From 2011 to 2013 Poster Fish Promotions ran gig bookings for King 7. Previously Melody Bar, the venue had been taken over by Ben, a young and astute business man from China. He originally planned to open a restaurant and karaoke bar, but after numerous requests to hosts drum & bass and jungle nights due to the venue’s previous incarnation, he decided to give it a go and asked us to come on board and take care of bookings. We worked with Audioterrorist who lent one of their sound systems to King 7 and promoters flocked back to the venue. We also hosted a lot of great nights there ourselves.
Four Rabble Ruckus gigs took place with Poster Fish and the Rabble crew pulling together wildly diverse acts to raise money to fund the publication of Rabble magazine in its early days.
In November 2011 punk band Jobseekers joined The Dubtones and Section 4 to kick off proceedings which got a lot more electronic as the night went on with Antrophe, Lakker, Sunken Foal, Twoc and Fran Hartnett wrapping up the night. Dublin rarely sees such mingling of genres and their respective crowds, so this night really was special.
The second Ruckus was in February 2012 and saw Willa Lee, Costello, GI and the Working-Class Records crew take to the stage with Lady Grew and Temper-mental MissElayneous. Don Rosco and Major Grave kept the rabble dancing until all hours on yet another whopper night.
We also worked on a third Ruckus and on Rabble’s Parish Strictly Vinyl Sound Clash in September 2012.
Our Unlock NAMA fundraiser was another night of great variety with bands and DJs all erring on the side of hardcore in their various genres. The short-lived, but brilliant E5 Disconnect opened up for Ghost Trap and Twisted Mass before DJ PCP bridged the unbridgeable gap between hardcore metal and the Drum & Bass/Jungle sets that were to follow. As always, he did it seamlessly leaving GKB, Executive Steve and DJ Welfare to finish the night.
The Dublin leg of Meljoanne’s Irish summer 2012 tour was held in King 7 as was the fundraiser for our hosting of the Reggae Movement Exhibition.
We also piloted a different kind of night where we screened films and then had a club night inspired by the soundtrack/era. The screening of Stop Making Sense saw Ferdia McAnna of Rocky DeValera and the Gravediggers play a roaring set on the decks joined by DJ Carax and Tommy Rash. When we screened the Harder They Come some of the city’s top reggae and ska DJs played afterwards keeping the crowd dancing until the small hours of the morning.
One of the last gigs we hosted in King 7 was a co-production with !Kaboogie and Barry Gruff called Brainmelt. Originally the product of a calendar mix-up the 3 promoters came together to pull off a brilliant and memorable night (for all sorts of reasons!). Imploded View, Deviant, Neil Bucannon and DJ Mek all performed with visuals provided by !Kaboogie’s DJ PCP.
After two years we parted ways with King 7and gave them back their restaurant space. They continued to run a restaurant and karaoke bar in the same spot on Capel Street up until quite recently, but the space now houses a Moroccan restaurant. We often walk past and wonder if the new owners know just how much fun was had in that place over the years.
Photos by Pauliina Jokinen and Paul Reynolds
