so this is possibly the worst way to address this situation but i'm quite busy for the next few days and couldnt think of anyother way to communicate with a wide variety of people. hopefully people will talk about this outside of t'internet world so those involved may have a chance to reflect upon their actions (or lack thereof).
if your lost: last night fuck all people showed up to the macrocosmica gig. of those who did, a fair proportion only came in to see one band and then left, but stayed hanging around outside/near the lower deck drinking cans and being fairly loud (ie you could hear them from the entrance to the lower deck, where the bar manager was standing for most of the night, and sporadically see people on skateboards, whatever). it was pretty obvious to all that everyone was drinking cans. all this went worse when something happened (i was stressing inside at the time, maybe someone can enlighten us) that led to a fight involving a few scobes, which ended up with andy mcsharry being taken off in an ambulence. as well, when the boys in blue arrived to see what was going on, they were given some hassle by members of "da punx".
first up, cans, fucking cans. i know i'm in no position to get zealous about this issue, but in fairness, the can drinking last night was rediculously obvious. clearly no one involved was using any natural cop on whatsoever. at the last gig in the lower deck (the one where true north didnt play), words were had with me about people drinking cans, i told as many people as possible and i assumed word was spread about the sketchyness of the can drinking situation. i had hoped that people would have used some common sense this time around, obviously not. the guy who was in charge last night was really sound, he's not the normal guy and it was the first time i'd met him. if the usual bar manager had've been there, theres no doubt in my mind he would have called off all future gigs in the lower deck.
people, for fucks sake, whats more important, a few cans or the only venue left in dublin where we can put gigs on? i know drink is expensive and no one wants to spend €20 a night or more in a pub but come on, can't you get drunk before the gig and keep it going with a pint or two during? or wait till after, warm up with a pint or two and then lash into the cans after the gig?
this leads me to the next situation; the gang outside (some of whom, i'm led to believe, we're even in at the gig but were still hanging around less than 50 meters from the entrance drinking cans, with people coming and going into the pub from there all night). it seems to be that when"da punx" are hanging out en masse and (especially) whyen they're boozing, all sense of peoples responsibility goes out the window. an "everyone's doing it so why blame me" kind of situation. to my knowledge the pub got a number of calls complaining about people drinking outside/near the venue, as it was clear that the gang was some how associated with the pub. the bar manager was expecting the cops to come around all night and said that they could/would object to the renewal of the lower deck's live music licence because of the situation last night.
which leads on to the last issue... i dont feel too comfortable commenting on something i didnt actually see, but clearly, from what i've heard, if there's two groups (punks and scobes) drinking near each other all night and some "friendly" abuse is going back and forth all night, it doesnt take a genius to figure out the most likely outcome. that shit last night could have been prevented with even the smallest amount of cop on, but due to the herd mentality it wasnt, and on top of all the other shit, andy had to be taken to hospital for his injuries.
so, end result: we lost money, not the biggest deal in the world but i voluntarily gave the Lower deck €50 for the room to stay in the good books. when the real manager hears about what happened i'm sure he's going to go through the roof, so there's no guarantee we'll be able to keep the venue. i was stressed as fuck all last night, didnt enjoy the gig at all, and guess what, i dont need this kind of shit in my life. i dont make money off this, i do it because i love it and without regular cheap gigs by touring bands the "scene" is nothing. if shit likes this keeps happening, my opinion on the positivity of doing all this could change and i say fuck it all and turn into a whingy cynical ex-scenester. i dont want that to happen.
anyway, right now the bottom line is, NO CANS EVER AGAIN in the lower deck, none, i mean if i dont someone pouring a can i'll give them a bollocking and take their drink off them.
anyway, enough blabbering, hopefully i've got some kind of point accross...
if your lost: last night fuck all people showed up to the macrocosmica gig. of those who did, a fair proportion only came in to see one band and then left, but stayed hanging around outside/near the lower deck drinking cans and being fairly loud (ie you could hear them from the entrance to the lower deck, where the bar manager was standing for most of the night, and sporadically see people on skateboards, whatever). it was pretty obvious to all that everyone was drinking cans. all this went worse when something happened (i was stressing inside at the time, maybe someone can enlighten us) that led to a fight involving a few scobes, which ended up with andy mcsharry being taken off in an ambulence. as well, when the boys in blue arrived to see what was going on, they were given some hassle by members of "da punx".
first up, cans, fucking cans. i know i'm in no position to get zealous about this issue, but in fairness, the can drinking last night was rediculously obvious. clearly no one involved was using any natural cop on whatsoever. at the last gig in the lower deck (the one where true north didnt play), words were had with me about people drinking cans, i told as many people as possible and i assumed word was spread about the sketchyness of the can drinking situation. i had hoped that people would have used some common sense this time around, obviously not. the guy who was in charge last night was really sound, he's not the normal guy and it was the first time i'd met him. if the usual bar manager had've been there, theres no doubt in my mind he would have called off all future gigs in the lower deck.
people, for fucks sake, whats more important, a few cans or the only venue left in dublin where we can put gigs on? i know drink is expensive and no one wants to spend €20 a night or more in a pub but come on, can't you get drunk before the gig and keep it going with a pint or two during? or wait till after, warm up with a pint or two and then lash into the cans after the gig?
this leads me to the next situation; the gang outside (some of whom, i'm led to believe, we're even in at the gig but were still hanging around less than 50 meters from the entrance drinking cans, with people coming and going into the pub from there all night). it seems to be that when"da punx" are hanging out en masse and (especially) whyen they're boozing, all sense of peoples responsibility goes out the window. an "everyone's doing it so why blame me" kind of situation. to my knowledge the pub got a number of calls complaining about people drinking outside/near the venue, as it was clear that the gang was some how associated with the pub. the bar manager was expecting the cops to come around all night and said that they could/would object to the renewal of the lower deck's live music licence because of the situation last night.
which leads on to the last issue... i dont feel too comfortable commenting on something i didnt actually see, but clearly, from what i've heard, if there's two groups (punks and scobes) drinking near each other all night and some "friendly" abuse is going back and forth all night, it doesnt take a genius to figure out the most likely outcome. that shit last night could have been prevented with even the smallest amount of cop on, but due to the herd mentality it wasnt, and on top of all the other shit, andy had to be taken to hospital for his injuries.
so, end result: we lost money, not the biggest deal in the world but i voluntarily gave the Lower deck €50 for the room to stay in the good books. when the real manager hears about what happened i'm sure he's going to go through the roof, so there's no guarantee we'll be able to keep the venue. i was stressed as fuck all last night, didnt enjoy the gig at all, and guess what, i dont need this kind of shit in my life. i dont make money off this, i do it because i love it and without regular cheap gigs by touring bands the "scene" is nothing. if shit likes this keeps happening, my opinion on the positivity of doing all this could change and i say fuck it all and turn into a whingy cynical ex-scenester. i dont want that to happen.
anyway, right now the bottom line is, NO CANS EVER AGAIN in the lower deck, none, i mean if i dont someone pouring a can i'll give them a bollocking and take their drink off them.
anyway, enough blabbering, hopefully i've got some kind of point accross...
