Nightwatch: Now is the time for the pub revolution
Friday November 27 2009
We need to talk about games ... games of the after-dark variety.
Ones that involve large gangs, in underground venues, with everyone welcome to take part. I recently had an eye-opening experience in that exciting world, and now I'm here to spread the word.
But first, a little context. When I last (dis)graced these pages, I was bragging about being on holiday in New York. I have been back home for the past few weeks now, but I'm still in the inevitable -- and very difficult to shake off -- New York Parting Depression -- the NYPD Blues.
Friends/colleagues/strangers on the Luas can only roll their eyes as, in between bouts of hysterical weeping, I start every sentence with, "Well, in New York it's like this ... " or "In New York, you can do that..."
It's a terribly unfair comparison: very few cities can come out well when stacked up against An Ull Mor.
Be that as it may, I feel compelled to say that there's one sphere in which Dublin seriously falls down flat -- and that's in the provision of the aforementioned games.
Now, before anyone reaches for the smelling salts, let me clarify: I'm talking about board games. Picture the scene: New York, Friday night, four weeks ago. One member of our travelling contingent got wind of a gospel band playing in a bar in the West Village and insisted on us all going. We reluctantly trudged along -- we've been burned in the past by following her musical tastes -- but in this case I'm so glad we did.
Not only was the band (Gospel Queens of Brooklyn, in case you're interested) incredible, but the venue itself, Fat Cat, was packed with chess boards, pool tables, shuffleboards, ping-pong tables, Scrabble boards, checkers and backgammon tables.
After paying a cover charge of $3 -- $3! -- we stayed in Fat Cat for the next six hours, listening to music, chugging beers, and lounging around on sofas, while people around us tried to top one another's word score, or check the other's mate (in the purely 'chess' sense of the word, of course). It was immensely chilled out.
It stayed that way even when it was our turn to commandeer the shuffleboard table. Among our group, teams quickly formed along exquisite socio-cultural and politico-historical lines: the four Irish against the three Brits. We went at it for hours, but the actual final result has been lost in the beer-soaked haze of time.
It got me thinking though, about why there are not more -- any? -- places like that in Dublin. Okay, we have pool halls and arcades but, in my experience, those places are far too prone to be taken over by gangs of -- shudder -- teenagers.
What I'm talking about is a games venue-cum-bar-cum-music venue strictly for those of us who don't need a fake ID to get served. This place in New York had a totally different atmosphere to the usual pub or club. The games were the main attraction, as opposed to doing shots, pulling, or even dancing (though said games could lead to all those things later on in the night).
To be fair, there are a few bars in Dublin that have opted to think outside the box: one establishment on the Northside has a make-and-do night on Mondays, for instance, and it's great fun.
I think people are starved for alternatives on nights out. With times the way they are, now might be the best chance for some enterprising business folk to go for something a bit different, and see the public response. They just might be surprised. I'd imagine that's how they do it in New York ... sorry. That's the last time. I swear.
- Declan Cashin
Irish Independent
