(Adebisi Shank in the Lower Deck, 2008)
Dublin’s music scene just got a dose.
In the Sunday Times yesterday it was announced that POD closed the doors of Crawdaddy and Tripod over the weekend.
The 24,000 sq.ft Harcourt Street complex is being let to the consortium of people behind Flannery’s Pub and it was suggested that the POD complex would become a large nightclub to compete with nearby Copper Face Jack’s. The Odeon Bar beside POD has also closed. Update: As per POD’s tweet, they will continue to promote gigs.
On the opposite end of the scale, The Lower Deck will no longer host small-scale independent gigs as it’s being turned into a pool hall apparently – a big loss to DIY gigs of which Ballroom of Romance, Adebisi Shank, Bats and DJ Scotch Egg gigs were among the cramped sweaty basement nights experienced there. The pub upstairs remains.
The closure of the POD building won’t be a major surprise to many regular gig goers like myself. Attendance and regularity of gigs in Crawdaddy and Tripod hit its peak about four or five years ago. I was in the place twice a week easily at that point.
Some of the memories I have from the place particularly Crawdaddy include jumping on stage with Bonde Do Role, an Antics night with El Guincho, a brilliant El-P gig, a late night Fujiya & Miyagi gig where I could barely stay awake, Dan MUTHAFUCKIN Deacon, seeing Terrordactyl for the first time, Beirut, Juana Molina, Glasser, Hard Working Class Heroes when it took over the whole complex, Jeffrey Lewis, Aesop Rock, Janelle Monae, Chromeo, DJ Shadow, Gil Scott Heron, Leftfield and countless other nights where I caught a first live glimpse of new bands, most recently The Notas.
The hope now is that the people who made that creative energy happen on those nights continue to do so on in other places in the city. Venues go but live music isn’t going anywhere.
