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Indeed, for the very last time, Saturday night, Cork venue and local music staple The Quad closed its doors after twelve years. But not before giving us a night that we’d all remember. Packed nearly-solid from its opening, bands and regulars alike piled in to a stripped-down bar that looked like a shadow of the place we’ve known and loved for so long. Posters from the past year or so were being given out, the last few copies of AU piled on the bar quickly dwindling. While there was still room to move, the D went and took pics, as the reminiscing began…
Stanton’s Grave take stage first, and lay straight into their abrasive pop-punk to a standing-room-only crowd, who, in an unusual occurrencem get right into it from the off, with banter and pogoing aplenty, the calls for “tops off” from the Slugbait crew resulting in a sweaty TV Zombie, before drummer Eoin sets the tone for the night by responding to calls for “jocks off”. A victorious start but the gaps between sets sting with the knowledge that each gap is closer to never being here again.
Plinth went down a storm for what is, for all intents and purposes, their last gig. Their seamless fusion of genres and varying levels of stupidity is complemented by masterful technical chops, ably demonstrated in opener Vascanagina, to the caterwauling of the informed assembly. Keyboardist/guitarist Emmet looks to be overwrought by the occasion when he steps up to say a few words.
Slugbait‘s set, unfortunately, is riddled with technical problems, and what starts off as a little amp trouble winds up in a full-blown amp exchange. Not that that deters the lads from having fun, their bro-some brand of sweet screamo causing the crowd to erupt, and hot, slag-laden banter resulting in laughs all around. Rather poignantly, Slugbait vocalist Peter Murphy, the Quad’s best customer in recent times, says a mouthful when he cracks that “all good things must come to an end, and this was a good thing” Unfortunately, his words are lost in the rabble going on around him, between an impatient crowd and a growing cluster of band and venue personnel attending the amp situation. After a chorus of Happy Birthday for long-time soundman Keith, it’s off to the races for the boys, and by fuck do they nail it, Peter going flying over the crowd.
KVX head up next, and bash out their smart, punchy indie-pop, the overly diminutive collective absolutely brimming with confidence and presence that points to their experience and comfort with each other musically. Harmonies executed perfectly and dead-on performance make this quintet ones to watch as ever, particularly on a sweet rendition of Graphs.
Hope is Noise take to the stage of their beloved home venue for the final time tonight, and aren’t long about busting out crowd faves, with I Live With Bruce Banner and Lions Led By Donkeys invoking mass singalongs, while Peace and Quiet tears the place asunder. Two Gods Short of My Trinity closes the set, with an improv crowd mike takeover resulting in a chorus of “You don’t have to/close the Quad down“. It’s a heart-rending moment, yet utterly heart-piece-lifting at the same time, that sense of Cork community kicking in like instinct. Cork’s flagship band end their stay at Cork’s flagship venue with a bang.
Ten Past Seven head straight on and proceed to wreck the place, their frenetic yet intricate post-rock all the while propelling more and more people closer to the action, forcing the front row into the band’s personal space. It’s stupidly hot and getting harder and harder to breathe, but it’s genuinely exhilarating. Rory O’Brien pulls his usual menagerie of faces, squinting and contorting with the concentration and effort. Towards the end, the menagerie of bands, like excited kids, are pogoing up the front, getting in the lads’ faces and generally going hammer and tongs.
But just when we thought the last note had been struck and the last cymbal had rang out, the lads climbed behind the kit and kicked into a rendition of Fugazi’s Waiting Room. This surprise is twinned with that of the availability of mikes, and so begins a crowd singalong with the seminal, bouncing classic, that just about everybody in the crowd gets a go off of 5 at a time. Beautiful. The Quad is quite literally bouncing, bodies in flight and crashing everywhere, the floor covered in a film of sticky booze and shards of glass. The perfect, sweaty, strenuous ending to the perfect Quad gig.
And with that one last destructive jump, all that’s left is to hang out and soak the Quad in its shitty, intimate glory one last time, as memories are shared, hugs are exchanged and the weirdest medley of Monty Python’s Always Look on the Bright Side, The Doors‘ The End and Nirvana‘s Breed rings out on the house P.A., bringing it all full circle.
Drop-d chokes up and tries walking out a number of times, unable to extricate itself from the early-twenties haze of good friends, deep conversation, great music and countless mistakes, but just can’t bring itself to do so until its mates have to drag it with them. So ends an era. A down-to-earth bar, with decent music, as free from dickheads as is possible, and an amazing live rep. Approachable, friendly staff and a crowd of regulars unlike anywhere else. As the D rounds that final corner past the Peace Park, around Ziggy‘s and out to Washington St., the tears come and how apropo that it’s Pete’s words of earlier that ring around the night: “All good things must come to an end, but this was a good thing“.
Thanks for the memories.
Tags: Antoine, Danny, Eoin's knob, goodbye, hope is noise, Jess, Keith, KVX, Peter, Plinth, Ruairi, Siofra, Slugbait, Stanton's Grave, Ten Past Seven, the quad, tops off, Waiting Room
