The Brudders were coming to town


Sunday 24th September 1978 The Ramones first gig in Dublin.
John O Sullivan
Here goes as best I recall! Sunday 24th September 1978 The Ramones first gig in Dublin. This was it! Up to The State Cinema in Phibsborough. A new venue putting on its first ever gig.Promoted by Big D pirate radio station which gave us Dave Fanning. Previously we had The Clash in Trinity in 77 , nights in Moran's Hotel for the Radiators but tonight The Brudders were coming to town and I had a ticket. We formed in a straight line outside waiting for the doors to open.The billboard advertised Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon, which was unfortunate for the couple in front of me who had spent half an hour queing to see the movie! Inside and the first thing I noticed was the seats were still in place.Do they not realise this is a Ramones gig? The bouncers were determined to keep people seated which was crazy. Got the idea to head for the balcony as the view was better, told it's reserved for the journos but I bluffed my way up there anyway. The support act was Snips and The Video Kings who were a good band in their own right.Snips had previosly played with a band called Sharks. Snips manager was none other than B P Fallon who was there in a natty green suit. The wait was then on for the main event. The music playing was mostly rubbish apart from Bend It Bend It Just A little Bit by Dave, Dee, Dozy,Mick and Tich which livened up the crowd.Then a guy who must have been from the radio station came on and announced that The Ramones did not like being spat at and would walk off if it happened. The Dublin crowds reputation for gobbing was well known. On the night there were only a small number of gobshites spitting. The house lights went down. The crowd started chanting Hey Ho Lets GO. Then lights and Dee Dee shouts "onchewcheefore" and Rockaway Beach blasted out faster and louder than I had ever heard it before the place went wild. The bouncers were practically knocked over in the rush as the crowd stormed to the front.After two songs Joey threw down his mike in disgust as he was experiencing technical difficulties but a new one was brought on within seconds. "It's great to be here in Dublin" big cheer. Everyone loving this,even the guitar changes were cool Johnny, Dee and Marky discarding their leather jackets after the first wave of songs. The classics came thick and fast including a heavy guitar riffed Needles N Pins "for all you lonely hearts out there" .The drumming on Bad Bad Brain stands out in my memory and also a fantastic version of Surfin Bird with what seemed like a minutes silence before the PapaMowMow which unnerved the audience a little, remember the gobbing gobshites. The place was heaving I had never experienced a gig like this before. Every song a classic played by the greatest band I have ever seen. Next from my perch on high I saw a line of pogoing kids disappear soon followed by another line and then another. The seats were beginning to give way under the crowd, none of who were sitting. The gig was not affected by this at all. The Ramones came back three times for encores playing three songs each time. What a gig. As the crowd cleared afterwards the full extent of the damage was clear 75% of the seats were in bits on the floor.But there had been no trouble just a great buzz that seemed to affect everyone in the crowd. Next I see Dee Dee walking up the aisle with Vera by the hand. "See you next year Dee Dee" A punch of the air and "Yeah man".
JCOS
BLITZKRIEG OVER DUBLIN
Click on Joey to go to next page


It was like the Second Coming for me.
Frank Kerns
"When the Ramones played the State Cinema in Phibsboro it was like the Second Coming for me. I became aware of the pure cleansing energy of rock 'n roll music when it's done right. I was going to play the electric guitar." FK 2000 Committed to this future path he went on to form a number of bands in which he learnt his craft: The Fast - the world's first known Ramones tribute band. Frankie Corpse & The Undertakers
JOEY in action 1978 State Cinema Cabra


We were fans of the Ramones from the start.
The Edge talks to lapresse.ca
June 1, 2001LE EDGE, EH? QUOTES | - 03:03 PM Monsieur The Edge talks to lapresse.ca (french article) about seeing the Ramones in Dublin: "It's funny the way life goes, says The Edge. We were fans of the Ramones from the start. When they came to play Dublin we didn't have the money to go and see the. But Bono found a way to get in, and opened a security door. It was brilliant! The concert really was an inspiration to us. Before that time, we didn't really believe that we could take it seriously, becoming a rock group. But after that gig, and that of The Clash, it seemed to us we could make a living off our music. You could almost say that U2 exists thanks to them."
JOEY in action 1978 State Cinema Cabra

JOEY in action 1978 State Cinema Cabra

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1