A music-loving barber is recreating The Underground, a lauded music venue in Dublin during the 1980s.
Dave Judge, owner of Abner Browns barbershop in Rathmines, hopes to attract emerging Irish bands to a revamped version of the Dame Street venue that gave acts including A House, Therapy, Ash and Whipping Boy their break in the Eighties and early Nineties. The cutting-edge venue that used a London Underground sign was later turned into Club Lapello, a lapdancing club. Construction is underway to create a second incarnation of the bar near its original location.
Acts including Something Happens, Fat Lady Sings and Lord John White will be at the opening night next month.
“The Underground was an iconic place back in the day,” Mr Judge said.
“I used to be a regular there and there was no Whelan’s or Grand Social back then and it was the only outlet for new acts and the people who wanted to support them. This will be in the centre of the city and a place for young bands to hang out and network too.”
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Mr Judge got in touch with Jeff Brennan, who ran The Underground in the 1980s, to seek his blessing for the new 120-capacity venue. “I didn’t want Jeff to think I was stealing his thing,” he said. “But Jeff knows I’m genuine and this is a project based on my love of music and desire to help young bands.”