THE DANDELION MARKET
by John Fisher


The gigs in the Dandelion Market have become the source of many a tall tale, unfounded rumour and urban legend. So this is my recollection of the venue and how it came to be.

In the summer of 1976, me (John Fisher) and Eoin O'Shea went to The Reading Festival and The Rolling Stones in Knebworth and saw the early days of the Punk explosion in London. We came back with our rucksacks full of badges and set up a stall in the market selling badges, T-Shirts, posters etc. Up until then, the market had been a bit of a hippy haven - full of cheesecloth shirts, incense and Grandad shirts. So our stall, Sticky Fingers, was a bit out on a limb.

We decided that we needed more Punks, Mods and Rockers coming in so we decided to use the one vacant area in the market - an enclosed dark, dank shed that housed the power supply for the whole market. We cleaned it out, white-washed the walls and set-up a small stage built of leftover beer crates, breeze-blocks and a few sheets of chipboard that we bought. The venue was now ready - now we just needed some bands.

The Noise Boys were the first band to take to that rather shaky stage - I don't remember why exactly - maybe it was through my friendship with Tim McStay (Keyboards). I do remember the next band better - Ferdia McAnna and Dave Sweeney both worked for us selling badges at the stall and had decided to set up a band - Rocky DeValera & The Gravediggers. They played the next Saturday and from then on, we were rocking.

That Sunday, two guys approached me and introduced themselves as Larry and Dave from a band called U2. I had heard about them and knew that they were already a 'real' (i.e. gigging) band. They wanted to see the venue and asked if they could play there. We had already booked bands for the following weekend, so I told them that they could play the week after. The legendary gigs were about to begin....

But I was also excited about the likes of Berlin, Fit Kilkenny and The Blades , all of whom I knew well. There were many memorable gigs there - for me the best of which were The Outcasts which often ended with bass player Getti leaving a pool of blod on the stage from attacking his instrument with such venom.

Over the coming weeks, the gigs went from strength to strength. We had a unique rule - we changed a flat entrance fee of 50p and the bands got all the takings - we only took a pound or two if we needed to buy new chipboard for the stage or a few light bulbs. The only other condition was that the bands who played had to come in early in order to re-build the stage which was inevitably smashed up by the local kids during the week when the market reverted to being a sprawling car park - and that included U2!

My other main memories of the gigs were that, especially in winter or if the band were using a few more lights than usual, the main fuse would often blow. This often resulted in a complete blackout of the whole market - much to the annoyance of the other traders - especially the ones who were already angry with us for bringing in a rough and rowdy bunch of punks. Another stall-holder, Jack The Lad, was the designated electrician for the market and he would be summonsed to fix the fuse. Eventually though, to save time and hassle, he showed us how to do it and we would regularly be seen running into the corner where the fuse-board was housed to do the necessary repairs.

I remember one time that U2 were playing and their lighting person hadn't turned up. The term lighting technician wasn't used then - it was only 3 spotlights on a bar on either side of the stage. I was asked to do the necessary and suddenly found myself doing the lights. I thought I was doing OK until in one particular song, I turned all the lights out on one side of the stage plunging Adam into complete darkness while at the same time almost burning Edge's irises out with a full blast of light. Needless to say, I wasn't asked to do the lights on their last world tour!

Anyway, for what it's worth, here is the list. If you were there, enjoy the memories, if you weren't, this is what we did then, enjoy your time now .....!!

Feel free to contact me with your own stories of what I think of as a magical time when for a short time, we thought we could change the world (ha!).

John Fisher




FULL LIST OF BANDS WHO PLAYED IN THE DANDELION MARKET
(APRIL 1979 - MARCH 1980)


1979
APRIL
Sat 21 The Noise Boys
Sun 22 No Gig

Sat 28 Rocky DeValera & The Grave Diggers
Sun 29 Room Service

MAY
Sat 5 Berlin
Sun 6 Zebra

Sat 12 U2
Sun 13 Fit Kilkenny & The Remoulds

Sat 19 Highly Contagious / High 'n' Dry
Sun 20 The Letters / The Black Catholics

Sat 26 Roumantics / The Strougers
Sun 27 The Blades / Strange Movements

JUNE
Sat 02 Jaroc / Lydon Shunt
Sun 03 The Rage

Sat 09 A.P.B.
Sun 10 Free Booze / The Discords

Sat 16 The Blades / Revolver
Sun 17 D.C. Nien / The Modulators

Sat 23 Room Service / Blue Angel
Sun 24 Sidewinder / The Haze

Sat 30 The Boy Scoutz
JULY
Sun 01 Too Much Yin

Sat 07 ? (No details)
Sun 08 ? (No Details)

Sat 14 Blackout
Sun 15 Dreamdates (Boy Scoutz, The Sinners, Fabulous Fabrics)

Sat 21 Free Booze
Sun 22 Uncle Waldo / P45 / Crisis

Sat 28 U2 / The Strougers
Sun 29 New Versions / The Blitz

AUGUST
Sat 04 New Versions
Sun 05 The Atrix

Sat 11 U2
Sun 12 The Moondogs

Sat 18 The Tearjerkers
Sun 19 Emerald

Sat 25 Berlin
Sun 26 The Threat / Social Fools

SEPTEMBER
Sat 01 D.C. Nien
Sun 02 D.C. Nien / Human Error

Sat 08 Brown Thomas Band
Sun 09 U2

Sat 15 U2
Sun 16 The Blades

Sat 22 U2
Sun 23 Square Meal

Sat 29 No Gig* * (The Pope playing in Phoenix park!)
Sun 30 The Scheme / Static Routines

OCTOBER
Sat 06 The Resistors
Sun 07 The Roach Band

Sat 13 The Atrix
Sun 14 The Atrix

Sat 20 The Resistors
Sun 21 The Epidemics

Sat 27 New Belson / Soul Survivors / The Vain
Sun 28 D.C. Nien

NOVEMBER
Sat 03 Population / The Strougers / The Regents
Sun 04 New Belson / The Scheme

Sat 10 The Cheaters
Sun 11 Neon Heart / The Alternatives

Sat 17 U2* / The Epidemics *(U2 farewell gig when they went to London for the first time)
Sun 18 Sacre Bleu

Sat 24 D.C. Nien
Sun 25 D.C. Nien

DECEMBER
Sat 01 The Outcasts
Sun 02 The Outcasts

Sat 08 New Versions
Sun 09 The Threat

Sat 15 Shock Treatment / Lovers of Today
Sun 16 The Epidemix / The Bogey Boys

Sat 22 The Male Caucasians
Sun 23 U2* / The Threat *(U2 just back from first trip to London)
Mon 24 Dino & The Dolphins

Sat 29 Low Profile
Sun 30 The Scheme


1980
JANUARY
Sat 05 The Epidemix
Sun 06 The Setz

Sat 12 The Epidemix
Sun 13 No Gig

Sat 19 No Gig* *(I don't remember why there were no gigs - maybe a bus strike?)
Sun 20 No Gig

Sat 26 No Gig
Sun 27 Strike

FEBRUARY
Sat 02 Berlin
Sun 03 Da Dudes

Sat 09 The Parasites
Sun 10 ? (No Details)

Sat 16 Shell Shock Rock* / Shock Treatment *(John T. Davis film about The Outcasts)
Sun 17 Shell Shock Rock* / The Sect *(John T. Davis film about The Outcasts)

Sat 23 Nun Attax
Sun 24 Dynamo

MARCH
Sat 01 Rudi / The Outcasts / Big Self
Sun 02 ? (No Details)

Sat 08 The Muff Divers
Sun 09 The Epidemix


Sat 15
Sun 16 Strike

Sat 22 Banditz
Sun



All these listings come from an almost contemporaneous list that I recently found that was written within a year of the last gig.
source: John Fischer - U2gigs