative people who are penetrating its club scene in resourceful and perceptive ways. The city has been lifted from its lull, whether or not you were aware of it happening.
