DRAKES is actually 6 YEARS OLD.......

[nullmouse]

Originally posted by Dan Atom:

Drakes is 6 years old... thats nothing - I'm 21 (and 2 and a bit months).

But have you had as many people perform inside you?

[Arricc]

My most memorable gig at Dr Drakes in the Castlegate was some american band I can't remember the name of.

I do remember the lead singer swinging about a double bass and they finished with a cover of Hound Dog I think it was where he dropped his trousers and had his keys hanging from his prince albert.

Bizarre.

[Dizzy Storm]

yes, that was the Dagmars!! i DEFINATELY have pictures of that night....wasn't a nice sight really!

[Guest AX FAE TX]

THE DEADPETS - DECEMBER LAST YEAR.

THERE WAS ONLY ABOUT 40-50 PEOPLE THERE -BUT THE STILL SPEAK VERY HIGHLY OF IT- WE RECORDED IT ON VIDEO.

AND OUT OF THEIR 51 DATE TOUR OF BRITIAN -DR.DRAKES AND THE ABERDEEN AFTERSHOW PARTY ALWAYS COMES IN THEIR TOP 3 GIGS.

NOT BAD AT ALL - WELL DONE DR.DRAKE.

[chris h]

I actually played at one of the first gigs at the old Drakes. I was still in school so it must've been late '97 or early '98. My mates Justin and Scott (now Risactonia) were supposed to be playing in a band called Dreadwater, so I went along to watch, but the singer and bassist from that band didn't show up (they subsequently split up because apparently justin had been rude to the singer's wife...)

So there they are at soundcheck, with no band. Rather than let the fledgling venue down, the bastards drafted me in on bass and we ran through an impromptu set of unrehearsed Sabbath, Type O Negative and Metallica covers along with a few Dreadwater tunes I'd never even heard. Deary me :O

I have lots of fond memories of the old venue after that though, it was great. Didn't you used to get pizza in Drakes back then?

Took me a while to adjust to the new venue, but it's definitely grown on me now - a lot more headroom on stage for us lanky types!

Anyway, well done to Aberdeen's best venue on reaching another birthday - here's to many more

[lepeep]

my most memorable thing in the old drakes was maple playing "smells like shite (teen spirit)" and everyone came onstage and was singing along (well, sort of)...dave dixon pops his head in and near shits himself at the sheer awfullness of the site...

he he.

My best drakes (new place0 memory was the DJ set that Simon Mothboy and Sinky produced, watching the nice bar tender with the lovely undercut come up and say "stop playing that fucking shite as loud as you are" (dj Hell and Alec Empire), but he was quite happy when Black Sabbath came on full blast...

ho ho..

great places.

[j.turgenev]

my first gig was peeps into fairyland, oct 1999.

a night of alt country, i had an illegal pint, but no one minded.

best memory was dave dixon speaking aloud the words to 'fake fake eyes' by trail of dead in summer 2001, with the deer hunter soundtrack playing on stage, to us and the bar staff, spontaneously.

[The Ghost Of Fudge]

Originally posted by Ben Quik:

i remember an all day affair at the old one...it was at xmas a few years ago and the Aubl put it on!!

I was djing for half the time and the fudge guys were the other half....

I ended up doing 8 hour and teh fudge guys 1 hour!!!!

8 fucking hours!!!

i remember that! sort of. we haven't changed...

[badger]

I remember playing in Drakes on the castlegate (1998 I think), with Arnica, and it was far too busy!!! People were queued onto the street trying to get in. Mind you Jim Gellatly took up a lot of room One of the best gigs I played. I think Martin had just left as manager and Jimi (from CLS)(who also played in the band), took over for a while.

[Project S.A.M.]

My god, I have far too many old Drakes memories to distill. I remember someone once commenting that it was like Aberdeen's version of Cheers, and I think that's exactly right (except with music). It was my premier drinking haunt from when I was 16 in 1998 till it moved. It was the sort of place that you could just wander into by yourself and end up either seeing someone you knew or talking to someone new or just be a barfly and chat to the barstaff. Of course they eventually learned how old I was and became understandably reluctant to supply me with beer, but that just made the first legal pint taste all the better. A major feature for me were the infamous "Drakes characters". Anyone who worked there will know what I'm talking about. There were some greats that you just don't get in the new place: Gay John, Duckman, Mental Derek, Garth, the list goes on. Anyone remember these types?

[Afro Droid]

Monty? MONNNNNNNNNNNNNNTYYYY!

[Project S.A.M.]

Originally posted by Jonny Lucifer:

Monty? MONNNNNNNNNNNNNNTYYYY!

How could I forget Monty. YOU CUUUUUNNTT!!! FIND ME A FUCKIN GEEZER BIRD YOU DIVVY COW! WOT YOU FUCKIN DRINKIN YOU CUNT?! RIGHT NOW! laughter etc.

I liked his homophobia, and the way it squared with the shemale porn he had stored under his mattress "just for a laugh". And his obsession with crack whores. And when he would come down to drakes wearing only a shirt and boxer shorts, after drinking lots of vodka and having snorted lots of cocaine. And then make unreasonable demands.

[Comptroller]

Many a great night was spent in old Drakes. Proto-Psycho a Go-Go band 'Familiar' played there many a time (as did real Psycho a Go-Go), usually with Killswitch, or so it seems.

There used to be a pirate motif in Drakes, what happened to that? And the decor changed depending on the night, there'd be sheets strung across the stage for DJs to hide behind and tablecloths & candles on jazz nights.

Old Drakes had more 'characters' too (that is, tramps). Duck Man was the best tramp. And it felt more like a pub, that is it opened earlier and didn't charge for entry (usually).

I enjoyed Kris / Johnny knocking a table over & biting a candle in half on one of his birthdays. And I also celebrated three New Years in Drakes, one of which I made a fool of myself at.

Hooray for Drakes, and its fabulous staff!

[Rob Karloff]

Don't forget Derek Ross. He's probably singing as a backing singer for Dianna Ross now (what with his multi-multi octave voice, and all...), either that or the Dangerfields kidnapped him and keep him in the Dangercar. Who remembers the old Dangerfields frontman Cormak and his antics. I remember him lying on his back on the bar singing "Wasted Again".... Classic.

[Hardcore Mel]

all the TAR gigs and wandering into Drakes when one of my friends from LA was over only to witness Deadloss in drag. Brian's lovely leopard print dress was a highlight.

[framheim]

i remember that tar gig when al nero demanded a waltz for the duration of their set then they finally gave in. an eric euan gig where campbell stripped(no surprise there mind). hookers green destroying the kit and small enclosed area looking on in shock as they had to go on after them and try and use the kit. and many many fine cocktails mixed by the evil genius of dave dixon.

[dancey macclogs]

dave dixon read 'fake fake eyes' to the theme song from raging bull actually, not the deer hunter soundtrack.

thats on tape, one day to be watched again.

also on that tape, a video of dave dixon demonstrating one of the illegal practices that kept the old drakes clock ticking.

i remember the small enclosed area gig but it didnt beat the one where the owner of the old drakes was watching the smashing of equipment on stage and neil wrote him a letter of apology afterwards. thats how rock it was and still is.

of course, you could always go to rival bar 'bakes' and get served by the masterful ray vixen. perhaps you could see aberdonian counterparts 'pint of orange' or 'losing weight' play some snuffcore hits while you drooled over your complimentary picture of james galdofini strangling 'ralphy' from the last series of the sopranos.

perhaps a pint of blood afterwards while you wept into the cross around your neck and kissed the soveriegn ring on your finger. the rusty chalice of love, thats what the old drakes was.

BEAUTY! TRUTH! WISDOM! KNOWLEDGE! HONOUR!

6 years of it.

[Spoonie]

The dates we've played in the old drakes seem to have been as follows:

10 Feb 2001: Double Header with Black Atom

31 March 2001: Another Double header with Black Atom!

8 September 2001: FeSTR with Aether of Glasgow

29 December 2001: AUBLooza

but we also did gigs with liber8 and all sorts. there was a while in about 2001 where every single weekend it seemed like FeSTR, black atom, liber8, quik or risactonia were playing. you could go in on a saturday night and guarantee that you'd see one of those bands. the intimacy of the old vennue was awesome. it would be packed full of your friends and there was never any trouble there. those last couple of years at school were the best fun ever.

i also played an all day aubl event for black atom when erskine was away. i remember heading up to aberdeen one night for a a meeting there with big bad and the officer brothers and a few others when we were trying to get that all day beach ballroom event going, that would have been the greatest all dayer ever. maple were headlining and we were second last on. it was all gonna be so sexy, but it just never got off the ground. a real shame too!

the old drakes was an amazing place. i spent some fantastic times there. at one of the gigs we did with he atom they organised these fire eaters to do their thing outside the door to encourage people to come in. it was just a great feeling of community when you were at a gig.

fuckin ace!

spoons

X

[Hog]

Actually, the AUBL alldayer was surreal because the next band were reluctant to go on stage after Ruptured Spleen. It turned out that Steve Spleen had once punched the singer of the next band at a Napalm Death gig! Personally I think hes a gentleman!

[RicoAUBL]

that was interlace (aka turning 13)

my 1st ever gig wasnt at drakes

but probably my 2nd one was

i have many fond memories from the all-day gigs we did down there

AUBLooza December 29th 2001

if i can remember...

- Liber8

- Black Atom

- FeSTR

- de barros

- psycho a go-go (acoustic)

- Hot Mangu

- 48k

- Metal Militia

something like that

im sure there was more tho...?

competition time!

we did the last ever gig at the old drakes

which was pretty cool

but who was the last band to play there?

hmm...

can anyone remember?

[Danny Doubt]

Oh...i remember playing the ol' drakes with my brothers in our band 'Oneway' as we were called back then, ah those days we played a gig wiv pysho-a-go-go an i remember that filthy bastard of a singer gobbing on the roof...ah those days!

Peace,

Danny.

[Afro Droid]

I'm sure it probably flobbed back down onto me head....

[Arricc]

Originally posted by DR DRAKE:

yes, that was the Dagmars!! i DEFINATELY have pictures of that night....wasn't a nice sight really!

They should be sealed in concrete and dropped into the harbour!

Run! Now! Quick!

[Guest Bob]

I rember seeing Sirius for the first time at Drakes. I'd never seen a local band smash their guitars and the drum kit before. When Kai's guitar flew through the bass skin I knew that it was gonna be a slightly unusual performance. The toms were as flat as a feckin pancake by the time they'd finished. Terry spat on Ryan's girlfriend half way through the set. It certainly made an impression.

Quik's current line-up played their first gig at the old Drakes did they not?

[Dizzy Storm]

Originally posted by Danny Doubt:

Oh...i remember playing the ol' drakes with my brothers in our band 'Oneway' as we were called back then, ah those days we played a gig wiv pysho-a-go-go an i remember that filthy bastard of a singer gobbing on the roof...ah those days!

Peace,

Danny.

was that the same gig that you ripped your silver pvc trousers right down the arse chris?!