Road Records - A message from the staff (1 Viewer)

[superman]

i remember in 1999-ish hearing a record playing in Road and asking Julie what it was and she handed me Hammock Style by Ganger and smiled and said 'works everytime'
even though im living on the west coast now, i can't help but feel so sad knowing that there'll be no Road Records there the occasional times that i do come home
like many people, i wish i had bought a thousand more records there while i had the endless opportunites!
i know theres not much i can do but anything i can do please let me know vinnie.
thank you dave and julie for humouring my stupid questions and queries over the years and for selling my cds and, more importantly, being such lovely people and for making the record-store such a homely place!
thank you both so much,
lots of love
paul o'reilly
x

 

[GO]

Here's the bad part. Dublin has been fucked up since the Corporation stopped flypostering.1, since gigs became ridiculously hard for wee bands to get2, since the bands somehow stopped taking chances3, since the bands just did it in the evenings and at weekends, and since Whelans became mecca4.

I have to add that after living in Dublin for 30 years I am now so glad to be away from it. It has descended into it's own shite & violence. Nobody smiles or has the time for a conversation. 5
A poster mentioned early on that in the UK 26 indie shops 'pooled together' to protect themselves. That so wouldn't happen in Dublin I'm sorry to say6

As a musician it is a further dent to the thing I love(d)7. It is the global race to the bottom8. If it were possible to put a levy on downloading I would be all for it. In France for instance, 6% of all cinema ticket entrance fees goes directly to indigenous film makers. Why not that 6% of all music gig entrance fees go to indigenous Irish musicians/indie shops/indie labels? I don't think anyone would complain. Ecxept perhaps EMSEEDEE.9

Are young people even bovverd tho.It is not (as it was for me) a way of life anymore. As we approach another recession our young folk may decide to form a band, just for something to do. Or will wii come out with a 'start a band' game?10

In fact, the opposite. It is a time for us to say thanks to Dave and Julie and cannot wait to see ye struggling down the street with the baby, the buggy and three nappy changing bags, 'cos that's what's really important11. Good luck guys, Pat.

1.20 years ago

2.Initiative is free.And has been in common currency gig wise since rock'n'roll began.Dublins no exception.Never has been.Never will be.

3.You're having a laugh here surely.Dublin is home to some of the chancerest muscicians ever(dont wanna name names obviously).

4.Whelans has been a muso shop since day one.No offence meant.

5.You sir,are a fucking flute.If shite and violence is all Dublin means to you then I pity you.No wonder you dont get many smiles,never mind conversation.

6.The market simply is'nt big enough.The mongo to cool ratio is well outta whack in Ireland.Fact.

7.It is a shame that you used the pass tense of love there.

8.Thats your perception you bitter auld fuck.

9.Goverment involvement in pop music?Now I know your kidding!

10.If it ends up in good music what does it matter what its made with?I mean,kids are prolly modding wiis as we speak to do things we never imagined.

11.I agree.

 

[Deaglan]

fuck, this is a shocker. terrible news.

Dave & Julie - well done and thanks so much for everything you have done for supporting musicians/bands and educating music fans for the last 11 years. rest assured theres going to be a gaping big hole on fade st for eternity with yours and Roads name on it.
Vinny - let me know if i can help with anything

typing this after being out of ireland on holiday for the last three weeks - makes me not want to come back. a massive loss to dublin

 

[pete]

The most posters in one day was 217, 16th January 2009.

The most members online in one day was 445, 16th January 2009.

i just wish it could have been for a better reason

 

[Wilbert]

1.20 years ago

2.Initiative is free.And has been in common currency gig wise since rock'n'roll began.Dublins no exception.Never has been.Never will be.

3.You're having a laugh here surely.Dublin is home to some of the chancerest muscicians ever(dont wanna name names obviously).

4.Whelans has been a muso shop since day one.No offence meant.

5.You sir,are a fucking flute.If shite and violence is all Dublin means to you then I pity you.No wonder you dont get many smiles,never mind conversation.

6.The market simply is'nt big enough.The mongo to cool ratio is well outta whack in Ireland.Fact.

7.It is a shame that you used the pass tense of love there.

8.Thats your perception you bitter auld fuck.

9.Goverment involvement in pop music?Now I know your kidding!

10.If it ends up in good music what does it matter what its made with?I mean,kids are prolly modding wiis as we speak to do things we never imagined.

11.I agree.

Well said, Gaz.

 

[Funkykitchen]

This is really terrible news. Really nice people and i hate to see this happen to them. Doesn't assure me about the way things are going these parts.

(Great reply there gazzer, seriously. Its that sort of thing that IS telling me things are a-ok)

 

[GO]

I wrote that reply when I was drunk,but re reading yer mans post has filled me once again with righteous indignation.

Moany boots.

 

[righteous harmony]

not even jamie farrell on page 3 can make this fun...

 

[broken arm]

I wrote that reply when I was drunk,but re reading yer mans post has filled me once again with righteous indignation.

Moany boots.

the thing about the size of the market and co-operation is all realtive - it doesn't matter that there are only a few stores.

 

[old]

Sigh. If the shop with probably the most goodwill in the city can't survive, that's pretty sad. Massive thanks to Dave, Julie, Dylan & Jonny. Props to Big Vin. x

 

[pete]

I had the same thought so I rang Julie before I started anything and she was thrilled.

And yeah, it'll be a big venue. As sad as a situation as it is there's no reason why there cant be one fucking monster of a party to say goodbye.

THE HOLEMASTERS REUNION

 

[Lord Damian]

i really wish i hadn't decided to visit thumped today. such bastardly sad news. every time i was in Dublin i made a point to visit Road. bought many a fine album there, and also got a few shipped over to me. nothing but my best wishes to Dave and Julie, who were always kind and helpful.

 

[Umfufu]

I wrote that reply when I was drunk,but re reading yer mans post has filled me once again with righteous indignation.

Moany boots.

I would have felt sorry for Divil A Bit after the slaying Gazzer gave him if I hadn't already read sweetoblivion's blog.

It's easy to bitch & moan & blame everyone else.
Sweetoblivion focused on the fact that everyone on Thumped has rallied around Road since they heard of their problems.

She even made the (constructive & excellent) suggestion to have a record fair before the doors open at the benefit gig.

I'm not having a go at Divil A Bit but the fact is, Road Records is in the shit & nothing is going to change that.
I'd much rather listen to the positive suggestions of Vinnie, Gazzer, Sweetoblivion, et al, who are actually interested in helping Dave & Julie than trying to find out who is to blame for getting them into the situation in the first place.

I think most people would understand where Divil A Bit is coming from.
We're all really pissed off that this is happening & that there's probably fuck all we can do about it at this stage.

However, it is still possible to do something positive.
So, before we all agree that Gazzer is to blame (which he obviously is) let's see how much we can help out.

 

[cmndr mind fuck]

not being a prick, but the site is down, and would like some Bambi 7"s if available....

 

[niallmc]

bad news alright. sorry to hear you are losing your business. best of luck in the future dave, julie and dylan.
if we are looking for positives how about we realise that we can vote with our money so we can support those businesses we think are worth supporting. if not there will be another 20 pages here, or somewhere else, in a while lamenting the loss of something else that has ben truly helpful of the dublin music community (maybe we wont be doing it on thumped - maybe that'll be next.........)
Thanks a lot for your efforts folks, pity dublin couldn't sustain it

 

[Cryptid]

if we are looking for positives how about we realise that we can vote with our money so we can support those businesses we think are worth supporting.

That's a good way of phrasing it: vote with your money.

Positivity is really important. There are still some great 'vocational' type indie record stores in dublin that won't give up until they absolutely have to, like Road. If 50 Pricks spent €20 a month on records in these ten or so places, that's €52K a year turnover to the indie stores that's not going to hmv etc. I think that's achievable too, just by changing our buying patterns, or voting with our money, and being conscious of following up downloads we love with record purchases. It's really important for independent musicians to have these places to stock our records.

 

[sweetoblivion]

I would have felt sorry for Divil A Bit after the slaying Gazzer gave him if I hadn't already read sweetoblivion's blog.

It's easy to bitch & moan & blame everyone else.
Sweetoblivion focused on the fact that everyone on Thumped has rallied around Road since they heard of their problems.

She even made the (constructive & excellent) suggestion to have a record fair before the doors open at the benefit gig.

I'm not having a go at Divil A Bit but the fact is, Road Records is in the shit & nothing is going to change that.
I'd much rather listen to the positive suggestions of Vinnie, Gazzer, Sweetoblivion, et al, who are actually interested in helping Dave & Julie than trying to find out who is to blame for getting them into the situation in the first place.

I think most people would understand where Divil A Bit is coming from.
We're all really pissed off that this is happening & that there's probably fuck all we can do about it at this stage.

However, it is still possible to do something positive.
So, before we all agree that Gazzer is to blame (which he obviously is) let's see how much we can help out.

Thanks for reading the blog and for the supportive comments dude, it's heartening to see so much positivity. The bottom line is you're right in that Road is in the shit, the economy is in the shit, and 2009 by all accounts is going to be a tough year for a lot of people.
But I really and truly believe something positive can come out of it, and I feel like there's a sort of sea change happening - that people are stripping back the bullshit and realising what's really important.
We could sit around and moan about it or we can get up off our asses and do something, no matter how small - because, let's face it, money's too tight to mention! - to inject a bit of positivity into the music scene wherever we live in Ireland.
This isn't a time for begrudgery or bitching, and thankfully what's gone on over the last few days on Thumped has proved most people believe that.

 

[Buzzo]

Hey DavenJulie

MASSIVE congrats on the behbeh! I'm out at sea for the last few months and had no idea. A new teeny lil music dweeb.

So so sorry to hear the shop is closing. Thanks for all the support and advice over the years with the label stuff, and not that it makes any difference, but sorry I didn't buy more records over the last few.

In a busy, anonymous and changing city, for the last decade yous have been the equivalent of friendly local shopkeepers for the music scene. A pillar of the community. I'd have voted for yis if you ran in the local elections.

Best of luck in the future, whatever cool shit yis do

x
Aoifed

Everyone else: good luck with the gig!

 

[Mr Creosote]

Sorry to hear the news, hope the future goes well for ye, Adrian

 

[Burgerbarbaby]

Sorry to hear the news, hope the future goes well for ye, Adrian

What he said. I'd also like to add my thanks for your consistent kindness and decency to the deservedly long list already posted. If anyone needs a left-handed drummer for this benefit please give me a shout.
Bryan