For the aging among us.. The Rock & Metal nostalgia thread!

ShawnRaven

I figured between the Therapy? and McGonagles threads, there seems to be a good amount of folk here that are too young to be considered old, and too old to be considered young (in the eyes of some).

I hereby grace R&M with the Nostalgia thread. Be it old venues you used to go to, what did you wear to comply with the metal uniform (cheers lord lucan)?, Pre and post gig activities.

Of course, if it's a daft idea, then KH can give it the locky locky boom boom treatment.

For me, the haunts were McGonagles and Charlies, both are now gone sadly. Although we'd used to chance our arm at Bruxelles too when we were under the age limit. Sometimes we'd get in, other times we'd get abuse.

Uniform, Long as your hair could grow, and then shave off the sides and tie the top back. I think i gave my mother a near heart attack when I came home with it done, i kinda got into sh*t for that one. Either tight black jeans, and one of my many Testament shirts or else urban combats or docks!

Yep, my religion teacher loved me :P

So c'mon folks, spill!

boycey

Good idea SR.
A different scene for me altogether coming from good 'ol Letterkenny up in Donegal. No long hair allowed in my school so copious amounts of gel and bryllcream had to be used to tame our mops and keep it 'out of the eyes and off the collar'! I played in a punky/hardcore/metally band with a few good friends so we used to put on our own gigs which inevitably turned into serious mosh/pogo fests! That was from the age of 15 so it was also a good way of actually getting in and getting served in the pubs. Good times.
I always loved going to Dublin or Belfast for a gig, funnily enough although I listened to a lot of metal I never bothered going to a lot of gigs- Therapy? would have been the band I saw most, 5 or 6 times I think. One of the local lads ran a great night and used to have Dublin bands like Pet Lamb or Flexihead or The Golden Mile and In Dust from Belfast play regularily. Good times they were!!

lord lucan

i actually never had my hair long,always been short!! but i always had the "uniform",black biker jacket(with obligatory cigarette burn!),sleeveless denim jacket with metallica/g n' r etc patches all over it,obligatory band t-shirt,skin tight black jeans which usually dyed your legs black after a sweaty gig and runner boots(black of course!!:D).

there was a huge variety of venues in dublin that ranged in size and popularity. mc gonagles was great but my favourite was the tivoli on francis street. beneath the theatre was a large club venue,200/300 bodies i reckon. seen RATM,biohazard,beastie boys,my little funhouse,rollins band,house of pain:eek: amongst others there. up close and personal with the band,super spot.

there were also as mentioned in the therapy? thread the sunstroke festivals held in dalymount park. i think there was 2,certainly that's all i attended. the first in 93 had FNM filling in for the chillis who had pulled out. sonic youth and the disposable heroes of hiphoprasy were the only 2 i remember that day.

the early 90's were great days to be a rock/metal fan. in '92 i got to see 3 of my favourite bands all headline in ireland,metallica at the point,g n' r at slane and FNM at the point. i've lost count of the number of savage bands i seen in '93 and '94!!

and while i think of it,here's something you don't see anymore,certainly not from major acts:the record store signing session. i got to meet FNM at the virgin megastore and got my copy of angel dust signed by the band. the thrill of meeting your idols is unbelievable. i also got to meet aerosmith up in the grafton st hmv the day of their gig at the point('94 i think),amazing experience. it's something you don't see anymore and admitedly they're chaotic affairs but great craic and great to meet your favourite bands.

ShawnRaven

lord lucan wrote: »

i actually never had my hair long,always been short!! but i always had the "uniform",black biker jacket(with obligatory cigarette burn!),sleeveless denim jacket with metallica/g n' r etc patches all over it,obligatory band t-shirt,skin tight black jeans which usually dyed your legs black after a sweaty gig and runner boots(black of course!!:D).

The f*cking dye after a new pair of jeans made you look like a total freak! Soak in the bath for an hour to get shot of it!!

there was a huge variety of venues in dublin that ranged in size and popularity. mc gonagles was great but my favourite was the tivoli on francis street. beneath the theatre was a large club venue,200/300 bodies i reckon. seen RATM,biohazard,beastie boys,my little funhouse,rollins band,house of pain:eek: amongst others there. up close and personal with the band,super spot.

Completely forgot about the Tivoli! Only ever managed to attend one gig, which i'm not mentioning due to total embarrassment in 1995.

there were also as mentioned in the therapy? thread the sunstroke festivals held in dalymount park. i think there was 2,certainly that's all i attended. the first in 93 had FNM filling in for the chillis who had pulled out. sonic youth and the disposable heroes of hiphoprasy were the only 2 i remember that day.

There were actually three. But 1995 was not held in Dalymount Park, i can't remember where it was, i've a funny feeling it could be Punchestown, but don't quote me on that. Soundgarden, White Zombie and Mudhoney were on the bill. The bill for 93, the rest of the acts were Sugar, Belly, The Golden Hoarde, And some Mexican act i think went by the name of Valdita Mekindad or some weird name that escapes me. I was at that one too. We bunked in for that gig via over the wall at Phibsborough SC car park. Paid for the entrance for 94 though.

and while i think of it,here's something you don't see anymore,certainly not from major acts:the record store signing session. i got to meet FNM at the virgin megastore and got my copy of angel dust signed by the band. the thrill of meeting your idols is unbelievable. i also got to meet aerosmith up in the grafton st hmv the day of their gig at the point('94 i think),amazing experience. it's something you don't see anymore and admitedly they're chaotic affairs but great craic and great to meet your favourite bands.

Virgin on Aston Quay used to be great for that, they had a signing nearly every two weeks. Gone are those days, you have to hope a musician writes a book before ya get a signing with him in a shop.

Oral Slang

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Completely forgot about the Tivoli! Only ever managed to attend one gig, which i'm not mentioning due to total embarrassment in 1995.

There were actually three. But 1995 was not held in Dalymount Park, i can't remember where it was, i've a funny feeling it could be Punchestown, but don't quote me on that.

No, as far as I remember it was on in the RDS (although again I could be wrong). Went to first two in Dalymount, but didnt bother with the 3rd one. From what I remember, the line-up wasn't great. Went to Donington in 95 instead & that WAS a cracking line-up..

Went to a few class gigs in the Tivoli - I remember being well pee'd off when RATM played, because Tool pulled out & RATM only played for about an hour - mental gig though.

Great days, used to go to the free (or very cheap) gigs in Eamonn Dorans or the Fox & Pheasant every Saturday afternoon & then head to Fibbers or Charlies.

120_Minutes

Sunstroke 95 was in the rds, i still have the tshirt. white zombie blew the imploding soundgarden off the stage.

Nea

120_Minutes wrote: »

Sunstroke 95 was in the rds, i still have the tshirt. white zombie blew the imploding soundgarden off the stage.

Too right they did, I was so disappointed after waiting so long to see Soundgarden, their best song was a cover version of The Doors Waiting For The Sun.

Ahh Roskys stretchies, how I got into them I dont know!Another thing was the pain of breaking in docs/new rocks.

As a matter of interest how many people grew their hair all those years ago and still have it long?

ShawnRaven

Nea wrote: »

Ahh Roskys stretchies, how I got into them I dont know!Another thing was the pain of breaking in docs/new rocks.

Breaking in Doc Martins... I went through so many painful christmases over the years

As a matter of interest how many people grew their hair all those years ago and still have it long?

I probably still would, but mother nature and father time have kicked my ass in a rather bad way, and i really don't want to be the second coming of Devin Townsend!

"I dig chicks, really, I do!"

Nevyn

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Breaking in Doc Martins... I went through so many painful christmases over the years

I am convinced Doc's need some sorta blood sacrifice before they allow themselves to be broken in.

ShawnRaven

Thaedydal wrote: »

I am convinced Doc's need some sorta blood sacrifice before they allow themselves to be broken in.

It aint just Docs! I'm still in pain with these things!


And i bought those bad boys last November at Whitby Gothic Weekend!!

Latchy

I was was more new wave ( skinny ties and bright jackets ) than yor leather skins, hairy doc martins type 80s guy .

but I wear my aging badge with grace, dignity and honour

ShawnRaven

latchyco wrote: »

I was was more new wave ( skinny ties and bright jackets ) than yor leather skins, hairy doc martins type 80s guy .but I wear my aging badge with honour

I'm going backwards, some say i'm even regressing! I got my first two tattoos last year (being 32 at the time), Still keep my piercings, i actually offered to take them out for the wedding photos later this year, to be politely told that if i did, the marriage wouldn't last long.

Now THATS dedication

Latchy

ShawnRaven wrote: »

I'm going backwards, some say i'm even regressing! I got my first two tattoos last year (being 32 at the time), Still keep my piercings, i actually offered to take them out for the wedding photos later this year, to be politely told that if i did, the marriage wouldn't last long.

Now THATS dedication

You sir are dedicated .;)

I think the piercings look great on some , like they were ment to have them ,but horrendous on others .

As for me , I haven't got a piercing or tattoo to my name ,although tempted a few times .

ShawnRaven

latchyco wrote: »

You sir are dedicated .;)

And so is she!!

I think the piercings look great on some , like they were ment to have them ,but horrendous on others .

As for me , I haven't got a piercing or tattoo to my name ,although tempted a few times .

I've had most of mine since I was 17, i did take them out when I was 22 for a couple of years thinking "time to get shot of that phase once and for all", but i just looked f*cking weird without them!! So back in they went!

I take em out for interviews, and if needs be, they get taken out for work or get replaced with small studs to keep the corporates happy, but i'd go mad without em at this stage in the game.

Latchy

ShawnRaven wrote: »

And so is she!!



I've had most of mine since I was 17, i did take them out when I was 22 for a couple of years thinking "time to get shot of that phase once and for all", but i just looked f*cking weird without them!! So back in they went!

I take em out for interviews, and if needs be, they get taken out for work or get replaced with small studs to keep the corporates happy, but i'd go mad without em at this stage in the game.

Indeed there are a whole generation of 40 something guys like yourself ( and myself ) who have to tone down for the day job .Didn't really appeal to me as such when I was in my teens / 20s, when the new wave/punk thing was happening .But always appriciated other peoples , more outgoing individual style . Now you see 50/60 year old's with them earings and the tattoo on the hip/ass is as popular as ever with all ages groups .:D

ShawnRaven

latchyco wrote: »

Indeed there are a whole generation of 40 something guys like yourself ( and myself )

OY OY OY!!!! Steady on there, i'm only 33! Talk about writing me off, i know i'm heading that general direction but c'mon!

who have to tone down for the day job .Didn't really appeal to me as such when I was in my teens / 20s, when the new wave/punk thing was happening .But always appriciated other peoples , more outgoing individual style . Now you see 50/60 year old's with them earings and the tattoo on the hip/ass is as popular as ever with all ages groups .:D

I seriously believe it's down to how well inking has advanced over time. I remember as a kid in the 80s growing up and there were some fugly tattoos out there, usually a horses head, or the heart with "mom & dad" written on a scroll over it. Then the colours would bleed or fade and they looked like one big blob by the time the guys had aged.

I took forever deciding on what to get, probably because i really wasn't sure what the hell I wanted I've no regrets about my ink now, i'll be happy to die with them. Especially the stories behind both of them, you'd be surprised how open minded people become about tattoos when you explain the meaning behind them. Always wanted them but was always too chickensh*t to bite the bullet. With my piercings, i knew that i could just pop em out if i got sick of them.

Despite the shaved head though, i still dress very much in the vein of a rocker or a goth. In fact, not only is it most comfortable, but it's almost expected. Not that i ever gave a monkeys about the latter though.

Latchy

ShawnRaven wrote: »

OY OY OY!!!! Steady on there, i'm only 33! Talk about writing me off, i know i'm heading that general direction but c'mon!

I am only generalising and some 40 somthings are in better shape than some 30 somethings and 40's the new 30 anyway [/QUOTE]

I seriously believe it's down to how well inking has advanced over time. I remember as a kid in the 80s growing up and there were some fugly tattoos out there, usually a horses head, or the heart with "mom & dad" written on a scroll over it. Then the colours would bleed or fade and they looked like one big blob by the time the guys had aged.

I took forever deciding on what to get, probably because i really wasn't sure what the hell I wanted I've no regrets about my ink now, i'll be happy to die with them. Especially the stories behind both of them, you'd be surprised how open minded people become about tattoos when you explain the meaning behind them. Always wanted them but was always too chickensh*t to bite the bullet. With my piercings, i knew that i could just pop em out if i got sick of them.

Despite the shaved head though, i still dress very much in the vein of a rocker or a goth. In fact, not only is it most comfortable, but it's almost expected. Not that i ever gave a monkeys about the latter though.

Hindsight is a great thing and believe it or not I became more fashion concious in my late 20s/30s then I did when younger .Maybe having a bit more money and being more aware / concious of my appearence had much to do with it .But back in Dublin during the 80s ,there was an anything goes style as well ,which in the casual stakes for most people, was jeans and sweat shirt .I vairied between the short black leather jacket /jeans or as pin down shirt ,cropped hair ,skinny tie , clean shaven look ,then I went all Eagles for a bit grew the hair and wore the brown boots

ShawnRaven

latchyco wrote: »

I am only generalising and some 40 somthings are in better shape than some 30 somethings and 40's the new 30 anyway

You'd better start digging up there pal. That said i'm in a good mood, i dropped two stone last year for the upcoming wedding! I refuse to fall into the stereotypical middleaged Irishman category! I sure as f*ck don't have to look like one! I'll be skinnier than most of the women going to Bruxelles these days (Oh, I just know I'm going to hell for that!)

Hindsight is a great thing and believe it or not I became more fashion concious in my late 20s/30s then I did when younger .Maybe having a bit more money and being more aware / concious of my appearence had much to do with it .But back in Dublin during the 80s ,there was an anything goes style as well ,which in the casual stakes for most people, was jeans and sweat shirt .I vairied between the short black leather jacket /jeans or as pin down shirt ,cropped hair ,skinny tie , clean shaven look ,then I went all Eagles for a bit grew the hair and wore the brown boots

You could get away with wearing anything the the 80s in Dublin, and if you don't believe me, track down a copy of Eat The Peach! Thankfully i don't have a lot of photos of me from that particular era, as i didn't really know what good music was and mom had a "go with the flow" mentality, which meant i looked as much of a clown as everyone else on the street did.

Best thing i ever did was start growing my hair at 14, between that and wearing all black, in one summer i went from nerd to social climber. It's just too bad that it took me five years later to cop that on.

It was either that or wear the skanger jackets that had NAFFCO54 written on them, no thanks pal!

peter1892

The old uniform was: Black biker jacket, black jeans, DM's, Maiden t-shirt. Long hair for a while, which has been short since I was 21 (I'm 35 now).

We weren't allowed to have long hair in school, I had a mullet (perfectly acceptable until 1991) which had to be chopped just before my leaving cert :mad:

Anyway, hangouts - well mostly Fibbers around that time and into themid 1990's. Before I was of drinking age I never went out much. Never liked Bruxelles to be honest, although I occasionally pop in there these days for a bit of noise of an evening out. McGonagles stopped having gigs shortly after I started going out, which was a pity. Saw Xentrix there a couple of times in 1990/91, Paradise Lost another time, and Saxon (in front of 52 people).

BTW the Tivoli was a great venue! Lots of bands played there around 1994/95, I went to a couple of SLF gigs there, and also saw Gun in 1994, They played for 45 minutes & fecked off, I wrote an irate letter to their management who were very apologetic & sent me a load of signed stuff.

The Manics played there (with Richey) around that time, always kicked myself for not going.

ShawnRaven

peter1892 wrote: »

We weren't allowed to have long hair in school, I had a mullet (perfectly acceptable until 1991) which had to be chopped just before my leaving cert :mad:

I too admit to sporting a mullet not once but twice, i just didn't f*cking learn the first time. :mad:

BTW the Tivoli was a great venue! Lots of bands played there around 1994/95, I went to a couple of SLF gigs there, and also saw Gun in 1994, They played for 45 minutes & fecked off, I wrote an irate letter to their management who were very apologetic & sent me a load of signed stuff.

Gun, now there was a band i absolutely hated at the time. I was somewhat ignorant when it came to music as a teenager, and judged everything on that crappy cover of "Word Up". If i knew then what i know now.

They've reformed recently too, although Mark Rankin isn't doing vocals.

Latchy

ShawnRaven wrote: »

You'd better start digging up there pal. That said i'm in a good mood, i dropped two stone last year for the upcoming wedding! I refuse to fall into the stereotypical middleaged Irishman category! I sure as f*ck don't have to look like one! I'll be skinnier than most of the women going to Bruxelles these days (Oh, I just know I'm going to hell for that!)

I am quite at ease with my age as anybody who is in his 40s should be .

You could get away with wearing anything the the 80s in Dublin, and if you don't believe me, track down a copy of Eat The Peach! Thankfully i don't have a lot of photos of me from that particular era, as i didn't really know what good music was and mom had a "go with the flow" mentality, which meant i looked as much of a clown as everyone else on the street did.

I dont need to believe you pal ,I was there and have the photos to prove it .

I sometimes wore an original US army fatigue jacket over a denim one .And believe it or not, all these years later I have a similar now to .
Always had a thing for those jackets


Eat the peach is famous for the Eammon Morrisey scene were he's flying around on the rocket .:D

ShawnRaven

latchyco wrote: »

I am quite at ease with my age as anybody who is in his 40s should be .

I agree, i'm perfectly at ease heading that direction, i just don't want look like the guy who spent half his natural life front and centre at the bar wolfing down guinness.

I dont need to believe you pal ,I was there and have the photos to prove it.
I sometimes wore an original US army fatigue jacket over a denim one .And believe it or not, all these years later I have a similar now to .
Always had a thing for those jackets

I've done some fashion disasters in the early 90s, like thinking it was a good idea to make shorts out of urban combats because we saw a Sepultura video.
Owning up time folks, how many of you actually cut your hair off because Metallica did between 93 and 95?! I can safely say I wasn't one of them, but i knew a few who did. Bunch of f*cking sheep!

Latchy

ShawnRaven wrote: »

I agree, i'm perfectly at ease heading that direction, i just don't want look like the guy who spent half his natural life front and centre at the bar wolfing down guinness.

Which also might go some way to explaining why more is spent on alcohol than clothes by ' some ' Irishmen

I've done some fashion disasters in the early 90s, like thinking it was a good idea to make shorts out of urban combats because we saw a Sepultura video.
Owning up time folks, how many of you actually cut your hair off because Metallica did between 93 and 95?! I can safely say I wasn't one of them, but i knew a few who did. Bunch of f*cking sheep!

Like I have an older brother who was very fashion concious as in , he would wait to see what jacket I had bought and would then decide he would like to have it .Like he could'nt make up his own mind as to what he should wear unless he saw it on me

Think nowadays it's about what you feel comfortable in and plenty of styles to choose from but no excues for not making an effort .

Malice

As the poster responsible for the Therapy? thread I heartily endorse this thread

As regards nostalgia, I still remember the dark day ten years ago when I came home from college to discover my mother had decided to throw out all my black t-shirts. Now, she had a point as many of them were a slate-grey colour due to aging and probably quite smelly but damnit it's taken me at least as long now again to build up a decent collection!

Did anyone else have a parental intervention like that?

ShawnRaven

malice_ wrote: »

As the poster responsible for the Therapy? thread I heartily endorse this thread

As regards nostalgia, I still remember the dark day ten years ago when I came home from college to discover my mother had decided to throw out all my black t-shirts. Now, she had a point as many of them were a slate-grey colour due to aging and probably quite smelly but damnit it's taken me at least as long now again to build up a decent collection!

Did anyone else have a parental intervention like that?

Yeah, I did! My parents split when I was very young, so it was just myself and my mom growing up. Needless to say overprotection overkill. Not like i'm complaining now though. Of course, familiarity tends to breed contempt as well, and when we argued, did we ever argue.

Needless to say, she'd taken a scissors to a good 2/3 of my newly built metal shirt collection. I think i was 14 or 15 at the time, needless to say, the celtic tiger hadn't even been conceived, nevermind born in 1990-1991! Didn't speak to her for the guts of a week.

I can laugh about it now, but at the time, it was more serious than the Gulf War!

dasdog

Anyone remember the rockers v townies "war" around 1989 that came out of an incident in Amusement City? There seemed to be a real thrash community around that time in Dublin and there were always familiar faces that came from all corners of Ireland for the gigs. To add to whats already been said about McGonagles (I made both nights of the Ozzy gigs and saw lots of lower key bands like Acid Reign, Sabat, Gang Green) there were some great days/nights out in the Top Hat (Metallica 88, Suicidal Tendancies, Faith No More, Sepultura around 89/90/91). Also remember a popluar activity when all the hair metal was about going in to one shop and finding a CD on sale for a fiver, going to another one where you'd say it was an unwanted present and you'd swap it/trade up for something more expensive until you had done enough exchanges to get something decent (receipts were like gold dust). Bought and traded up some awful rubbish along the way. I veered away from the whole scene when Megadeth slowed down and Metallica brought out the black album. Ended up getting in to Blues/70's Rock then I started listening to acid jazz/electronica/drum&bass. Still after many gigs of many styles here and abroad many years later I reckon seeing Megadeth as a 13 year old on the So Far... tour left the biggest impression on me. And I sort of made up for missing a Slayer gig in 88 when they played the point a few years ago...who were the only band of the "big four" I missed while they were still at their prime (IMO).

ShawnRaven

dasdog wrote: »

Anyone remember the rockers v townies "war" around 1989 that came out of an incident in Amusement City?

1989???! It was still going on up until 1992!! Witnessed one or two stabbings in there as a result of it. They weren't happy about the blood on their shiny happy tracksuits though!

Also remember a popluar activity when all the hair metal was about going in to one shop and finding a CD on sale for a fiver, going to another one where you'd say it was an unwanted present and you'd swap it/trade up for something more expensive until you had done enough exchanges to get something decent (receipts were like gold dust). Bought and traded up some awful rubbish along the way.

Guilty! Did it for albums, videos and even 8bit Amstrad games which were on cassette format. Saved myself a small fortune time out of number until they started sealing the stupid things. That was the end of that racket, but it was fun while it lasted.

lord lucan

speaking of hair,how many here have facial hair of some description?

i've had a beard/goatie of some sort or other since '93,i feel naked without it and for some reason beards are another part of the whole metal look!!

120_Minutes

black (tightish) wranglers........check
metallica tshirt.......check
long hair.......check
docs.......check
black army jacket from army bargains (or barmy argains)......check
pewter metallica and sepultura badges......check
tops of lighters on the jacket lapels (dont ask, one of the lads started doing it, then we all did)......check

that was my uniform from 93-97/98 until korn broke, when we could baggy out a bit.

megadeth sfx 95
sunstroke 95
joe satriani point 95
metallica point 96


and so on........

ShawnRaven

120_Minutes wrote: »

black army jacket from army bargains (or barmy argains)......check

Don't forget the combats, that for some reason in the early 90s, the zips went on em after about a month! I know it wasn't just mine, half of us had that problem.

Solution, buy an extra large shirt to cover the zip and walk around with cold todgers on a nice december afternoon!

adox

Bullet belts were mandatory in my day. Also denim jacket with the back bleached white and an album cover painted on it. ( Mine had a Tigers Of Pan Tang cover on it).