Apple Market In Eden From; Drogheda Active; 1988 1989
Style; Rock
Vocals;
Guitar; Bobbie Walsh
Bass;
Drums;

When Drogheda was a mecca for live music

Fri 29 Mar 2002 at 00:11

By Rosi Coyle

The Subway

Image supplied by Mick Reid

THERE used to be a bar down a thin flight of stairs leading to what used to be the cellar in the New Central Bar on Peter’s Street.

Anyone who was into music in the early 80’s would remember with fondness that cramped bare stone walled room.

Known for many years as the Subway, it didn’t begin its life as a cool and trendy place to hang out but was a rather mundane middle of the road music bar where George Benson was the order of the day.

After a boring night of what we reckoned was awful music, my friends Marc O’Donnell, Peter McKenna, Martin Reilly and myself argued with the bar’s owner Tom, that we could do a lot better at playing music and filling the bar with people than the DJ Ken could.

Packed Out With Our friends

So Tom challenged us . . . he offered us a night. We packed the place out with our friends and a legend was born. With each of us liking a different type of music and playing our favourites (mine being Joy Division and The Smiths), the eclectic music mix meant that you could hear anything from Divine to the Cocteau Twins most nights. There were speciality nights such as Ian Curtis’ Anniversary, all candles and what not.

Marc got into his Acid House phase for a while and the venue got a fantastic graffiti art transformation from Hodgie and Dougie Carroll circa 1988. The Subway continued to be popular for many years even after the original four promoters had left for England.

New Music Society

Other promoters in Drogheda at the time were the New Music Society (NMS) and Standard Deviations, who were involved in bringing exciting live music to the town to play in either the Boxing Club, The White Horse Hotel which became Walkers Hotel (now The Westcourt) or the infamous Joey Maher’s in George’s Street (now Fusion).

Right; Image supplied by Mick Reid.

The Boxing Club or White Horse Hotel

Image supplied by Ciaron McAleer

Let’s start with the Boxing Club. Unlike the thriving pub scene we have today in Drogheda, in the 80s the town was a mecca of excellent live music venues. Packed most nights with punters waiting to see who would literally bring the roof down, (it had been hanging as if by a thread since someone, in an attempt to get in to the place for free, had fallen through the false ceiling – legend has it during a Bad Manners gig, and had landed on the drummer!!!)

The Mission & Sisters Of Mercy

Some terrific bands had graced its bare interior (well, it really was a Boxing Club). The Mission, Sisters of Mercy, Hothouse Flowers, Baby Snakes, Wilko Johnson (always a kicking performance) and the Hank Wangford Band among many many others.

The Toilets

And who could forget the times in the Boxing Club when there would be a line of sleeping drunks by the stage after one too many pints of the black stuff. The toilets were another unforgettable experience, the gents were almost always smashed up within 10 minutes of the doors opening. Under the stage was a urinal graveyard where the broken ones were put and laid to rest. Local musician Dayo Walsh said the swill of pee in the gents was so bad his creepers used to soak it all up and squelch all night!

Never Fixed

The ladies weren’t much better. The end cubical door got broken one night and was never fixed so you had to take a friend in with you to block the door and ensure privacy!

Knocked Down

The Boxing Club moved venues to The Village Hotel in Bettystown in the late 80s as progress caused it to be knocked down. The site is now the new bridge.

The Dance Factory

The Dance Factory in the Rugby Club in Ballymakenny was another popular venue and an alternative to Fantasy Gardens or Lucianos. The DJ Reido played alternative music and it replaced The Subterranean as the late night venue in Drogheda. The walk home used to be a killer though!

Drogheda at the time had its fair share of local bands. Hitchcock grew out of the Cadillacs and was fronted by Dayo Walsh, who is still going strong today and hasn’t aged a day, bless him.

Exile in the Kingdom, Dorian Mood with the Hoek brothers, and 666 Cydernauts lead by Ken (statue) Smith who played frequently at Carbery’s Garden Parties. I could write a whole article on those parties alone . . .

And does anyone remember Apple Market in Eden winning Best New Band at Mosney? Local legend has it that it was Eugene Flanagan who came up with the excellent name for the band after a song he wrote. Gussy would probably dispute that (like he disputes selling my entire record collection to Rhino Records when he was supposed to be minding them!), but like all legends it lives on in Droghedean folklore.

Coffee Shop

To relieve the hangover there was Callan’s Coffee Shop in Narrow West Street, a popular hangout even with superstars like Bono, before he became ‘the Messiah’.

Phil Lynott

In a Drogheda venue in the early eighties Phil Lynott got a bottle smashed over his head at a gig and Mary Coughlan was booed off stage.

Ireland’s First Laser Show

Do you remember Thee Place at the Rossnaree when it was managed by Vincent McDonald and had the first laser show in Ireland? The floor would be cleared for the length of time it took to display its many facets. Thrilling!!!!

Beach Parties

The Ross was also famous for beach parties where the place would be filled with sand and beachwear was the dress code. I was never at one of those but I believe you had to go through what looked like an airplane to get onto the dance floor like you were coming off a plane on your holidays! Didn’t they have Christmas Parties in June there too?

Johnny Logan & Spider Simpson

And who could forget Johnny Logan and Spider Simpson? Local men forever in the mythology of this great town. What will future generations remember about the 90s and the early 21st Century? Will the back bar in McPhail’s hold the same loving memories as the Boxing Club? The young socialites of today are missing out with the serious lack of live music venues in Drogheda, when seeing a great band, in your favourite venue, and all the thrill and craic this involved was an integral part of growing up.