Daniel in Dublin – Rock ‘n’ Roll Museum
With tourist season fully upon us I haven’t really had time to go and visit any attractions around the city. A few days ago, however, I did find myself with some free time so I decided to visit the Irish Rock ‘n’ Museum Experience in Temple Bar.
The exhibit is housed in a well-known venue in the city called The Button Factory, which I actually performed at when I was in a band a million years ago, so it was really cool to see the place again only this time I was there to learn about some of the (other) famous musicians who’ve passed through its doors.
We were met by our guide Brian who proceeded to usher us downstairs towards the old studio. The first stop on the tour was along a corridor which displayed some of the most famous records to have ever come out of Ireland over the years, the likes of U2, Thin Lizzy and Rory Gallagher to name a few.
Now, that’s all well and good but further along that same corridor they have on display what I can only assume is the crown jewel of their memorabilia….. Michael Jackson’s pyjama top! That’s right, they have Michael Jackson’s pyjamas. Now beside that they have one of his old touring jackets but it was all about the jammies for me.
Next up we were brought to the U2 room. This was the room the band put countless hours of practice in when they were just a group of lads from Dublin working on their craft. Naturally that room was filled with all sorts of U2 paraphernalia.
After the U2 room Brian brought us into another room where we were shown a short video about the history of Irish music and the influence our music had worldwide from the Clancy Brothers with their Aran sweaters right up to current musicians such as Hozier, Imelda May and The Coronas.
The next room had some music equipment set up and ready to go and that’s where Brian handed me a guitar and asked me to play a little for the other members of out group. I probably shouldn’t have told him about me performing here back in the day. Incidentally, I don’t play guitar too often anymore so all I could think to play was House of the Rising Sun. I’m sure Brian was hoping I’d play and auld Irish classic or something but that’s what he gets for putting me on the spot!
Last stop on the tour was across the street in their newer recording studio. Let’s call this the Phil Lynott room because this place was filled with a bunch of his stuff including his jackets, guitars, his famous bass and even his mam’s old juke box which strictly only played Thin Lizzy songs.
Now I’m big into my music so this experience was right up my street. I absolutely loved it. For such a small nation we’ve had an incredible amount of talent come from here. For me, the Irish Rock ‘n’ Museum Experience is a must do in Dublin, especially for the fellow music heads out there.
Big thank you to Brian for showing us around, a true gentleman I really enjoyed his stories and commentary, I had a great time and I’ll definitely be back.
Daniel VTT
