Rag Week '09

ULEnts · 24-03-2009 11:15am

Hi all,
Just been watch ing the last few contributions to the thread and have a few comments to make

1. International Acts/Programme

There is a limited supply of headline Irish bands out there and that makes life difficult in terms of keeping a programme fresh. All Irish colleges who run bigger Ents programmes have the same problem.

Some of the same people who give out about seeing the Blizzards too often suggest the Saw Docotors as a possible alternative. The blizzards have been here on average once a year since we first booked them four years ago,they've been here once in the last 12 months the saw doctors have been here twice in the last 12 months. Re booking is something that goes on we try to space out the dates and work with a limited supply of acts.

The suggestion has been made to book International acts. That is difficult for two reasons. The Dublin promoters "they who cannot be named" and Aiken control the supply of acts in the country they want to them to play in their venues in Dublin. They tie them into exclusivity contracts so that they only play their venues or if they are playing other venues it will be at a highly inflated price set by the Dublin promoter( someone should call the competition authority) This basically means that most international acts are out of the reach of Irish colleges and the ones they get tend to be way past their sell by date or just a mid level band that never made it in the first place.

So between budget an ticket selling potential most of them are a no goer.This is something we are trying to overcome by developing a bigger gig site on campus and it is in the pipeline, we were looking at doing something for the Summer Ball, but the financial risk associated with a major outoor event could not be justified in the current financial climate

2. Events ending at 10.30
All our outdoor evts have to end at 10.30 to comply with licensing laws, noise pollution etc. On Monday Night we have DJ Sash & Rubber Bandits in Trinity Rooms tickets are €10. On Tuesday night if you have your Hells Bells tribute you are free into Trinity Rooms. On Wednesday night if you have your Wolfe Tones Ticket you are free into Trinity Rooms for Japanese Pop Stars. On Thursday night we have left it up to people to do their own thing although we have organised a night with a late bar in the Cuckoo Box in town but that much more small scale than the other nights.

3.Variety
two of the night this year feature acts who have never appeared here before. Hells Bells on the Tuesday and Derek Warfield & the Wolfe Tones on the Wednesday. The Monday is a combination of two of the most popular acts from previous years rolled into one night. The Thursday is being headlined by the Blizzards, yes they have been here before, but the support on the night is coming from Dublin bands Dirty Epics and Baby Jenx neither of whom have been here before and from local bands Walter Mitty and Vesta Varro who are both great live acts, throw in Arveens ahnd the headphone disco and thats a whole pile of variety in one night alone. The cheese factor is DJ Sash! the dance act is the Japanese Popstars we were looking at various DJ's but decided to go for the a full live show form the Japs in instead, anyone who knows their dance music will know that these guys are about to go massive in the UK and will be the festival act of the summer. I'm not sure how much more we can do in terms of variety.

4.We try to support emerging Irish talent where possible and UL talent for that matter and we do plenty og gigs with up and coming bands and have plenty of support slots for UL bands.

Last Rag Week we took a punt on lesser known and up and coming Irish acts. FKOS and Messiah J spring to mind.. they were great gigs the two best night of the week in my opinion but they didnt sell as well as they needed too. So we are prepared to take a punt on edgier acts etc but if they dont sell what are we supposed to do book them all over again and make the same mistake again?

5. Finally i want the week to work i want the gigs to sell and more importantly we want people to have a great time. We worked har to put the event together and to make sure that it was publicised early etc so that people knew what was on.

Talking to all the other college including Limerick colleges DIT ,NUIG, UCC all their tickets sold late in the day mainly on the week itself. People generally havn't had as much disposable cash this year and are spending money week to week, so buying Rag Week tickets in advance was not really an option..... i'm looking forward to next week i think the gigs will be great the daytime lineup is much stronger this year i just think the whole week is going to be a cracker. My optimism may be misplaced but what the hell someone has to be positive!!!

PeakOutput · 24-03-2009 3:04pm

ULEnts wrote: »

2. Events ending at 10.30
All our outdoor evts have to end at 10.30 to comply with licensing laws, noise pollution etc. On Monday Night we have DJ Sash & Rubber Bandits in Trinity Rooms tickets are €10. On Tuesday night if you have your Hells Bells tribute you are free into Trinity Rooms. On Wednesday night if you have your Wolfe Tones Ticket you are free into Trinity Rooms for Japanese Pop Stars. On Thursday night we have left it up to people to do their own thing although we have organised a night with a late bar in the Cuckoo Box in town but that much more small scale than the other nights.

thanks for that responce in particular the part quoted its good to see that the bad blood seems to have ended between the college and trooms and in particular i didnt know about the free in to the nights afterwords that is definitely a big plus.

i still think more imagination needs to go into the acts. i dont have time now to explain but i will try and get back online later and do it

ULEnts · 24-03-2009 3:11pm

Ents and trinity rooms have always been on good terms... just a case that sometimes we enter into agreements with other clubs which mean we work with them and not trooms.....

let me know what suggestions you have re acts.... i'll let you know how realistic/possible those ideas are... if there's anything that we think will work we'll go with that...

limericklady87 · 24-03-2009 3:18pm

yep thanks for letting us know that trinners is included with the tues and wed tickets!

didnt know if that was the case or not this yeara again...

1huge1 · 25-03-2009 8:41pm

limericklady87 wrote: »

well theres plenty tickets left for everything as of the other day anyway...that say it all really... and you cant blame the recession! Iv been a diehard xmas daze and rag week fan for the last 3 years and have queued for tickets each time but no one cares this year...i know the ents and the su put in sooo much effort and we cant expect snow patrol as was mentioned but seriously its the same ol ding dong! im a 4th year and id have a fairly large circle of friends who would always have got tickets but not one person has this year...housepartys are going to be everywhere and they will unfortunately get too messy in a lot of instances.

Ya I agree completely, I have no interest in buying any of the tickets and i'm not trying to take away from the work the SU have done but if I see the Blizzards one more time I'll go insane. They are a grand band but come on, enough is enough.

roakey · 26-03-2009 10:52pm

ULEnts wrote: »

2. Events ending at 10.30
All our outdoor events have to end at 10.30 to comply with licensing laws, noise pollution etc. On Monday Night we have DJ Sash & Rubber Bandits in Trinity Rooms tickets are €10. On Tuesday night if you have your Hells Bells tribute you are free into Trinity Rooms. On Wednesday night if you have your Wolfe Tones Ticket you are free into Trinity Rooms for Japanese Pop Stars. On Thursday night we have left it up to people to do their own thing although we have organised a night with a late bar in the Cuckoo Box in town but that much more small scale than the other nights.

just wondering, me a few guys are comin down from NUIG on monday nite, i just want to know is sash ticket only from UL or can we pay at the door.

and what is that about ending at 10.30, what do u mean by that. does sash start early or something.

cheers for your help lads

ULEnts · 26-03-2009 10:56pm

if the tickets do not sell out in advance then there will be some on the door i imagine there will be 200 to 300 on the door. but to be sure you should try to get tickets in advance, if ur around UL monday afternoon drop into the su and pick some up

re 10.30 its just the outdoor courtyard gigs that finish at 10.30pm. stables and javas are open til normal closing time. DJ SASH! plays trinity rooms and they open at 10.30pm Sash on the decks from about midnight....

enjoy the gig!!

limerick_man · 26-03-2009 11:22pm

The Coronas, Bell x1, Duke Special, Director, The Script, Snow Patrol, Mundy, The Divine Comedy, The Frames, Damien Rice, Liza Hannigan, ...

There's not just 2 popular Irish Acts playing the local scene (Saw Doctors, Blizzards), and ok... Snow Patrol and Script would be flukes to land if you where to manage it but why cant any of these other popular acts come?! Franz Ferdinand played Dolans last week, if they can get Frenz Ferdinand why cant UL get anybody?!?!!?

ULEnts · 26-03-2009 11:46pm

just looking at that list of acts there -

we've done gigs with the Frames and Bell x1 in Limerick in the last 6 months but the dates they were available did not fit into the UL Calendar so we had to do the gigs in town and not in UL.

Lisa Hannigan has played UL in september it was her only irish university show.

Mundy is booked to play the Summer Ball on 30th April.

Director were booked for September but were going through some sort of mini crisis and called off their tour, we have an agreement with them that they will play when they decide to tour again.

Duke Special we've looked at but we're not too sure how well he would sell with a UL crowd.

Divine Comedy played UL back in the 99/2000 when they were actually poular and didnt sell well they'd hardly sell well now!!

the coronas we've tried to book on a number of occasions but could nt make a deal with them. we hope to have a date with them for freshers week next year and are in talks with them about that.

The Script and Snow Patrol would not be flukes its just a case of having a suitable venue and putting in the right offer... we dont really have a suitable venue at the moment .... and the infrastructure we would have to put in place for such a gig would mean a 40-50 euro ticket price plus an event outlay of 100,000 to 150,000 euro thats a mighty big risk to be taking for a gig!!!

finally Franz Ferdinand did play dolans ... there were a number of reasons.
1. they were looking to ease their way back into live shows. 2. looking for small venues to do that in 3. dolans is a great venue(something we dont have)

add to that list damien dempsey, republic of loose, messiah j, future kings of spain,paddy casey , declan o rourke, david kitt, ham sandwich, cathy davey, who have al played UL in the last 12 months....

roakey · 27-03-2009 12:02am

ULEnts wrote: »

if the tickets do not sell out in advance then there will be some on the door i imagine there will be 200 to 300 on the door. but to be sure you should try to get tickets in advance, if ur around UL monday afternoon drop into the su and pick some up

re 10.30 its just the outdoor courtyard gigs that finish at 10.30pm. stables and javas are open til normal closing time. DJ SASH! plays trinity rooms and they open at 10.30pm Sash on the decks from about midnight....

enjoy the gig!!

cheers man, if i go in the monday afternoon, will they sell them to me, or should i bring my student id or what

limericklady87 · 27-03-2009 12:06am

Well done on getting mundy guys!...that should be a great night. Pity my exams are starting 5 days after tho...bummer! is the summer ball not usually thursday week 12 instead of wk 13 or am i just getting mixed up?

limerick_man · 27-03-2009 12:10am

Fair enough!

Feyy · 28-03-2009 12:36am

Does the Totti cover absolutely everything on rag week inc. Trooms?

Would be nice to know :pac:

ULEnts · 28-03-2009 2:52am

totti card gets you a wonka ticket....
that covers
monday - stables & trinity rooms
tuesday - stables
wednesday - stables & trinity rooms
Thursday - the rag ball

Feyy · 28-03-2009 2:21pm

Well i got the wristband, is that essentially the same thing? :P

ULEnts · 28-03-2009 3:02pm

thats exactly what it is.... enjoy the week!!

Fast_Mover · 30-03-2009 1:18am

Enjoy the week folks! Be good/be careful!;)

(no broken bones BD!:p)

Oh the joy of work!! However Thursday is payday and Easter holidays/Barcelona on Friday! Can't complain. Suppose to be all mature and responsible now anyway, so ye can have yer RAG wk!!

limericklady87 · 30-03-2009 2:57am

1 down and 4 to go!!!!! v sober as my hosemate smashed my shoulder:(:mad:

was in town...hope its nots true but heard a polish guy was knocked down n died near the lodge:eek::( ?? terrible if its true and hope its not rag related...town was MANIC but guards everywhere..think there hopin to avoid another NUIG fiasco

sceptre · 30-03-2009 3:25am

What happened in Galway?

ULEnts · 30-03-2009 8:25am

not sure what happened up there....
but there were 120 + arrests for public order offenses over the course of the week......
both NUIG and GMIT had their Rag Week on the same week and it all went a little bit out of control......
serious problems in Cork & Sligo too.
hopefully it will be a little calmer down here!!

The Don · 30-03-2009 10:09am

Bloody students :P

KerranJast · 30-03-2009 10:10am

ULEnts wrote: »

hopefully it will be a little calmer down here!!

Not a good start tbh. Effectively a street party broke out in the Cedars last night. A house was trashed (really trashed not just a mess made) and a load of wheelie bins were set on fire. The Gardai were called. Way to go students. :rolleyes:

PeakOutput · 30-03-2009 12:12pm

KerranJast wrote: »

Not a good start tbh. Effectively a street party broke out in the Cedars last night. A house was trashed (really trashed not just a mess made) and a load of wheelie bins were set on fire. The Gardai were called. Way to go students. :rolleyes:

i dont think you understand how bad/good galway rag was this year

the above is a drop in the ocean compared to how galway was this year, i heard a rumour rag week next year is cancelled in galway because of it but that could have been cork as there were some bad goings on there aswell this year

anyway one night down and my house is still liveable roll on the rest of the weeks festivities

dee8839 · 30-03-2009 6:41pm

According to my sister who goes to NUIG, all that happened was that their students union or whatever their equivilent is has withdrawn support from next years Rag Week but thats happened before and it hasn't had any practical effects.

My last ever Rag Week and I decided to be sensible for it. Had a nice first night in Mollys, dancing away, nothing interesting...even got up for my 10am tutorial...and managed to LOSE MY PHONE on the way home from it. Will my poor long suffering parents believe that story? Hmmm... Ugh. What a start to the week. But on the other hand, how funny was the talking goldfish at the hypnotist earlier?!!

Casshern88 · 31-03-2009 9:34am

my self and 3 mates are travelling from galway for 2night and tomoro for limrick rag week , where should we go what should we do , is it as crazy as galway rag week

1huge1 · 31-03-2009 12:25pm

Casshern88 wrote: »

my self and 3 mates are travelling from galway for 2night and tomoro for limrick rag week , where should we go what should we do , is it as crazy as galway rag week

Was only up in galways for one day during rag week, and all I can say is im enjoying UL's more, galway was a good laugh but fairly rough I though (did like roisin dubhs a lot though).

Had a brill night in the lodge last night, maybe you should check it out, but the most important place in my opinion is the university itself, the craic there during the day is class, so much stuff happening.

And here I am having not slept in a day and a half waiting for the courtyard/brookfield bus to come to take me to college for another day of...

ahya · 31-03-2009 5:25pm

just a quick query. I know most of ye are out enjoying rag week.

I see access to the courtyard today is by ticket only. will it be the same tomorrow?
I have booked a timeslot with snap printing tomorrow afternoon to get my FYP printed and bound (its due up on thursday). Will i have trouble getting into snap printing?

sceptre · 31-03-2009 5:44pm

The main courtyard today wasn't ticket only during the day afaik (mind you, I work in the scholars in the evenings and the lads on the gate probably know that so maybe it was that though I doubt it). I think they were just checking bags for unauthorised beer rather than actually checking tickets.

ahya · 31-03-2009 5:52pm

ok thanks for that.

1huge1 · 31-03-2009 8:30pm

ahya wrote: »

just a quick query. I know most of ye are out enjoying rag week.

I see access to the courtyard today is by ticket only. will it be the same tomorrow?
I have booked a timeslot with snap printing tomorrow afternoon to get my FYP printed and bound (its due up on thursday). Will i have trouble getting into snap printing?

They were just checking people's bags for drink etc, as long as you had your ID you were grand

Rag Week '09

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