What do you really think... (4 Viewers)

[Daniel]

I think something really deficit in both Ireland and the UK and the importance of it is really underestimated, is cooking food for bands when they show up. Like when you're paying through the nose for ferries to a place and then ya show up and have to spend another 20 euro band money to go to the chipper it kind of dampens your spirits. Whereas even if the show is mediocre but ya get a lovely meal and some diesel money you're positive and in high spirits and it makes such a difference! Anyone whos been on tour in mainland Europe will know that the food the promoter gives you is amazing, I actualy ate better on tour than when I got home, and if you come from mainland Europe to the UK or Ireland you really notice the difference. So I think if every promoter cooks a nice meal (or asks their friends to help out by doing that) thats not just pasta and red sauce and it could make a big difference.

Once a band knows in advance if they are getting food i don't see the big deal in not having food. Its easy for a band to pull up at a supermarket and buy some cheap food that can prepare themselves. When i first started setting up gigs i never cooked (or even heard about) for bands. Only when some bigger bands with riders and shit came along did it become an issue and then also with other bands. I work and don't live any where near the venue and i'm not into asking friends to cook for a band so it does not always suit to cook. Usually i offer to make a decent breakfast instead if i cant cook a dinner for the band. People have suggested to me to cook the food the night before etc... i have other things to do as well as setting up shows and feeding people...
I know that this is a really big issue for some people and even when we were on tour some of the lads got very excited about getting food before the show... i was always more concerned about the show itself.

 

[skubol]

That sounds like a great idea, as does the idea of bands chipping in and paying for it, ye should definitely look into it. Personaly, I was looking at CDrs so as to keep costs low and because i'm leaving for fest in six weeks. If ye want to do something proper i'm sure No Idea and a few other distros would take it. You could even just send a master over and get them printed in the US, saves on import tax or extra baggage charges/customs hassles if i or someone else was taking them over. In fact now that i think of it, if people are serious about it, i could get someone in florida to get a quick two or three hundred turned around between here and fest. They're having a fleamarket thing this year and a table is $60 so i was gonna chip that in and stand there selling them for $1 or donations or whatever. Conor suggested taking an irish distro but after fest i'm going to asia for a a few years so if i have leftovers, what do i do with them?

But the comp, if we got say 200 CDs printed for me to collect at fest, we could do a photocopied insert ourselves with loads of irish info for bands that might want to come over but don't know where to start (in my experience this is shitloads of bands), i'll chip in the $60 for the table and give them out for the donation money, i'll post that back before i leave the US and that money could go towards printing up a batch for selling/handing out over here. Sound doable?

P.S. on the angle of bands worrying about making money back off the ferry, North Lincoln and New Bruises both saved shitloads by flying into ireland and then geting a ryanair onto the UK to start their tours this summer. If, picking an example from my head, Glass And Ashes started their tour by flying into shannon, doing galway/limerick/cork/dublin/belfast with, say, Only Fumes (jn the fumes's van) and then got a ryanair from belfast to london (or wherever) to meet with their proper van dudes, they'd not only save money on flying straight to the UK/Germany/wherever, they'd get to see Ireland, which a lot of bands genuinely want to do too, irrespective of playing any gigs.

wait a minute. i don't get it. what makes you think that some people in usa have interested in buying irish bands cd comp.
it's not gonna happend. and i'm 99% sure that "no idea" or other distros in america dont want another comp especially with band that they never heard
i think that the only reason to do such compilation is to promote bands but you can't charge for sucha cd. it shoud be for free. each band paying for pressing and then you can give the cd to gig organizers ,to the guys who doing distros etc.
if you wan't to do it or anybody else want to do it i can help with this

 

[RSJ]

Reason i think that is because every time i'm over there people are asking me what irish punk bands are like, and how they can go about touring ireland. Any people i've met are very interested in irish bands and bands from outside america in general, and bands always say they want to tour here but have no idea how, so i figured two birds with one stone, do a comp CD with info on how to get in contact with people in ireland. Last year You Me And The Atom Bomb played Fest and brought some CDs of UK bands with them, this year five UK bands got asked to come over to play, and a few bands the lads met at fest came over to tour and brought them along, knock on effect of that is if YMATAB want to tour the US, they have a bunch of bands there to play with. There's no point in saying "oh nobody will care so don't do it". Reason i was doing it on CDr was to keep costs down so people will at least take the CD (as opposed to if it was few quid, in which case nobody would care). I suppose it's worth mentioning that the fest audience is generally people who travel from all over the US (and europe) to hear new bands, as opposed to see ones they already know about (dammit i should have put that at the start). It's not like leechrum or something where everybody already knows the bands, people trust no idea to pick great bands, they generally sell something like 75% of the tickets before the bands are even announced.

 

[skubol]

Once a band knows in advance if they are getting food i don't see the big deal in not having food. Its easy for a band to pull up at a supermarket and buy some cheap food that can prepare themselves. When i first started setting up gigs i never cooked (or even heard about) for bands. Only when some bigger bands with riders and shit came along did it become an issue and then also with other bands. I work and don't live any where near the venue and i'm not into asking friends to cook for a band so it does not always suit to cook. Usually i offer to make a decent breakfast instead if i cant cook a dinner for the band. People have suggested to me to cook the food the night before etc... i have other things to do as well as setting up shows and feeding people...
I know that this is a really big issue for some people and even when we were on tour some of the lads got very excited about getting food before the show... i was always more concerned about the show itself.

dan what you talking about.? no food.
i think that's even more important than giving money to the band
how can you be happy at the gig if you hungry.
bands have to get food before the gig.!!
believe me if you don't give'm food they will talk about you for ages
from my own experiences i can tell that for the whole "silence" history we didin't get food maybe 2 or 3 times for about 150 gigs

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

When we had the luxury of Giro's/Warzone in belfast,we always put on a killer spread for the bands. Luckily there was a few people who were really great at cooking and who had time and imagination to serve really great food to bands. The number of times bands said before the gig even started that they didn't care how the gig went it was worth it for the meal ,was incredible. The food at belfast gigs was almost legend for a while. The opening bands were often invited along too so everyone could get to know each other etc. Sometimes sitting down to eat is the best time to actually talk to the people on tour.
Unfortunately,it's rare people have the time and space to do that though and it sounds like that's the case with Daniel with work etc. I do think it would be worth asking other people to give hand though as I know how much a meal is appreciated by touring bands. Even if it is just a stew or something.

 

[Janer]

I do a good veggie stew, maybe if Daniel quit his job he could be my #2 in the kitchen.
!bing

 

[Daniel]

dan what you talking about.? no food.
i think that's even more important than giving money to the band
how can you be happy at the gig if you hungry.
bands have to get food before the gig.!!
believe me if you don't give'm food they will talk about you for ages
from my own experiences i can tell that for the whole "silence" history we didin't get food maybe 2 or 3 times for about 150 gigs

I'll run gigs whatever way i want. If the bands don't like it they don't have to come back. I said i would make them a big breakfast instead. They save their money on having to buy breakfast/lunch in the morning after spending a few euro on dinner the previous night. If you come to a show in Galway you will see how it works and you can decide then if what i am doing is unfair. When i lived in town it was no problem cooking for bands after work. I now live 30km from the city and i do most of the work ( sound, lifting, organising) myself so it is not always possible for me to cook food. My partner is not into the punk scene and is busy herself so i cant expect her to cook ( but she does sometimes).
Anyway i personally prefer to eat after the show...

Unfortunately,it's rare people have the time and space to do that though and it sounds like that's the case with Daniel with work etc. I do think it would be worth asking other people to give hand though as I know how much a meal is appreciated by touring bands. Even if it is just a stew or something.

Yes, its that simple as that. If i was living in town and on the dole and we had a proper collective going then it would be simple. However at the moment this is not the case so unfortunately bands will have to got to "La Salsa"

 

[skubol]

hey dan
don't take it personally i know your the best.
but for me it's a bit strange when bands don't get lunch and breakfast.
i'm from a different country and in poland it's normal situations.
ireland is such a rich country that's why i don't get it.

 

[Janer]

He's not the best, he serves no food up at gigs......
No u-turns on this forum baby.

 

[jane]

Fair enough, but I would say that most of the people here are quite aware of what this thread is about when the term punk is used, and the silly arguing should be kept to another thread.

But the original post asked about how Ireland compared with the rest of the world. The fact that the definition of 'punk' or 'DIY' varies so widely is totally relevant. Maybe you don't want to overcomplicate the discussion because there are only certain aspects that you think are worth discussing, but that doesn't mean that other ideas are not relevant.

I know what you're trying to say about the silly arguing (or the argument to which you refer, anyway), but I think the point that several of us have made is important, that to many people, a DIY ethic *is* punk and therefore it is not a particular sound.

Is it really helpful to suggest that discussion on Eirecore must be confined to music that some people believe sounds like a particular type of punk, rather than embodying an ethic that is varied and flexible and doesn't have to be defined so conservatively?

 

[Space]

It seems we now have a bit of a DIY scene in Letterkenny now, so I'm really happy. With the advent of regular gigs there seems to be a few bands popping up around here now too which is deadly.

Leechrum is also an amazing fest to have, 3 days of punk bands and meeting up with people from around the country.

I remember one of these threads a few years ago where there was 3/4 places to play in the country, now there's a least 8 by my count; Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo, Letterkenny, Belfast, Dublin and Wexford. That has to be a good thing.

The quality of the bands in this country is also insane at the moment.

There's always room for improvement of course but I think things are moving in the right direction.

 

[São Paulo Punk]

Just wondering what everyone on here really thinks about the whole punk/hc/diy etc "scene" in Ireland over the last year or so. What do ye all think of the quality of Irish bands around at the moment, the shows, venues, zines, labels and everything that goes with all this.

I'm sure alot of people here have lived in other parts of the world and experienced shows all over the world on their travels. How do these compare to here?

I'm asking this as i have been browsing the net alot at work and there seems to be an awful lot going on around the world and i'm not sure that Ireland is keeping up... maybe ye know otherwise and the net is "only the net".

I'm not giving out like... just wondering like.

Zines havent been the same since the demise of Red Ink in Dublin.

Venues are always a problem in Ireland. "Help me Seomra Spraoi... You're our only hope!" (sorry, I was watching Star Wars with Tadhg tonight)

Label wise, I think that Popular Records, Armed Ambitions and Stitchy Press are all really new and all really promising labels.

I've never known the DIY scene to be as musically diverse as it has been and is continuing to be over the last few years. I'd hate to see things stagnate in that regard. I still know lots of girls who play instruments but aren't in any bands. I don't know if its because people never think of asking girls to join bands or if girls feel intimidated to get involved in something so male dominated, or a bit of both, but it's defo something for the scene to be conscious of in this day and age.

Im kind of in the same boat as Gary in that I don’t get to go to gigs as often as I used to. But, fuck!!! When I do, I’m always reminded of how lucky I am to be part of a community where I can feel comfortable in myself and not feel like I have to act a certain way, dress a certain way or live up to certain social standards (fashion, consumerism, personal hygiene etc…) all the time. Most of my closest friends, most of my favourite local bands, most of the people I have the highest regard for, they’re all involved in or closely linked to the DIY scene. I’m sure it’s the same for most of the people who post on this forum. This scene is our fucking life! It can’t be perfect, it can’t cater for the particular musical tastes of individuals, but collectively it exists as the best alternative to the mainstream so frequently berated in the lyrics and manifestos of the bands and organisations that the scene has spawned over the years. The scene is so much more than the music. It’s the only fucking hope that some of us have left at this stage. And I think it’s in great shape!!!

C’mon the scene!!!

 

[Kierkegaard]

This discussion's quite interesting for me because, as an 'outsider', I've always found touring Ireland comes up favourably against touring in England. The craic's a lot better, perhaps due to not being as spoiled for gigs as the usual English stops are. The money's also a lot better in terms of consistency, perhaps also for the same reasons. I know if I send a band to anywhere in Ireland and they state what their costs are, they're going to get around that amount 99 times out of 100; in England it's a lot more hit or miss. I also know I'm not the only person who's found this to be the case.

People have asked for comparisons to similar places: I guess Scotland would be the obvious one given our shared preferences for imbibing large quantities of alcohol and talking incomprehensible gibberish. I'm part of a DIY collective in Glasgow; the average attendance for our gigs stands around 30-40. It very rarely strays above this due to the city being big enough that sub-scenes have emerged, the majority of them just barely supporting themselves so that we can all pay lip service to collaboration whilst knowing that we'll still scrape by ourselves without the hassle. So gigs in this city, from my point of view at least, are a healthy mix of good fun and utter despair and frustration.

I've got quite a lot more I could say about comparisons between Scotland and Ireland, or Ireland and England, but I don't want to clutter up a thread that's essentially meant for folk in Ireland to discuss what's going on there. I'll continue at will if people are interested, mind

 

[the strange guy]

Everyone's favourite thing about the Dublin/Irish scene is how inclusive it is. A group of kids from Stilorgan in Dickies hoodies and Vans could walk into a Putrefaction gig and not be attacked by the muscle bound freak and the smelly wretches 'playing' their instruments. A bunch of pillar-box red mohicans can stroll into a Terrordactyl set MID-PROG and won't throw their pints at the champagne crusty on vox. Even hardened punk rockers have invited their parents to come watch them play. I don't know of any other capital city where this kind of unity (in the HC sense) can happen.

People complain about the lack of touring bands but I've seen plenty of overseas bands play to empty venues. The most memorable was Tragedy playing to an audience of no more than 10 back in 2000 in the Temple. Scatha played to even less back in 1998 in Fusion. Now you can't even get a badge or a patch from these bands because they're so popular. I guess the problem is either if the gig isn't on a Thursday/Friday/Saturday, forget it or if 'the kids' don't care (yet), forget it.

Ten years ago the whole fucking city was falling apart when it came to gigs. The Chinaman, Charlies, The White Horse, The Garden of Delight... every decent place was closing down as soon as property developers got wind of the economic upsurge. The Funnel and the Fusion lit up our lives every so briefly before being flushed down the jacks with every other fond memory of ye olde Dublin.

It got so bad that a few of us emmigrated to FUCKING LEEDS. It sounded like heaven. There would be two or three gigs a week, cheap beer, WEED (no chernobyl hash) and enough amphetamines to shrink your dick to epic-fail proportions. Only 40 pound a week dole on top of an eternal winter though. Kids these days don't know how lucky they are

 

[Janer]

There are more pressing issues then scenes and cooked meals tbh..........

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6983288.stm

 

[Janer]

............

 

[Janer]

I But,if I entered an argument about it,events like blackpool would lean me more towards punk being dead than alive.
To me,something like blackpool is were old punks go to die.

But not to me, I grew up with them and am around the same age....
It's just like you grew up with certain bands, once those bands stay true to their genre you too would have an affinity/loyalty with them in say 10-15 years time.
I was referring to the fans mostly btw anyway....I get great pride in seeing and knowing Punks half my age knowing that the Olympic torch is still being carried by the younger generation.

;>

 

[GARYXKNIFEDX]

Not really,I've gone to see plenty of bands I grew up with and said they were shit. When Gorilla Biscuits played here in the early 90's I thought it was a bit of a sham(a reasonably enjoyable one,but not up to what it should have been) and that was way back then. There is huge difference in bands who have continued playing music and are made of all or mostly original memers and bands who have gotten back together with sometime only one key member

 

[Janer]

Now Gary I didn't say all bands I grew up with....
Anyway Blackpool is my trip to mecca so to speak.....
Everything about it is great for me.......
So many dots..............

 

[cesspooldublin]

best/most interesting thread ever.particularly impressed with the fact it hasn't deteriorated into any rucks/squabbles...anyway, had an idea ispired by this thread,but I'm gonna make a thread of it's own about it..go have a look..