At Cypress Avenue they're preparing to open the doors to gigs, at last

Microdisney on stage at Cypress Avenue, Cork City. Pic: Gavin Browne

The crew behind the venue were just getting into the swing of an extended programming offering, while further improvements and expansions were in the cards, says venue owner Ger Kiely.

Then, on March 12, 2020, as the spread of Covid-19 was happening all over the world and the first cases were diagnosed here in Ireland, the decree came to restrict gatherings to 100 or less indoors, which turned into a complete shutdown later that week.

Venues instead recorded and streamed gigs for online consumption in late December and throughout January. Kiely talks about the funding, and weighs up the stresses of the situation with the efforts of people in the arts department in helping venues grapple with it.
“But again, things changed drastically after the spectre of lockdown 2, and the spectre of new variants on the horizon, so they ended up being streaming-only events, but we managed to create 1,200 man-hours over 32 streams that we recorded in 12 days.

“There’s a great benefit to it, for local acts specifically, to have a facility like that in the venue is really good because they wouldn’t normally have access to multitrack recording facilities, and five- or six-camera setups. So there’s definitely the benefit there for the local scene in terms of getting content for bands.

The winter programme at the venue has slowly been announced over the past few weeks, reflecting an overall caution in the gig-going public to snag tickets immediately for fear of further postponements, but also mirroring public confidence, and a hope of getting back inside the walls of gig venues as the vaccine programme rolls out.

Dublin punks Pillow Queens have appeared on the US’ Late Late Show with James Corden Villagers’ Cyprus-promoted appearance at the Opera House is a hot ticket as part of a post-pandemic tour, and local acts like The Love Buzz have made inroads with US indie media, and are starting to regain their momentum in terms of live bookings.
- For more information on upcoming gigs, and to book tickets, see cyprusavenue.ie. The Old Oak and One One Five Cafe are currently open for seating outdoor dining on Caroline Street.