SPEAK YOUR BRAINS - Tripod misery

The spectre of buffoons on the doors of our cities' watering holes is something Irish people have been subjected to, and in a fashion typical of our race, have grown to accept. However in the world on gig-going, afficionados have been relatively lucky in that most establishments treat their customers like human beings. Not so in Tripod on Sunday night unfortunately. From being ushered to a table on the street for an airport-style pocket-emptying and frisking (free cupping included), to being forced to wait ten minutes for having bought tickets online (with the manager holding two of our group's credit cards in his office for these ten minutes), to being forced along the corridor without even having had the chance to put change back in our pockets after using the cloak room, the Harcourt Street venue's staff showed such a blatant disregard and disrespect for their customers. And as for the mop guys, they actually pushed a friend of ours out of the way to continue mopping the dancefloor!! It wasn't even wet.

Being made to feel as if one has done something wrong is not conducive to a good night out. Approaching customers with a "guilty until proven innocent" attitude is not the way to run a business. Now perhaps Tripod have had trouble in the past and feel the need to adopt a more heavy-handed approach, but none of this excuses the way they went on. I strongly feel none of the 5 of us who entered together will go back to the place ever again. If they want to behave like that, they will quickly (and maybe already have, given the venue was half-empty) lost any potential customer with an ounce of dignity or a brain in their head. Businesses cannot be let get away with treating people like criminals, animals or idiots.

As it turns out, Matthew Dear played a blinding set. Pity it hadn't been held somewhere where we could actually enjoy it.