One of Dublin clubbing’s big success stories in recent times celebrates four years next weekend. The Bernard Shaw music bar in Portobello, renovated from scratch by promoters Bodytonic in 2006, has become a unique club-in-a-pub, holding its own with bigger venues in terms of the range and quality of music, along with quirks like the renovated Dublin Bus in its backyard which doubles as a chipper van, its regular art events and carboot sales.

“At least something good has come out of the recession,” jokes Bodytonic mainman Trevor O’Shea, “If we hadn’t opened it, there would probably be apartments or townhouses there now, with a token convenience store on one side and a coffee shop on the other”. A weekend of birthday celebrations is planned, with special emphasis on the long-standing residents such as Nic James and Shortie (pictured). More info at www.bodytonicmusic.com.
Dubstep and all strains of bass house have arrived with a bang up north, where Pressure Belfast at Queens’ Student Union Bar has won a big following over the last few months. With new mixes from all the residents this month on mixcloud they are setting the scene for December 4, when the Godfather of Dubstep, El-B, will join them behind the decks for his debut Irish appearance. Find out more at www.mixcloud.com/pressurebelfast. South of the border, meanwhile, Ireland’s first dubstep label has appeared in the form of Dubwhaat? a mysterious homegrown imprint which launched in a blaze of bass at Crawdaddy last week. For more on the label, contact www.facebook.com/dubsphere.
Inspired by his experience DJ-ing at Mexico’s Eurofest 2010 festival back in May, Irish producer Bryan Kearney’s ‘Mexican Rave’ has been one of the most talked about tracks of the year on the hard-dance circuit and there haas been a high demand for a proper release. A maverick mutant of electro-bass and classic trance, the tune will now be coming out on Bryan’s own Kearnage label before the end of the year, bolstered by a more straight up trance mix from Neal Scarborough. See www.bryankearney.com for more details.
Giving the Bernard Shaw (above) a run for its money since last month is The Grand Social (formerly Pravda), which has expanded to three floors and among the eclectic mix of clubnights, Tenth PlanetMusic have moved their art/techno PopUp! night here from its previous home at Studio 54. They’ll be hosting a DJ set from Norwegian techno newcomer Haiko Laux on Saturday November 27 with another of their once-off Bring Your Own Booze parties planned for Friday December 3 at a secret location.
For more info on both, contact www.tenthplanetmusic.com.
There’s been some shake-ups in the roster at RTÉ Pulse FM, the national digital dance station, with some fresh talent coming on board, in the form of Whiplash, a new Sunday night show with debutante Smacken, featuring tracks and interviews from the alternative side of dance. Meanwhile, turntablist hero DJ Laz-E is making a return to the airwaves with The Paradise Express, a concept show bringing the listener back to the roots of dance music, with prime NYC disco cuts from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. www.rte.ie/pulse has all the info.
A storming techno set from one of Ireland’s finest in the genre, Gobsmacked’s Luke Creed, has been selected as a podcast on the influential technopodcast.com podcast series. Recorded live at Basement, Waterford, the mix sees Luke rip through over 50 tracks – including some of his originals with enough style to grab him a place in the series, next to big names such as Dave Clarke, Adam Beyer and Jeff Mills, Download at www.technopodcast.com.