Back in the early 90s when Dublin had enough venues to support something approaching a proper club scene, fans of harder, more challenging beats had a regular Friday night appointment for UFO in the Waterfront on Sir John Rogersons Quay. Long before the docklands was home to gleaming office blocks, conference centres and fancy new bridges, resident DJ François oversaw 4 hours of sweaty techno dancing in a no nonsense venue that was all about the tunes.
International guests over the years included DJ Rolando (Underground Resistance), Luke Slater (Peacefrog, Novamute), Christian Vogel (Mille Plateaux, Tresor), Surgeon (Downwards, Tresor), Steve Bicknell (Lost), Richard Miller (Havana, Out on a Limb) But like many weekly institutions of the time UFO was just as intense for a 4 hour set by François or a live set by local pioneers Decal or Rob Rowland.
Marking 30 years since UFO settled into its groove in the Waterfront/Columbia Mills, the original team are bringing the experience back for one special night at Sound House on Friday, November 22.
What: UFO 30 featuring François, Dean Sherry, Decal (Live) and Mick Heaney
When: Friday November 22, 2024, 9pm-3am
Tickets: €20/€25 available now from the Sound House
UFO was always welcoming to all the tribes that made up the dancefloor. A donation from ticket proceeds will be made to BelongTo, the LGBTQ youth organisation which caters for young people aged between 14–23 years.
For more information: John Collins jcollinsdub@gmail.com
Francois
An avid music enthusiast, DJ François began playing parties in the late 80s, landing his first regular gig at the Anarchy Night Café in Sides. In 1989, himself and Mick Heaney’s Unlimited Freak Out in UCD bar became a by-word for Friday night hedonism. The early success in Belfield led to a regular slot in the newly opened Rock Garden in Temple Bar, where UFO began to focus on harder dance sounds rather than the baggy beats that were the signature in UCD.
Although upstairs in the Rock Garden only had a capacity of 200, UFO quickly built up a loyal following with enthusiastic fans queueing up to an hour before the doors opened. UFO remained at the Rock Garden for 2 years before the venue was sold and dance music was shown the door – the final night in Rock Garden was legendary with an all Irish line up of DJs taking over the two floors of the sold out venue (with about a 1,000 disappointed punters turned away)
UFO’s tenure in the Waterfront/Columbia Mills from 1994 -1996 coincided with the explosion of dance music in Ireland. Always full on and not for the faint hearted, non-stop strobe lights and dense smoke filled the venue as François and a rota of Irish DJ’s ensured a full house every week.
The soundtrack evolved over that period to focus more on rough tough techno, with a heavy Detroit and Chicago influence and international guests such as Luke Slater, Christian Vogel, Surgeon and The Aztec Mystic aka DJ Rolando. During this time François also released the first ever Irish DJ mix CD, all 1,000 of which sold by word of mouth alone.
All good things come to an end however and UFO finally closed its doors for the last time in late 1996. François went on to residencies at the Kitchen and Redbox, was in demand as a DJ around the country and played major events and festivals like the triumphant Homelands at Mosney. He gave up DJing full-time in 2002. t
Mick Heaney
UFO OG, Mick was co-resident with Francois when UFO began live in UCD bar as the Unlimited Freak Out, where you could expect to hear indie, ska, hip hop, house, techno and whatever you’re having yourself thrown into the mix. Expect to hear a similar mix of funky soulfulness as Mick programs the sounds in the back room for UFO 30. Just don’t call it Balearic!
Dean Sherry
Kicking off in 1993 when he was barely old enough to clubbing legally, Dean became weekend resident at the legendary late-night basement club Shaft where he regularly played 6-8 hour sets. More recently he held down a Saturday night residency in the Wright Venue and over the years has played nearly ever club in Dublin that mattered. He still flies the flag for funky hard house and techno with Phever Live TV-Radio streaming from the heart of Dublin.
Decal
Dublin techno and electro pioneers Decal will be playing a special live set at UFO 30. Decal have a special place in UFO history having played a storming set at a sweatbox Waterfront not long after they’d dropped their seminal album, Ultramack 004 (a staple of many a Dublin afters in the 90s). They were also the live turn when UFO took over the mezzanine at Dance Nation in the Point Depot in June 1995 and helped us blow the doors off. Since then they’ve had countless releases on seminal labels like D1 Recordings, Sabrettes, Rotter’s Golf Club, Leaf, Planet Mu and just this year dropped the Trama Artifacts long player on Intrinsic Rhythm
(More acts to be announced)
