I used go see them every Saturday afternoon in the Underground. Only about fifteen years old, getting sloshed. We were the only crowd ever there, around eight to fifteen of us usually. Drinking pints of Furstenburg, and you had to walk across the stage almost getting the pints in. They were criminally neglected even then, but they were great and it was great to have them all to ourselves, live, a gig just for us every Saturday afternoon. Great days.
Aye, the Underground was the pumping heart of the indie scene of the times. I played it a few times over the years and it never ceased to crack me up how the punters had to walk across stage right to get to the boys/girls toilets. There was an incident one night when some fucker came down the stairs, in onto the stage, grabbed an electric guitar and ran for it. It had belonged to the guitarist who were supporting us, and they missed their slot.
Lots of amazing bands broke their teeth on that stage, and as the years passed, the nearby Rock Garden in temple Bar gave them some really stiff competition for audiences, but the were still distinct clubs in their respective rights: the Underground catered for the indie up and coming bands getting their act together, and the Rock Garden provided for bands who were already established and who had a sure-fire audience. The deal on those gigs was a simple 10% of door/tickets plus 100% bar sales for the owner, and the bands had to make the best of what was left.
We an a Thursday nighter called Cosmic Slop, a piss-take on U2's then touring machine: Zoo TV.
To give our show credibility, we assembled a few old televisions and VCRs to create a sort of crappy/RTE/no budget set that vaguely resembled U2s rig, but was so ridiculous you had to laugh at it. We placed a love-seat and standing lamp with a coffee table on stage left for our uilleann piper, a kitchen table and chairs for our guests and a few mates, some boiling kettles of water with the lids open so they kept boiling away. Two of the TVs (at least) were busted and gutted and in one we put a church candle, and in the other a small set of christmas lights in really cheesy colours. The rest of them were for kicking and booting around. Or even something to sit on. The bassist wore a full black ninja suit with only his eyes showing. It was cheap and nasty but it rocked, and we always had a crowd.
Underground gigs weren't much fun. What's his name behind the bar was a great bloke to deal with: took no bullshit, knew what he was looking for, and treated everyone the same: shite. But at least he wasn't fake about things - if he liked your stuff you were welcome back. Try any 'rock star' shit and he wouldn't sell you a pint. GTFO. But it was a handy step between oblivion and semi-professional levels for new bands to cut their teeth. Some nights it was 99p in with eight bands on the list. One drum-set, basic amps for guitar and bass, filthy SM58s he never cleaned, around three lamps hanging off the ceiling, and a gap for toilet access for the punters. No changing room, so space to store your flight cases, no free beers, no bringing in your own cans and filling his glasses with them. The stink of soap-bar hash. Sweat. Hair spray. Piss and bleach. Flat beer and horribly stained carpets that stunk the place out when it was empty.
But it was pure rock and roll in spirit. It had a tough time from the get-go and had to work hard to hold on to its audience with so much heavy competition nearby. What's his name gave it his best but it wasn't to be and when it closed down, the last bash and party had them queuing out the door and down Dame Street towards Dublin Castle. The OMMC and the new Temple Bar Studios venue drew larger numbers and we had a spare line-up from PAMF which we called Loose Booty. That line-up dealt with any and every last minute cancellation as Pete and I could summon up a few extra players to join us filling in for whomever. That's where we built the spring-board for the Loose Booty Drummers, who played with all the DJs at the OMMC in order to satisfy the Fire Chief who insisted on a live act being required under a theater license. Handy gig, handy money (we were paid but we also took late night recording studio time at the TBS in credit) and we gave a break to lots of upcoming kids from the engineering courses that were so popular at the time.
There was an engineering course on Merrion Square, it was run by an Englishman called Thewlis. He set up the course after getting a block on the square and after the students paid in their fees, he had a crew come in the middle of the night to seize everything: tape machines, mixing desks, mics and cables, hardware, everything - plus the fees in the bank. The students came back next day and the front door was boarded up. The cops were involved. We lost a few master tapes but the one we were working on (for the students to watch and see how things were done) at the time really stung: we had Moll from The Big Geraniums on bass, Dreadzilla on FX guitars, me and Pete front and back, and seven or eight new tracks we laid the foundations of and wanted to finish to the mastering stage in the studio/school. The kids all lost their money, the parents petitioned the cops who got involved but in reality did fuck all. So the students arranged a gig at The Rock Garden to highlight their loss. Packed house, lots of slagging and banter, but ultimately, Thewlis made off with the lot. Untraceable. Who knows how much he robbed?
But the reality was that all these engineering kids were kidding themselves: how many sound engineers does one city need to have? Most of them were wasting their time and parent's money - but the same was true for lots of the Trinity crowd: the JCR and Buttery packed to the gills from morning til night. We did masses of gigs for Trinity, including a few in the Veterinarian college nearby the US embassy in the actual auditorium: us down on the bottom in front of the blackboards, and them up and above us in the seating areas. The sound was fucking horrible. Every time.
Dublin back then was a hive of activity.
Not all of it good either, mind you.
But it was ours, and we loved it.
Reminds me of German metal, riff reminds me Schenker Group and Scorpions stuff.
