Rabble was a Dublin underground not-for-profit newspaper and online news site that ran from 2011 to 2018. It was run collectively and independently by volunteers who attested to taking, “well aimed pot-shots at illegitimate authority.” The rabble crew knew each other from alternative media, street mobilisations, raves, gigs and football terraces. Their tag line was, “We are rabble. So are you.”

We got involved in the early days and hosted four rabble Ruckus gigs with the rabble crew in King 7 on Dublin’s Capel Street, pulling together wildly diverse acts to raise money to fund the publication of the magazine.

On 19 November 2011 punk bands Jobseekers, The Dubtones and Section 4 kicked off proceedings at rabble Ruckus 2. Later in the night some of the most exciting DJs and producers on the Dublin dance scene joined the line-up. Irish techno giant Fran Hartnett headlined with support from Lakker who were gaining notoriety at the time, Sunken Foal (Countersunk) and T-woc (Alphabet Set). Dublin rarely saw such mingling of genres and their respective crowds, so this night really was special.

 

The third Ruckus was on 25 February 2012 and saw Dublin hip-hop crew Street Literature’s Willa Lee, Costello and GI take to the stage to kick things off.  Dancehall/hip-hop MC Lady Grew and !Kaboogie’s A-Force ripped things up next followed by Dublin hip-hop artist Temper-mental MissElayneous. Jungle legend Don Rosco raised the roof before grime artist Major Grave closed another whopper night on a seriously high note.

 

On 21 April 2012 rabble invited back Munchi to Dublin. Munchi played the first ever rabble Ruckus in Toners on Baggot St. before the paper was up and running. The night was plagued by a 9-hour flight delay, last minute venue cancellations, a blizzard and noise complaints, but was an amazing and memoraable gig none the less. Redmonk from !Kaboogie and Oshroom provided support at his second billing, but unfortunately Munchi was again plagued by delays and disasters and didn’t make it to Dublin this time.

rabble Ruckus 4. Photo by Paul Reynolds 

We also worked on the fifth Ruckus, rabble’s Parish Strictly Vinyl Sound Clash on 22 September 2012. To mark rabble’s first birthday some of Dublin’s favourite local DJs took part in the strictly vinyl sound clash. Once the crowd was warmed up, it was straight into back to back battle mode with three elimination rounds. The crowd decided who won each round with Standard Bob the winner and Worries Outernational’s Soundman Soro in second place. Other selectors on the night included; Rob DC, PCP, Twoc, Paul V, Antrophe, Krossie, Dr Groove and Redmonk.

As well as working on the Ruckus gigs we were involved in the editorial team of Rabble for a number of years in the early days. We were sad to see it wind down in 2018 as it played an important cultural role in the city and, by then, the whole country. All of its activities were run on an entirely voluntary and collective basis and eventually people needed to move on with their lives and to new things. We thank rabble for all they brought to the city and the media landscape at the time, for all the fun times and excellent content and most of all for pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved when people work together collectively.

 

All photos by Paul Reynolds

Full galleries here:

Ruckus 2 

Ruckus 3 

Ruckus 4 

Ruckus 5