Settlefish

[Stephen]

Noticed you booked them for May 8th

Deep Elm bands. Never thought id see day of Moorings puttin on an "emo" band

[Flash@TMB]

the path to glory

Might be worth explaining how this change in direction was brought about...

Aside from Family, friends, and small furry creatures that share my living space, the 3 things closest to my heart are music, alcohol, and horsepower.

Back in the dark days of 1995/96 rock 'n roll had all but died off in Aberdeen. The Satelite Bar had become the Wodka Bar and they wouldn't let the likes of me in anymore. In fact there was hardly anywhere in town that would admit someone wearing a leather. That was STRIKE I.

Then at the beginning of 1997 The Tilted Wig stopped selling Addlestones. I found a bar that sold Patron Tequila, it was 5 a shot but worth it to me. Then one day I ordered one, watched them pour it, then tasted... cats piss (cheap shit Tequila the cheating c***s). That was STRIKE II.

In 1998 there were only 2 places you could see bands, The Moorings, and the Malt Mill. There only appeared to be 4 bands in town and they all played (the same) covers. We were also frequenting the Mudd Club upstairs in the Palace, this consisted of about 20 people all sitting on the floor looking miserable. Every week I asked Big Daz to play a particular record for me. Not something that was in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM unreasonable. Every week for 6 months he refused. Well that's not entirely true, what he did, was promise to play it, then not bother. That was STRIKE III. KABOOM!

I told Daz "FUCK YOU - I'm going to open my own bar, and it will cater for people wearing leathers, that like good booze. We'll put on original bands, and every week we're going to have a Rock Night and play 'Rock 'n Roll Singer' by AC/DC*, and you will NOT be asked to DJ, so you'll be sorry mark my words. He just sniggered. Then we never went back, instead we sat at home and saved all our pennies for the next 4 years...

*side note: Daz later went on to host Air Guitar??? Weird huh?

On the 4th of Jan 2002 I was sitting in The Moorings with my friend Alan. We were the only people there. Alan was talking about how he used to frequent the place in the 70s. At that time I was looking around for the ideal premises to open my own alt venue that would put on original bands, sell good booze, and have a DJ that took requests. I shouted over the Helen, "If you ever think about selling this place, give me a shout!"

Helen replied, "Funny you should say that, it's been on the market for over a year."

Alan looked at me, and I looked at Alan, then we both looked at Helen, and said in one voice, "WE'LL TAKE IT!". Of course that was on the condition that Laura was up for it, and prepared to do all the actual work that would be involved. Thankfully she was.

It took another 2 years to find builders that believed we could afford to pay for the necessary modifications. I got so pissed off, that there was almost another STRIKE moment where I was on the verge of setting up my own building firm. During that time we also had to see out a year of covers bands that were already booked to play when we took over the bar. With hindsight we should have just cancelled some of the bookings, but we're just too damn nice. Sometimes.

Now we are all set, and have in my opinion one of the best setups in the country, in terms of layout, service, equipment, sound, capacity, and alcohol. The only problem is that half the promoters in this town are choosing to ignore the fact that we exist (the other half are already involved and I'm happy with those). This is the only thing preventing us from putting on a more eclectic selection of bands, and taking in 'name' touring bands on a weekly basis. Unless that changes soon we shall reach a STRIKE IV situation, and more DIY will be necessary. Watch this space...

[Tav]

That's a mighty fine story.

[psydoll]

I really enjoyed reading it as well - not as much as I enjoyed my first pint of 'stuff' on Tuesday but somewhere close to that

[Ross]

I read the story too although in 1998 the Mudd Club was downstairs in the Palace on a Monday and attracted 800 people every week. Rock night upstairs was on a Saturday.... Unless you mean the rock/metal bit that was upstairs in 98 on a monday which was dj`d by Paul Auty or a spelling along those lines....

[Guest Laura@TMB]

Rock night upstairs was on a Saturday

Yep - that was the one Flash meant. Basically, us old-timers used to call anything that was upstairs in The Fusion/Ritzy/Bonkers/Palace (call it what you will), the Mudd Club, regardless of what day of the week it was on! Nothing, for me, could ever top the rock night days of "downstairs" on a Thursday night tho', but whatever, it was somewhere to get a ned-free late drink with some half decent music.

The rest is a TRUE story...

LOL

L

[Flash@TMB]

Originally posted by Ross:

I read the story too although in 1998 the Mudd Club was downstairs in the Palace on a Monday and attracted 800 people every week. Rock night upstairs was on a Saturday.... Unless you mean the rock/metal bit that was upstairs in 98 on a monday which was dj`d by Paul Auty or a spelling along those lines....

When I first started attending in 1988, there was a Mudd Club on a Monday night downstairs. This was at the height of the Goth Era, and it played Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, etc... I wasn't a goth but I still enjoyed going because it much preferred it to dance. Over the years the music changed but remained on the darkside.

On the Thursday was The Rock Night, this was my favourite night, it played a broad spectrum of all that was rock, the emphasis changing a little over the years through thrash, hair metal, and grunge.

Both these nights ran through until mid 1996 when attendances became quite poor and they stopped them. This was a major bummer.

Then suddenly in 1997 an alternative night started happening upstairs in the Palace on a Saturday Night. Everyone just called this a The Mudd club for some reason. That's the night I was referring to. At that time rock in Aberdeen had essentially died, and this felt like it's funeral. The incident in my story probably took place early 1998. By that time I was working 6x10 hour days, so would have been unaware of anything happening on a Monday.

After that I don't know what went on at the Palace because we were at home saving our pennies.