Dubliners of a certain vintage will have fond memories of The Underground.

Dublin’s music scene was riding the U2 swell in the 80s when a narrow, 150 capacity basement venue sprang up on Dame St. The Underground was a natural home to bands making their early forays into gigging - the likes of A House, Therapy? and Whipping Boy were among those to cut their teeth there.

As Paul Page of Whipping Boy put it in a blog post remembering the venue, “it wasn’t plastered with posters or rock memorabilia. It wasn’t a hang out for Dublin celebrities. It was a place for genuine music fans, there was no bullshit VIP area, or welcome mat laid out for Dublin scene-sters.”

Dave Judge - of Abner Brown’s barbershop in Rathmines and the driving force behind the Canalophonic festival - was one of many to have spent their youth in the Underground, and now he’s aiming to recapture the spirit of the place with his new venue.

The new Underground is beside Peadar Kearney’s and will reportedly have space for 120.

Judge announced the new venture on Facebook today, saying: “The Underground was an iconic place back in the day and I hope to recreate the vibe just a few doors up from the old venue , very excited about this project, it'll be a place for music lovers and for all of you people who've supported Abners up to now. Open in mid Sept all going well.”