Gorilla Biscuits + Drive + Unsound – Dublin 1991

Apr 13 1991

Gorilla Biscuits, Drive, Unsound

Charlie’s

Christy asked if New York band Gorilla Biscuits could play Ireland. Drive from England had been looking to come over on the same weekend. So we thought why not make it a double bill? I rang Tony Doherty from NorthWest Musician’s Collective in Derry, because his number was in the Hot Press Yearbook, and asked if they would be  interested in putting on certain bands. They had a venue up there and Tony agreed with relish. Though Gorilla Biscuits and Drive didn’t make it to Derry, Tony asked if Roosevelt’s Farm, from Derry, could play Dublin so this gig seemed like an opportune time. Gorilla Biscuits featured some people from Quicksand so we felt there would be a good crowd at the gig. Their ferry was due to arrive into Cork and we asked Emmet and Shane Fitzsimons to organise something there. They readily agreed as, up to now, American bands hadn’t had time to play outside Dublin and Belfast.

Unfortunately Gorilla Biscuits missed their ferry from France and the Cork gig went ahead  without them. So, £180 lost on that one. Gorilla Biscuits made it into Dublin on time and Charlie’s was packed out. The queues had formed early and the doors had to be opened during the soundchecks, as there were complaints from the adjoining businesses.

We fitted 200 people into Charlie’s and the venue was full beyond capacity. We  hadn’t realised just how popular this band was – in an all-too-rare occurrence, people were mouthing the words along to the songs. Our plan was to try and get these to return.