Music in Dublin

I’m going to change up this blog a little bit and divert from the topic of travel for a while. As much fun as traveling is, it is only one element of the study abroad experience and I hate to focus solely on the one element. Because I consider myself a music lover and I’m sure there are others out there, I’m going to try to keep a somewhat recurrent theme of music in these posts from now on. With a bit of luck, that should give this blog a little more individuality and separate it from the others so if people are in fact reading all of them, or even more than one, they aren’t reading the same recycled accounts.

Something I thought when first coming to Dublin, a sentiment that perhaps others shared, was that Dublin would be filled with traditional Irish folk music. I’m not sure how the thought got implanted in my mind, but somehow it got there and I was ready to enjoy hearing some old Irish guys jamming on their banjos, mandolins, tin whistles, and bodhrans. I soon found out, however, that Dublin is not really a folksy city. That isn’t to say traditional Irish music is not played in Dublin, but that it is not a rampant music scene here. The pubs are typically filled with cover bands playing (mostly) the same handful of songs everywhere you go.

After a couple of nights, you will quickly discover the bands

here have some weird fascination with the Rolling Stones—they love Jumpin’ Jack Flash. Other common tunes include Roadhouse Blues, Sex Machine, Come Together, and Cocaine. There are obviously others, but you get the idea—blues rock is pretty damn popular here. I haven’t investigated deep enough to discover whether this is a phenomenon exclusive to the pub scene or not, but I’ll report back when I find out.

So what about popular music? As much as I love the Burlington music scene, we don’t get a lot of big bands to grace our small city. Dublin, although not terribly large, is still leaps and bounds ahead of Burlington in population and the music scene reflects that. I already have tickets to see two bands here in Dublin, with plans for a third. In 10 days, I’ll be going to see Opeth, a popular progressive metal band, at a venue less than 15 minutes walking distance from our apartments. I’ve also got a ticket to see Canadian riff-rockers The Tragically Hip in December. Although they’ve played several times in Vermont, they are about the biggest band we see. And they kick ass, just putting that out there. As for my third concert, prospective Dubliners may know of a band called The Pogues, a popular folk-punk group from the ‘80s. Well, they are one of my favorite bands and just so happen to be playing for three nights in Dublin in December, and if their first show wasn’t on the same night as T-Hip, I’d be at all three.

So the bands I’ve mentioned are my own preference, but not everyone has the same taste in music so here are a few other bands playing in Dublin during my stay here that might peak some people’s interests. Pixies (I’d see them too but the show sold out), Massive Attack, Motorhead, Thin Lizzy (canceled), Toby Keith, Yes, The Mars Volta, Paramore, Fleetwood Mac, Green Day, Muse, Elton John, Beyonce, Depeche Mode, The Prodigy, Pink, Miley Cyrus, Backstreet Boys, Yusef Islam (Cat Stevens), and Jonas Brothers. That’s a decent sized list of big-name bands and artists, most of whom you would be hard pressed to find playing in Burlington. I’m sure there are others as well, that was just a quick throw-together of search results I recognized at a glance.

So I’ll leave it there for now, but I think you get the idea. The music scene in Dublin is more than just folk instruments; it has a little to offer for everyone no matter their musical preference.