Andrews Lane relaunched by CLAMPDOWN

PILAR recently finished work in the art department on yet another series of THE TUDORS mini-series starring JONATHAN RHYS-MEYERS, SAM NEIL, PETER O'TOOLE. Herself and CIARAN plan to wind-down (yeh right) with a 3 months trip kicking-off in NEW YORK and finishing in CUBA. So we sent them off with a whopper-of-a-night (SAT MAY 31) in the newly launched ALT - all thanks to ANYA!

It's been my mantra for some time but there's nothing like an 'economic-readjustment' to provide space for creativity to flourish - and a space that was once on the verge of being lost to 'retail-mecca mentality' has been re-branded and is just what the doctor ordered!

This wicked space is nicely disguised by the uninviting original exterior of what was ANDREW'S LANE THEATRE - SEXTON+ previously promoted productions at the theatre which was sold in February 2007 by owner & producer PAT MOYLAN (now of LANE PRODUCTIONS) because it couldn’t afford a 'modern-revamp' (that phrase gives me the chills).

Developers were snapping at the heels of what was marketed purely as a site in an ace location! Replacing the single-storey ex-theatre with a 6-storey office and retail mall - a phenomenally original concept - was the original wet-dream of developers. The building-boom was about to rob yet another space where creativity would flourish because artists - passionately-committed to stimulating audiences versus profit - can rarely out-bid a developer who's race to turn a quick-buck blinds him (yeh predominantly fellas) from the fluffy idea of contributing anything worthwhile to our culture.

The timing couldn't have been better. If Moylan had waited until property prices had stagnated she may have questioned putting it on the block ..if sold even a few months earlier the wrecking-ball would have done it's damage by the time the market slowed and the developer re-did his sums ...the opportunity would have been lost, Dublin would be poorer and I wouldn't be here promoting the re-invented space, it's an ill wind...

By opening night on MAY 3 CLAMPDOWN 'return of the warehouse party' also saw the return of substance. Knocking down a few walls easily transformed the once-weary space and, with very little architectural intervention, emphasised it's industrial, warehouse feel (it's got undertones of the disused ORMONDE PRINT-WORKS (developed as the MORRISON HOTEL by HUGH O'REGAN) but it tastes way-sweeter coz Dublin has been starved for too long).

Dublin street artist MASER, and crew, gave the place a lick to interrupt the low-key interior without going over-board. CLAMPDOWN sets out to create a 'minimal space with no fuss or pointless tacky interior design, great sound systems, underground music and art colliding ...music policy is forward thinking but anything goes with an emphasis on quality recordings from the last 2 decades of disco, punk, funk, house, techno, electro and hip hop alongside future classics and current gems ...featuring the most interesting DJs gracing the decks from our thriving domestic electronic scene ..different AV artists and visuals will show their stuff each week' - sound fresh?

And if you're someone who doesn't like to hit the after-parties too early you're in for a treat - the venue rocks later than any other in Dublin city - last night it kicked beyond 03:30 which meant the spanish djs on our roof-garden were nicely warmed-up by the time we swung by to catch an amazing sunrise (...and fair play to the crew of gardai that arrived around 6am and clearly agreed there was no good reason to pull the plug.)