Moshulu - Where does everyone go? - terrible music!

[Jeanette]

I don't see what bitching about the music without even mentioning any of the songs played does to help anyone really.

I like the new indie nights! Hated the Air Guitar night... and whatever the other random night was. Personally not for my enjoyment! I'm more comfortable with some good old indie. Be it electro or guitary!

It could be a really good club with a lick of paint and some new carpet!!

Someone sort it out... quickly!

[Jeanette]

Having spent quite alot of time in Moshulu over the past 3 n a half years i feel kinda compelled to wade in on this one...

You weren't ranting. Merely explaining a few things!!

Although, I still think the new tills are a silly idea!

And I never understand why people make such a mess in the toilets! And no offence to the guys, but I don't expect it from girls... I'm sure it's prob worse in there sometimes.

p.s. I hadn't read your post before posting the comment above!

[stuartmaxwell]

tis funny

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.

All of these complaints sounds like a generation has departed and a new one has come in and the old regime dont like it.

clubs will never be "as good as it used to be" because people are always getting older and life moves on in their wake, tastes change, people come and go. I dont know many alternative clubnights in aberdeen that are full of 26+ year old people every week

[geo1903]

One thing I'd do is to make tickets available for future gigs when the place is open for a gig. When people are filling in time I know I always look at the posters and the gig list and discuss `whats next` if I'm in company. I wonder how many impulse sales are lost when you're told `oh, you can buy tickets at One-Up`, which is handy if you live or work in town I suppose.

Just a thought.

[Stuart]

Lots of words.

Theres no real reason for the rant, but the place never has anyone stand up and say exactly what's going on, and i'm bored of reading about the carpet being sticky, yes it's appauling, and if it were just a case of twiching our nose and conjouring a new flooring out of thin air i assure you we would of done it ages ago. I just like everyone else cannot wait to have a cerimonial burning of the current carpet.

Some more words.

Before I read this post I was going to do a 'rant' as such also, but you've pretty much covered it.

The place is an utter dive. I do my best to keep it as alright as possible when we're open, but it just doesn't happen. Exactly what Rass said, polishing a turd. All the cleanliness problems that the staff can deal with, we do. And it does nothing. I spent 6 hours with the carpet cleaner (we named her Trudy) on the small area outside toilets/cloakroom, and to me it looked and felt amazing. But looking at it last night it's just got as bad as it was.

I was saying this to people last night actually, the place looks like shit so it gets treated like shit. And it's totally understandable. It doesn't help, but I don't expect any more.

But it would appear that a refurb is actually going ahead. Quite soon, if Barfly stick to their word. I'll personally beleive it when I see the builders knocking on the door. Rass probably knows more than I do to be honest, but I know for a fact the flooring and the toilets are the main priorities. I've heard whispers of them fixing some electrics and plumbing issues too (you take your life into your hands changing some of the lightbulbs).

The place is a good size, well laid out in my opinion, and could be an awesome venue/nightclub. Actually, I'm going to remain optimistic (it's hard to do in that building) and say it WILL be awesome.

We opened a bit late last night due to a gig, and instead of waiting in the bassment, there was a queue of 60 people in the snow waiting for the doors to open. So the place must still have some appeal. Hopefully after the refit, and maybe a jiggle about with the some of the clubnights, it'll be a great place to go again.

Oh, and the tills are the biggest pain in the hoop, but they weren't our call. I'd do anything to have the buttons back, I really would. The fucking guns are lucky they haven't been launched against any walls yet. They are far more beneficial for management/head office and stock taker types. All we wanted were new till drawers...

Oh, the above are views are in no way the views of Barfly. Just me. And Rass. And every other member of staff. But not Barfly.

[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? o_O

[fatboy]

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

[Rass]

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

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? o_O

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.

i remember the palace being loved for being a dump. being as dump was one of the things that gave it "character" apparently' date=' and I remember people always trying to benchmark moshulu vs the palace.[/quote']

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

At the start of termtime in September they pushed a new metal/alternative night on Mondays and a monthly metal/hardcore night on Thursdays' date=' 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.[/quote']

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'.

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.

[Lemonade]

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.

[framheim]

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.

[Chris]

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.

o_O

As far as heavy bands go they're a lot more danceable than most. I spent years in the Palace and Moshulu dancing away to them without resorting to bashing into my mates.

[Gemz]

Moshulu is the only place i have been into where i have had to wipe my feet on the way out hehe...

I have had many a great night out there although I havent been in since The Subways played there a couple of years ago...all i have experienced is a good atmosphere an good music. Im normally to smashed to care about the smell or stickin to the carpets...

Think i might head down for one of Stevens nights...only if he plays a bit of Rage though

Weeeeeeee

8-)

[Lemonade]

o_O

As far as heavy bands go they're a lot more danceable than most. I spent years in the Palace and Moshulu dancing away to them without resorting to bashing into my mates.

Pfft, I've seen you dancing, perhaps you should have just resorted to bashing into your mates

[Chris]

Pfft, I've seen you dancing, perhaps you should have just resorted to bashing into your mates

Bastard.

[TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH]

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.

Can't say I agree with this at all - I've seen plenty of folk unleashing many fly moves along to Killing in the Name.

[The Sloth]

Im normally to smashed to care about the smell or stickin to the carpets...

Me too. Everyone needs to get more smashed and stop caring about the carpet...

[french_disko]

Me too. Everyone needs to get more smashed and stop caring about the carpet...

oh, you ker-azy kids and your drinking exploits!

[Gemz]

Not as Ker-azy as you French Disko...

'azzzzzzzzz people stop bringing up old posts or DIE DIE DIE'

8-)

[HairyScaryMark]

I think it's being going downhill as a nightclub pretty much since I started going there in 2005 but the process has speeded up since Barfly bought it over.

The carpets aren't nice but I don't care about them that much. Same with the toilets.

The music would benefit from more variety. The standard thing on Friday since I started to go was to play Rock Club Clliche's virtually every single week i.e Killing in The Name by Rage Against the Machine, Down by Pantera and Enter Sandman by Metallica.

Then about half of the other songs are usaully emo songs. I assume the reasoning for this says emo is what is popular with young people at the moment. They must remember however that a large proportion of emo fans are under the age of 18 and therefore not able to go to the clubnight and there is also a significant trend to not drink any alchohol.

Also tends to be a fair bit of the mainstream American Heavy Rock/Metal stuff like Trivium and Machine Head and then some of the 'alternative electro' or whatever it is called like Penjalum and Nine Inch Nails.

I don't have a problem with them playing any of these types of music but they need to cater for all varieties of rock fans.

They are only going to suceed as a rock club if they cater metalheads, goths, punk, glam, thrash. grunge and people who just don't like the other clubs. They appear to have gone out of their way to appeal to what they think is popular with young people and at the same time the attendence has declined.

Not playing requested things when they really aren't that radical is not going to please your customers. I know people who have requested stuff like In flames, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Dragonforce i.e popular metal bands and it practically never gets played.

Also the prices of drinks has risen big time recently. 2.65 for a pink of Grolsch and 3.80 for a Kopperburg?

Makes it much more of a concideration to actually bother going to moshulu. Paying 4 to get in and then drinks are more expensive than most places I might otherwise go.

As with the during the week metal nights? As far as I know there was only a handful of these on Thusday last year and most of us have work, university or college on Friday morning so not able to go. They could have been better publicised also. I believe a similar style of monthly event is suceeding nicely in Glasgow at the Soundhouse. I have seen many posters, flyers etc. for it the last few times i've been in Glasgow whereas with the Thursday Metal night at Moshulu I got given a flyer one night and most of my friends didn't know about it.

One really positive thing Barfly has done is get back to booking some good touring bands and they also upgraded the in-house PA system to a turbosound one, which is about as good as it gets really.

The end result of Moshulu and rock places in Aberdeen generally vanishing is metalheads just stay at home playing world of warcraft rather than going out.

[Old Gold]

The end result of Moshulu and rock places in Aberdeen generally vanishing is metalheads just stay at home playing world of warcraft rather than going out.

Thus the extinction of this classic breed.

[french_disko]

Not as Ker-azy as you French Disko...

'azzzzzzzzz people stop bringing up old posts or DIE DIE DIE'

8-)

that's not ker-azy, that's just being a grumpy bastard.

Sticking the moshulu carpet also makes me grumpy - it's a level of drinking that's only slightly up from necking cider in the park with tramps on a Tuesday lunch time in my opinion.