Nah its still Whelan's by a mile-whats wrong with you man!

Being sentimental, I'd say Olympia. But I'm terrible fond of the Ambassador, so I am. MCD ticket prices are becoming increasingly expensive, its ridiculous. Did Niall Stokes sell out his share of HQ or does he have a slice of the Spirit venue? Wots it like, anyone been there?

wanna party da2 sat night......

I like the Ambassador for a gig too. For rock gigs, the Olympia doesn't cut it. And if anyone's interested, check out downstairs in Issac Butt's (straight across from Busaras) on a Friday night. It's a good alternative to Whelans sometimes. Q

No venue beats Vicar Street - I'd give Mono a 'favourable' mention. http://www.geocities.com/stunningwalls

Watch out for the Music Room on Abbey Street over the next few months.

Good 1. Olympia (so many memories, never a bad night) 2. Ambassador (great sound) 3. Vicar St (for the intimacy if nothing else - bad chucking out policy though) In Between 1. Whelan's (Great until the noisy club crowd get in. Grand for full on gigs but a definite no no for acousitc sets - anyone see Grand Drive there? Doh!) 2. Shelter (Bad sound & what is with the air conditioning on the right hand wall? It's like hot/cold tirture through a night) Bad 1. Point (a barn) 2. Stadium (good 10 years ago but lots of good mid sized venues now it has had its day) Long Gone (Honourable mentions) 1. Olympic Ballroom 2. McGonagles

Check out Radio City next to Isaac But - fresh new intimate venue - excellent sound system. January 20th Resolution End and Dave's Radio, January 26th Echoes of Pink Floyd, 1st February Steafan Hanvey.

I like Sugar Club. Nice seats, nice view, nice sound. I'm getting old ...

Dorans. Pizza. Good for having fags outside. Beer is piss. Sound is crap. Full of peasant scum dancing about after gigs. Good for having fags outside.

it's vicar street... there really shouldn't be a debate here

Actually, HQ was pretty damn fine for acoustic gigs. Good seats in that Vegas lounge style.

Saw Tom barman in the HQ, quality gig that was. First time I saw paddy casey was in there as well.. Vicar st is up there with the best alright. That said ive seen some great gigs in whelans. But I think ive developed a touch of claustrophobia from going to gigs there as well. Not much wrong with the ambassador, always good for getting up close. Only comment id make is its a bit of a trek from one side of it to the other to use the toilets and ohh yeah, the bar staff arent the best...i spent 35 mins waiting to be served there once!!! argg The village. when not busy its not bad. when busy its...well bad. The sugar club is great. you can see the gig perfectly from all seats. expensive beer though The butt, well I havent been there since it reopened so i cant comment.

Wrote this somewhere else, I'll pretty much just copy and paste it here. Whelan's/Vicar st would be my choices though. Seáns Venue Review I likes: Whelans - Best all rounder, great vibe TBMC - big ass stage, cool set up, great sound Sin é - Good crowd and vibe, a unique spot Crawdaddy - Great sound, but just that bit too far away from town Village - Just like TBMC, big stage, good set up, good sound Doyles - just nice and stuff, at the Ruby Sessions etc. Vicar Street - Savage spot, awesome. Radio City - Cool lighting/sound. I dislike that whole area of town though,and theres glass in the ceiling where you can see the people upstairs dancing to the latest chart hits, which is funny/depressing, depending on your mood. I dislikes The Hub - poncy w**k, expensive pints. And I just generally hate it for some unknown reason. Its claustrophic. Dorans - Headwrecking bouncers, lazy ignorant staff, s**t sound, and NO BUDWEISER!! Voodoo lounge - s**t sound, more often than not s**t music, too far away, nice pizza though Dunno what to make of the Sugar Club. Nice sound and comfy seats, but it's just wierd. No budweiser either. Is it really a music venue?

You do know that Bud is the worst beer on the planet right?

off the top of ones head.. The Sugar Club - nice and intimate, but the sound is crap, the price of drink is disgraceful , and the whole setup and vibe makes you feel like you at a college lecture, but a slightly drunk one. Whelans - again nice and intimate, can take a while to get a beer, sound generally good but like others have said, crap for acoustic gigs, too much talking and that. Olympia - Top venue, just the right size, been to many an awesome gig there, good sound, intimate enough for its size, only falws are the security who seem to be generally assholes, and the 6 person deep Q at the bars. otherwise it cant be beaten. The Point - well what can I say, if you have decent balcony seating it can be alright, otherwise I dont care who is playing there, I wouldnt bother, many a disapointing night there, only ones that stand out for me are Pulp back in '96 and Morrissey in Dec 2004. s**thole ! Ambassador - I'll disagree with another poster, I always find the service at the bar really good actually, its a nice venue,for its size, you can get nice and close, but on occasion ive found the sound not being quite up to it. Still been to some good ones in the Ambassador. The Village - Like somone else said, its good if its not jammers, for some reason you seem to get a really talkative crowd who prefer to hang back by the bar, Ive seen some awesome gigs there, ie. Evan Dando x2, Badly Drawn Boy & The Zutons, but ive been to others, ie. Josh Rouse & The Dirty Three whre the sound was all over the shop. ohhh and another point of note, of about the 10 or so times ive been there for gigs ive been short changed 4 times, or at least have tried to have been so watch the change folks ! The Hub - its alright for what it is, once again the drink is on the expensive side but where isnt.

Probs showing my age here but anyone remember the SFX? Now that was the prefect venue. Tiny square room. Stage at the front, toilets and bar at the back and friendly bouncers, crowd surfing was actively encouraged. Seen Kerbdog, Placebo, Bush etc there, good times. Saw greenday play to about 200 people. What a venue should be imo. Think they are tearing it down for apartments The point is awful.

Originally posted by baba
With Whelan's too often packed, stuffy and uncomfy what is the best venue in Dublin...I've yet to see a bad gig in Vicar St. The Shelter sucks. Haven't been to Da2 yet though...Ambassador? It's not a tumor

I remember the SFX! Went there once to see Megadeth.Big train load of us up from B'sloe. It was f**kin awesome. What a f**kin gig. Budweiser is the king of beers btw. Anyone who says otherwise is a beer-fool.