Dublin Castle, Camden
Dublin Castle | |
---|---|
![]() View of the pub from Parkway | |
General information | |
Type | Public house |
Location | Camden Town, London, England |
Coordinates | 51°32′14″N 0°8′44″W / 51.53722°N 0.14556°W |
Opened | c. 1856[1] |
Website | |
www |
The Dublin Castle is a pub and live music venue in Camden Town, London. It was built for Irish navvies working on railways in London, but gained prominence as a venue in the late 1970s after the band Madness established a live reputation there. Subsequently, it was an important venue in the early stages of several bands' careers and contributed to the Britpop musical genre. Amy Winehouse was a regular visitor to the pub.
History
The pub was built to serve workmen on the nearby railway, as part of a newly constructed group of buildings. It catered for Irish immigrants to London, in order to segregate them away from other nationalities and avoid racial-related assaults.[2] Music was originally restricted to occasional traditional Irish sessions.[3] The emergence of other venues around Camden Town, including the Roundhouse, Dingwalls and the Electric Ballroom brought an increased interest in live music to the area, including the Dublin Castle.[4] The pub can now accommodate an audience up to 200 people.[5]
Madness first attempted to secure a gig at the venue in late 1978, when they were still known as the Camden Invaders. They first performed at the venue on 16 January 1979.[6] According to singer Suggs, the group had to pretend they were a jazz band to get a booking.[7] Landlord Alo Conlon invited the group back for a residency at the venue, and helped to establish their reputation.[8]
Conlon hand picked bands to play in the pub that he thought would attract an audience, and word of mouth spread so that A&R scouts would visit the pub to see what up and coming acts were available.[8] The pub was an important venue for Britpop acts in the 1990s, as it was often the first major London gig for bands that later found commercial success, including Blur.[5] Amy Winehouse performed regularly at the venue and occasionally helped to serve drinks to customers.[9]
In 2008, Conlon received a lifetime achievement award for his services to the pub industry in Camden. He died in January 2009 aged 73. A street party was held on Parkway, with Suggs in attendance.[8]
Events
The Dublin Castle regularly hosts live music events from Wednesday to Sunday every week.
It has also long hosted a popular open jam on Tuesday nights, which has included appearances from major bands such as The Libertines.[10] After a hiatus, the open jam has been restarted as Redrock Jam as of November 2016.[11]
Redrock Jam is hosted by local band Redwire, who also hosted Redrock Festival at the same venue on October 2016[12] and again in September 2017.
References
Citations
- ^ "Dublin Castle, 18 Park Street, Camden Town". UK pub history and historical Street directory. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ "A-Z of Camden Culture". Time Out. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ Reed 2011, p. 80.
- ^ Reed 2011, pp. 11–12.
- ^ a b "London". Billboard: 65. 6 November 1999. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ Reed 2011, p. 81.
- ^ "Camden Town is the place to be for up-and-comers". Billboard: 76. 29 November 1997. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ a b c Ferrier, Morwenna (27 January 2009). "Alo Conlon: A tribute to a rock'n'roll pub landlord". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ "The Dublin Castle – rockabilly night". Amy Winehouse Foundation. Archived from the original on 2015-01-23. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2016-12-10.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ http://www.richardgregory.org.uk/music/openmic/dublin-castle.htm
- ^ "News: September 30 - October 6: Hear banned songs at St Giles-In-The-Fields - Camden Review". www.camdenreview.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
Sources
- Reed, John (2011). House of Fun: The Story of Madness. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-857-12715-0.
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