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[Captain America]

I dont understand how bassment is always mint when I go in there. Good atmosphere, toilets are aright and they do great cocktails (fuck off, you're gay). But then you go to Moshulu and it is an absolute shit-tip, they are related aren't they?

[paul-shand]

i liked the caged nights they used to do, if they did that again it would be awesome!

they seldom play good music nowadays, when i ask for something the dj says its not suitable, i expect better from the main rock/alternative club in aberdeen, its not like I'm asking for some obscure underground death metal that not alot of people heard of. one i remember was message in a bottle by machine head, he sed no because it was a 90's night or something

[Dave]

Originally Posted by paul-shand

i liked the caged nights they used to do, if they did that again it would be awesome!

they seldom play good music nowadays, when i ask for something the dj says its not suitable, i expect better from the main rock/alternative club in aberdeen, its not like I'm asking for some obscure underground death metal that not alot of people heard of. one i remember was message in a bottle by machine head, he sed no because it was a 90's night or something

I understand where you're coming from, but Moshulu have made many efforts over the years to cater to the metal/hardcore "scene", and the nights have, without exception, been poorly attended and not worth maintaining. The Wednesday night is the 90's night, where the DJ ( I believe it's Christy Prais) has carte blanche to play anything from Rage Against The Machine to Kylie Minogue. The Friday, despite its detractors, is still the premier metal/alternative night in Aberdeen, and still attracts a great deal of people in Aberdeen who are interested in that kind of thing. Saturdays are the "indie" night, which has, by all accounts been a huge success, but has drawn scorn from the diehards of the old "Air Guitar" night.

It's important to understand that being an "alternative" venue does not necessarily entail catering solely to one particular group of individuals. This is something Moshulu has been guilty of in recent years, and that the people who came in initially when the Barfly took over sought to rectify, with partial success. At the start of termtime in September they pushed a new metal/alternative night on Mondays and a monthly metal/hardcore night on Thursdays, but they never got off the ground. I can't say for sure whether this was down to poor promotion, excessive competition or simply the quality of entertainment on the given nights, but you can't accuse Moshulu of lack of effort in this sphere.

From my own personal experience, putting on an "alternative" night in Aberdeen is like herding cats. It's impossible to keep everyone happy, and you have to step on a few toes in order to get the right balance and maintain continuity. Having a DJ who knows when to say "no" is important, but it's equally important that that DJ has a mind of his own and has ideas that will take the night forward and satisfy an expectant audience. I believe Moshulu has the right guys in place at the moment to do so, but if they're going to succeed they need to be bolder and stand up to the people who want to push them into a musical corner. Only then will Moshulu dig itself out of its hole and bring about a new generation of aficionados.

[Rass]

Just to reply to a couple to things said....

Originally Posted by Captain America

I dont understand how bassment is always mint when I go in there. Good atmosphere, toilets are aright and they do great cocktails (fuck off, you're gay). But then you go to Moshulu and it is an absolute shit-tip, they are related aren't they?

Without offending the hard-working and long-suffering moshulu staff... That matter is really all down to staffing.

The bassment is open every day, and at far more sociable hours than the club. unlike moshulu we actually have such a thing as full time staff. And atleast until Barfly took over, we had a very commited bunch of full timers. When the place is dead cleaning will be done, and with Sun-Tues being pretty quiet, theres plenty of scope to get the clean on. Unlike the shulu, which is only open 3 nights a week (unless there's a gig), the staff come in, stock and set up the bar, get an arse-raping, clean up and go home. Because of the nature of the club there's really not much scope for maintaining any level of cleanliness outside of the bare day-to-day minimum. Especially now with the 'powers that be' reducing staffing levels to bare bones to save money.

Originally Posted by stuartmaxwell

i remember the palace being loved for being a dump. being as dump was one of the things that gave it "character" apparently, and I remember people always trying to benchmark moshulu vs the palace.

funny, i was thinking this too, i dont really get it.

The palace was (in all honesty) a fucking hole, and it is remembered fondly by all (myself included) moshulu is a hole, and people stop going and bitch about it non-stop.

I'm hardly arsed, but i dot follow. I'm sure in 5 years there will be a thread celebrating the state moshulu is currently in and there will be lots of fond memories to be shared

Originally Posted by Dave

At the start of termtime in September they pushed a new metal/alternative night on Mondays and a monthly metal/hardcore night on Thursdays, but they never got off the ground. I can't say for sure whether this was down to poor promotion, excessive competition or simply the quality of entertainment on the given nights, but you can't accuse Moshulu of lack of effort in this sphere.

First off, great post. Nail. On. Head.

Also, the Punk/Hardcore night on mondays never kicked off mainly due to mondays being a fairly diluted night already across the city in terms of clubnights. Also, without offending anyone, the bar didnt really do to well with a room mostly consisting of straight-edge punters.

The Thursday Metal night started off very promising but as is too often the case with moshulu, everyone moans about there not being 'A Metal Night' but no-one turns up when you do one. The first night was very encouraging but a few weeks in the attendance had dwindled to the point which the promoter at the time had no option but to cancel.

In situations like these you have to remember, the 'powers that be' down the road just see a bunch of figures, and in these two instances which weren't very encouraging, they start asking questions. Alas, it is after all 'a business'.

Originally Posted by Stuart

The fucking guns are lucky they haven't been launched against any walls yet.

Hahah, i did this the other day, i strongly recommend it. Gave a great deal of pleasure it did.

[Lucky Rathen]

I like the new indie nights, but although the music has improved enormously from the shit old hair metal nights, it's still so dark and dingy in the main room it's almost depressing.

[daveofficer]

we had a great time on saturday by the way. the place was still stinking but everyone was super nice and we felt looked after. tunes were good too

[Ross]

djs never play what people want to hear. At times it can be a truely thankless job. With regards to the building and all in general it's always been a difficult one although the running costs are now dramatically reduced thus meaning that there is more revenue to spend on a full overhaul. I expect it would happen in the summer when the place is quiet (July post T in the Park)

[Steven Milne]

i think rass's post summed up the issue pretty well.

the staff here has done their share of cleaning and mopping and fixing and working etc and witihin two events / one week of clubnights its back to square one.

ive not done half as much as rass and stuart but ive done enough cleaning and attempting to sort things to know that its pretty much in vain.


firstly, we have had issues with the cleaners (you dont say i hear you jest) and what they are meant to do in the club and how often. i believe now resolved.

secondly, there is a refurb happening very soon. new everything i believe and the guys who are in charge know their stuff. their previously responsible for the revamping of the academy venues and they did the 2000 capacity london forum in 5 weeks and apparently its amazing. supposdly moshulu will take less than a week. which would be ace.

i think i would maybe go on holiday , then come back - like magic.


seriously tho,the powers that be have seen the threads here - nouvelle vague, this one and others - they are in the know of the situation. and the staff as rass said are pretty much committed to doing their best.

its just a very tired and dingy old building.

new lights are on their way also (we got new ones for the gigs which are fucking amazing but we dont want to burn them out so weve not been using them for the clubnights).
this will help.

after all , i see it as this.
there are a lot of negatives - the smell, general cleanliness , carpet and subsequent atmosphere
but these will be addressed shortly and then you can combine them with the positives

fucking amazing place to play as a band, good sound, onstage sound is also great, there are some great bands booked and a few massive shows on the horizon and the clubnights will have a better atmosphere too after a refurb.

as for saturday nights, i think they are going well.
for anyone who hasnt been down before that playlist posted earlier is probably a fairly good idea of what gets played but ill try and post a more recent one.

its not an indie night and its not an electro night and its not a rock night and its not dance night.

its a mix of a few .
on saturday over the course of the night i think i played heaps of different stuff ...

justice
jonothan richman
paul simon
dj shadow
queens of the stone age
dire straits
le tigre
beastie boys
daft punk
the rapture
the specials
soulwax
foals
the who
frightened rabbit
the sonics
radiohead

to name a few but just to say - its not really a straight anything night and im trying to mix it up to keep as many people as possible happy

i did buy air guitar vol 3 in case anyone asked for it! cost me £12! ha
played it once

and im sorry to anyone whos into heavier music but thats not what the night is and it hasnt been branded to that so anyone who comes in and asks for metal has no real right to be pissed off when the heaviest thing i have is the stooges or rage.

and i try not to play rage coz its been played in that club around seven million times id guess and people must be bored of killing in the name of?

played the mr oizo version once - i think i almost got gangraped by some very angry goths

[WoodyRATM]

I'd settle for know your enemy

but yeah i see what you're saying. I still end up there most weekends (backrooms decent on a saturday imo) since i really dont like exo.

[Larsen B]

I think RATM have no place in a clubnight anyway. They are not very danceable and the "dancing" they do encourage is generally a group of neanderthals bashing into their mates and other people, which is just bad manners.