The Knowhere Guide

The Local Music Scene in Galway, Galway*

Galway, Galway Record Shops and Venues

Record Shops

• Zhivagos (Shop Street, Eyre Square) are over-priced but do have a good selection of general rock/pop/metal - your average high street shop basically. Golden Discs (Eglinton Street) is more reasonably priced as they are a national chain but stock the same stuff. Redlight Records (shop Street, Eglinton Street) are somewhere in between Zhivago's and Golden Discs in terms of price but are streets ahead on service and ordering in stuff for you. Mulligan's is more of a trad/world music type of shop, doesn't do pop/rock, apart from whatever the owner likes.
• Muligan's-most eclectic selection but a miserable bastard of an owner-dude you own a record shop cheer up!
• Mulligans world of music is great for world music, specialist folk , and electronica
• mulligans records shop on middle st,good selection.Zhivago:avoid at all costs.rip off prices,unfriendly and unhelpful staff.redlight records:decent selection considering how small the shop is,Des the owner is very friendly
• Zhivago's for overpriced crap.
• Forget it. Go to Dublin. Unfortunately a piss-poor local chain (Zhivago) has a monopoly on the music retail industry in this town. Inflated prices, crap ordering service, etc. There is only one good record shop - Mulligan's in Middle Street. It has a very wide selection of music (alternative/indie/folk/roots/jazz/blues/traditional/world), but doesn't go in for anything technological. The bloke in there will get you whatever he can, as quick as he can, and he won't charge you over-the-odds prices. There is one more traditional record shop - Powell's on Shop Street. It has a good selection of Irish traditional and folk.
• There are many music stores on Shop Street.

Clubs (Dance Music) and Music Bars

• Check out www.galwaycitypubguide.com
• Check out www.galwaycitypubguide.com. Read reviews,watch videos, post comments and photos
• recipe: techno thursdays + drum and bass saturdays, 4/5euro, you go through an old metal gate up into a mad function room, always a few local djs, alway a high standard, always loads of folk dancing. Above An Pucan, forster st. its opposite the park house hotel, near the bus station ! Worth a look.
• gpo,
• Spacedog in De Burgos every month. Electro Punk Funk with live keys and samples. Freshly brewed madness for those who know what clubbing is... (check www.spacedogpromotions.com )
• Cuba - Eyre Square - ground floor - bar, first floor - dance club (mainly mainstream dance), second floor - metal Karma (formerly the Alley) - Eyre Square - dance club with a couple of oldies/60's/70's thrown in to please the oldies in the crowd CP's - Abbeygate Street - cattle mart. Nuff said. Halo - 3 doors down from CP's - a more upmarket version of CP's. Aims for the over 25's well-heeled GPO - Eglinton Street - rated as one of the best in Galway by both university and college students.
• Cuba GPO CPs Radisson
• cps:meatmarket,full of dollybirds and sweaty ruggerbugger types.AVOID. Cuba:not great,have some occasional good gigs on Gpo:blah
• I loved CJ'S and Oasis apart from that big welsh bouncer.
• alley,boo radleys
• Best club in Galway has the be Church lane (down a side rd next to eastons) a perfect club for cheesy music , everybody has a good time, jumps around and generally makes an ass of themself.
• All rubbish, recently endured cuba, what were those people doing on the third floor. Weirdo's.
• There are only really two venues for anything in this vein: the GPO, with long-running clubs such as Jazz Juice. Liquid in Salthill also appears to be popular with this genre, but unfortunately I can't really comment because I know very little about it at all. During the week, the clubs in Galway are full of students, and only students. Chief culprits here: the GPO in Eglinton Street (anyone and everyone goes there), The Icon and The Alley in Eyre Square (smarter dressed, no-brains music, etc.), CP's in Abbeygate Street (less studenty, more working person, smarter dressed, etc.)
• GPO's is better than the neon chrome job on the next street. It's not that great but, let's face it, you don't come to Galway for the club scene. Open till two and popular with the local young crowd and students. Still gets some septics though.

Live Music Venues

• Richardsons on Eyre Square for Punk,Metal,Rock,etc. And Sally Longs for more of the same.
• King's head, the Cellar, the Drum, the Quays, Roisin Dubh, Sally Longs...your best bet is to check out the Galway Advertiser local paper, it's free, published on Thursdays, offices in Eyre Square, with a kiosk in the Galway Shopping Centre. They charge 50 cent to give it to you before 2pm so ask around in the newsagents of the city, they usually get their deliveries of it first thing on a thurs morning. Gotta be quick tho, it's usually gone by 12pm! It has a comprehensive listing of who's playing where. Bands to watch for:Kif, Pyramid, The Weightless Astronauts, Tightrope Larger music venues are in Castlegar, just outside the city, Leisuseland in Salthill, or now Pearse Stadium, home of Galway GAA, also in Salthill
• Back in the day it was The Roisin Dubh, Monroes and later on Cuba.
• Cellar Roisin Dubh GPO Cuba Mc Swiggans
• sally longs on abbeygate street for metal gigs,the roisin dubh on dominick st for decent and varied music
• black box,cuba live
• Loads of them. Interesting acts. Steve Earle. Nils Lofgren.
• For local bands and small-name bands, Roisin Dubh is about the best. Bigger-name bands seldom come, but when they do (Primal Scream, Ocean Colour Scene), they are forced to play Leisureland, which is simply the worst venue in the world. Avoid, even if it is your favourite band.

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Last updated: 2008-07-04