My first major gig was the Police in the summer of 1980. I was 13, and told my mother I was going to an all-day football blitz in Cabinteely.
I stashed my football gear in a hedge down the road and put on my cousin’s Sid Vicious Dead’ T-shirt, which was a print of the Sun newspaper’s headline. Deep down, I’d always wanted to be a punk but my mother wouldn’t let me.
In contrast, her sister, my more tolerant auntie, allowed my cousins to wear tartan bondage trousers, get their ears pierced and even sport proper, soap and water, Exploited Barmy Army’ mohawks. You’ll be glad to hear that these youthful rebels are now middle-aged, golf-playing lawyers.
Appropriately kitted out, we headed from Dun Laoghaire to a place called Leixlip. I had no idea where it was, but I can still feel the teenage thrill of heading into the city and from there, up the Liffey, on a special CIE bus with dozens of others. Our gang was definitely well under age and I remember thinking to myself: ”If this is what growing up is, I love it.
On the bus we were warned by bigger local lads to avoid a mythical skinhead outfit called the Black Catholics or, worse still, a notorious Mod gang called the Cabra A-boys. Both were apparently on the lookout for posh punks. Thankfully, we never came across these heads. However, a few years later, I found myself terrified among them when the Clash were supported by the Belfast skinhead band the Outcasts in the SFX in Dublin.
It was not a pleasant experience, particularly as, desperate to be cool, I had brought a girl to the Clash on our first date. She subsequently emigrated.
The Police were huge in 1980 and were supported by Squeeze, the bizarre John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett, the Q Tips and a young Dublin band called U2. Someone threw something at the Police, Sting went off on one and lost much of the crowd in the process. My standout memory was U2 stealing the show and a 19-year-old Bono – who even then was a brilliant frontman, and who understood the chemistry of crowds and the crucial role of the lead singer in this essential alchemy – climbing up on the huge scaffolding stage, belting out I Will Follow from the top of the stage to the enraptured throng.
Fast-forward 30-odd years, and I am writing from Croatia where the local teenagers – one generation after their parents fought a war with the Serbs – are all heading to Serbia and the Exit festival in Novi Sad.
Music brings people together. Gigs are a type of public communion for the secular classes. Concerts are experiences that people value. If you are prepared to spend your hard-earned cash on going to gigs, they matter to you.
For my generation, the music of the 1980s is part of our own specific cultural heritage, and the concerts are part of our musical memory bank with live performances staying with us most of our lives.
We spent huge parts of our measly disposable income on buying music, paying fortunes for ”Japanese imports bought from ads in the back of the NME and generally being financially garroted by the unscrupulous music industry. Now all this has changed.
Recorded music is, to all intents and purposes, free. Streaming sites have insured this. However, many bands, still trying to figure out how to make a crust in this new business model, have taken to the road.
We are now going to more concerts than ever. There are huge gigs all over the continent every summer and millions of people both young and not too old are paying for the pleasure of the live gig. This summer, everywhere from the Ultra festival in Split down the road from me, to Marlay Park in Dublin and Electric Picnic, festivals and gigs are part of the tourist offering countries provide to an increasingly mobile audience.
When I hear about the Garth Brooks saga, I despair, not for the music, because I don’t get country and western at all, but because hosting gigs is something we are good at. Ireland is a good venue. And it could be a brilliant one. Hospitality is what we are supposed to do well.
In a world of cheap travel, gigs are an essential part of the tourist offering of a country – much more essential than say the likes of golf. Hosting a big gig is worth more to a city than a Champions League final and the marketing opportunity is crucial particularly if the gigs are televised. Who doesn’t have a better view of Latin America in general – and Brazil in particular – having seen thousands of smiling fans having a good time?
Now think about the positive impact on music festivals and the greater economy. As usual, we don’t have the figures for Ireland, but for Britain, five years ago in 2009, total revenue from live music was £1.4 billion (Euro 1.7 billion).
Tourists coming to Britain spent £196 million on concerts and £47 million on festivals in 2009. British residents spent £652 million on concerts and £499 million on festivals. Half of the total £1.4 billion expenditure was spent outside music events, in local businesses such as hotels and restaurants.
The table on this page gives you a breakdown of the value of live music across major countries in local currency and converted into dollars. You can only imagine that this industry has grown since then, given the number of gigs staged in Ireland alone during this summer.
In Italy, live music is already worth nearly twice as much at Euro 781 million, compared to recorded music at Euro 419 million. For Britain, the difference is less marked with live music at £1.48 billion and recorded music at £1.24 billion. Worldwide, recorded music retail sales are $25.8 billion, while the live sector is estimated to be $21.6 billion.
This is a huge global industry and we could be getting a little bit of it. Giving in to a few Nimby agitators is not the way to go. We have a giant stadium: use the bloody thing. Seen from outside the country, it looks pathetic, ungenerous and small-minded. Seen from the economic perspective and from the perspective of positioning the country in a huge global industry, it looks like madness.
Music is infectious, music is memorable and music festivals are a profitable part of the tourist calendar. Let’s wise up.
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Well Aiken Promotions sold tickets for two gigs without licence. Garth Brooks ??? Nope me neither.
“Giving in to a few Nimby Agitators” is very poor & simplistic analysis, David. I would have expected a more rounded argument from you. I and my young family live in Drumcondra and see at first hand the affect so many concerts in close proximity have on the local community. Whoever the artist, it’s not fair to expect people to have no choice but to listen to the music played over a period of three nights never mind five. Never mind all the disruption that ensues. There is also a wider argument in terms of licences being disregarded in pursuit… Read more »
I think the key is having an organised planning process for these events with a percentage of the planning fee and profits allocated to local residents organisations. We have a good reputation for hospitality so why not use it to our advantage? We have an Airport terminal in Dublin that we need to use to capacity. Why not develop the music, conventions and events business as a means to showcase the City and the region? Allocate some of the taxes generated to develop and expand the transport infrastructure including a rail link to the City centre. It has to be… Read more »
I don’t recall any open air pop concerts in my teen years to 1971 in the Mid West Region .The Horseslips group were the rave at the Discos then .Most of rural Ireland still had the ceili and country music mounted on a lorry trailer . My first musical concert was at the National Concert Hall when I was 19 and I attended Charles Aznavour only appearance in Ireland after thumbing all the way to Dublin from Limerick . I have attended other shows of his since in France & Monaco and is still performing and going strong at 88… Read more »
Sure all valid points that I agree with, but here is another important lens.
What you are asking for is to by-pass legislation – to ignore or find a quick fix so we can ‘see the money’.
Does this remind you of anything? the banking crisis? Perhaps we need Ireland to be seen as strict on rules and doing the ‘right’ thing rather than always following the short term financial gain.
and we get great summer weather unlike Croatia now where its been dreadful, without the festival there I know 10 young ladies that will not be going back!
I feel this situation is very gray. It is a shame, as you say to have a massive stadium and we can barely get to use it beyond sport, 3 concerts a year is not great. I do feel for the residents, we all know how messy Irish people get when they have a day out, I don’t think I would like 80,000 of them passing in front of my front door either. Part of me felt strongly that we should have built a for purpose stadium in the late 90s (Bertie Bowl or what ever) instead of bulking up… Read more »
David is getting a bit populist here. Its a matter of the rule of law. 1) the promoters didnt get permission when they promoted the concert. 2) The concerts were therefore cancelled. Overriding planning laws is what got us into this mess. Thats the rule of law, not brown paper bags. I doubt the economic argument too. Garth is taking, surely, about 50% of the book out of the country. Good for the IRS for sure. The rest would have been spent anyway, unless you can prove that this is extra discretionary spending from our friends down the country, then… Read more »
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Garth, Government, GAA,…..Cowboys, the lot of them!
“Deep down, I’d always wanted to be a punk but my mother wouldn’t let me.”Oh, LOLs! More disclosures on how David was “My Perfect Cousin” .I suppose this explains his periodic E.O.D.D “Economic Oppositional Defiance Disorder” where he gets all upset and emotionally ventilated at Kilkenomics then calms back down and pretends that banks don’t invent money so he isn’t expelled from The Fiat Priesthood. Irrelevant aside 2: Is Bono a ginger again? Has he realised that it was NOT COOL to let the school bullies force his head into the black dye dustbin and that it kinda undermines his… Read more »
On the one hand, people flying in from all round the world, and the country, is clearly a business opportunity not to be missed, if at all possible. On the other, no economy provided what we used to call a ‘first world’ standard of living by focussing on tourism. It just doesn’t generate enough high skilled employment. The problem seems to be that of a proportion of the population trying to sustain the social and economic constructs that they became used to during the Tiger, while the country actually needs to find a new, lower level of balance, that reflects… Read more »
+1 “… fantasyland” is right, it only exists on mainstream media. Fantasy News. Here’s an example. Tonight on RTE Six News the main feature was the ‘Skills Shortage in ICT’, how 50% of the jobs go to foreign professionals, how difficult it is to find suitable candidates, there are thousands upon thousands of vacancies (I forget the number actually, but it’s a big number), and unless the problem’s not fixed the Irish ICT sector could wither on the vine. The news piece implied the solution is to ramp up the number of Irish ICT graduates. The tone of it was… Read more »
I was 7 years when I learned the fickleness of the crowd and so subsequently was not inclined to folveryone getting on the bus together all agog over the lastest supposed adonis or hero. low the herd to the next great event. Rather I observed the foolishness of e I could appreciate the music, the skill and beauty of art, or the skill and conditioning of the athlete or the grace and beauty of a race horse, the power and finesse of a show jumper, but I have also understood the stupidity of the crowd and determined not to follow.… Read more »
sorry, I did not notice the computer had scrambled the sentences.Reconstruct>>>
was not inclined to follow the herd to the next great event. Rather I observed the foolishness of everyone getting on the bus together all agog over the lastest supposed adonis or hero.
David says: ‘ Don’t Stop The Music’.
Garth says:
“As hard as I try, I cannot see the light on this one,” he said. “ So it is with a broken heart, I announce the ticket refunds for the event will go as posted by Ticketmaster.”
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Our so called Politicians have failed us without a Leader that can give us hope and without a party following that will Listen .
Entrapment might best sum the feelings of the electorate with No Hope and No Music .
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My wife and I went to see the street performers at Merrion square over the weekend and we really enjoyed it. What was noticeable was that there are just a handful of acts comparing to a couple of years ago. Parking in town was very easy and the city seems to be abandoned. The Merrion square Art that I usually enjoy is downsized to a skeleton group of hard core artists. There is no waiting list anymore to exhibit at the park an artist told me. It was only a couple of years ago when the area was full of… Read more »
I met Randy Rhodes on the night of the infamous Ozzy biting the head off the bat in Des Moines when I was 18. I met the Ramones and AC DC in 1979 at an autograph signing, these were life changing events for a young teenage boy. I met Steve Martin when I was 14 in Des Moines too! Sounds like a porkie, but its true. Unlike David, I was the genuine article and went on to record records and play live gigs for years. It didn’t make me a star because I didn’t have the mega talent some stars… Read more »
The layout of the comments is extremely frustrating.
I am siding with the residents on the issue of planning permission and consultation. However, there are issues that stick out like a sore thumb. Why didn’t Aitken have a plan b, considering that plan A was farcical, and did not have approval of the authorities ? How come no other venue offered itself for the concerts ? Slane in County Meath would have easily handled the events, even over a week – I recollect several U2 concerts being held in Slane a few years back, and no issues arose. The locals in Slane were involved and committed to the… Read more »
We either have planning codes, or we don’t. And in this instance, the planning codes held (even if Owen Keegan’s interpretation should have been stricter).
Failure to find another venue was the real problem.
Aitken should have appealed to the people of Slane, to Henry Moutcharles, and to Meath county Council for a venue, when the controversy first erupted.
But instead he bulled onward trying to force Dublin city council to violate the planning codes.
David,
Would it possible for you to mediate between Aitken, Brooks, Henry Mountcharles, and Slane ?
What is killing Ireland in respect of the concerts and other ventures that don’t happen, is a lack of flexibility. Alright, it will not happen in Croker. Fine, what else have we got that can do the job ? Lateral thinking was absent. Aitken was trying the same procedure, and expecting a different result. Because Aitken was intellectually lazy. Even more alarming, the GAA never produced alternatives. The Department of Sport (a junket outfit if ever there was one) sat on it’s hands. Where is the mental agility to produce other options ? Does it have to be Croker, just… Read more »
There is a reason why there are so many festivals and concerts. This is because it is the only way to generate revenue other than starting your own label or clothing range. The Pixies admitted, that they dont get along and are not fond of festivals. But they need the income. They no longer make enough money from music sales to live comfortably. Its a business and the majority of these festivals are rubbish. I did however have a good laugh when these people came out in the press screaming about “Oirlands reputation abroad”. Its just too funny. I do… Read more »
Being forced to listen to Garth Brooks five nights in a row has to qualify as some sort of torture. So unless the residents deserve that sort of guantanamo bay experience, I for one am glad that we tell the world that Ireland is too sophisticated to let that talentless ‘auld crooner in here.
Again David, a very clever title …but this time,i was sure it was an article on Obama….wrong again ;( It’s easy to call bullsh*t and by all means do,but I say Obama has lost his swagger in recent days,even his facial expressions are telling..stress fractures are beginning to show? ok i’m biased,but I see strain,but a stone cold killer maverick like him in a “i got nothing to loose as i can’t run again” kinda mindset, makes me worry. What might that crazy MoFo do next ?! What are his orders? Most Americans hate him and the US polls reflect… Read more »
Hey i didn’t mean to cause a big scene just wait ’til i finish this glass,then i will post this last link and you can kiss my ass ;)
My favourite Garrrth ( “yeahhh,that’s what they call me back home”) song
is going out over the airwaves for you Fat Tony for your earlier blasphemy !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ouBbJBxCrw
;)
Won’t be a huge issue in a few years once Pairc Ui Chaoimh is re-developed. Specifically a Sports and Concert Venue. It seem the GAA is positioning itself to take a slice of the pie…but it will be Cork that benefits…
David…. we know where ya live :D
