Vicar Street is a concert, performing arts centre and events venue in Dublin, Ireland. Located on Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Vicar Street has capacity for 1,050 people for seated performances and 1,500 people for standing gigs. The venue is owned by Harry Crosbie and operated by Peter Aiken. Since opening in 1998, the venue has become a popular setting for a wide range of acts including stand-up comedy, drama performances and a variety of concerts. The first artist to play on the Vicar Street Stage was local singer/songwriter Shay Cotter. Major international recording artists have performed in Vicar Street, such as

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

in 2000, Neil Young in 2003,

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

in 2008, Paul Simon and

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

in 2011, and

Lana Del Rey Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, Glamour (presentation), glamour, and melan ...

in 2013. Because of its intimate size, the venue is one looked on with warmth by fans and acts alike.

Notable events

Longest-running solo show

The longest-running show to take place in Vicar Street was Tommy Tiernan's ''Loose'' show with a string of 166 performances.

Other events

Vicar Street hosts the

Choice Music Prize The Choice Music Prize (), known for sponsorship reasons as the RTÉ Choice Music Prize is an annual music prize awarded to the best album from a band or solo musician who is born in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland or holds an Irish pa ...

ceremony in February/March each year. Occasionally the venue is used to accommodate higher attendances than expected at smaller venues. In 2008, Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band Wolf Parade's November show which had been scheduled for Andrew's Lane Theatre was moved to Vicar Street.

performed at the venue in 2000 for his first, and as yet, only gig at the venue. Lankum have played here many times with the nights known for their debauchery, general mayhem and off kilter vibes.

Gary Numan Gary Anthony James Webb (born 8 March 1958), known professionally as Gary Numan, is an English musician. He entered the music industry as frontman of the new wave band Tubeway Army. After releasing two albums with the band, he released his ...

played his first concert in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

here in 2001.

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guit ...

played a series of concerts at the venue on 30 & 31 January and on 4 & 5, 11 & 12 February 2004, which were recorded and from which selected material was released on the CD '' Live 2004'' and its associated DVD. Bell X1 played two shows in November 2008 to celebrate the venue's tenth anniversary. In March 2009, the Irish Anti-War Movement hosted a fund-raising event at Vicar Street, featuring

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Ireland, Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as an individual, he is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first ...

, Stephen Rea, Sinéad Cussack, Róisín Elsafy, Mick Pyro, Judith Mok and Joyce. A Musicians For Marriage Equality show featuring artists such as Michele Ann Kelly and The Spikes took place at Vicar Street in October 2009. "Weird Al" Yankovic played his first, and so far only, concert in Ireland here on October 26, 2015, during the Mandatory World Tour.

Live recordings

Many comedians and musicians, both from Ireland and abroad, have chosen to record some of their live material at the venue. These include Simon Amstell,

Aslan Aslan () is a major character in C. S. Lewis's '' The Chronicles of Narnia'' series. Unlike any other character, he appears in all seven chronicles of the series. Aslan is depicted as a talking lion, and is described as the King of Beasts, the ...

Des Bishop Desmond Bishop (born 12 November 1975) is an American-Irish comedian. He was brought up in New York and moved to Ireland at the age of 14. He primarily resides there. Approach to comedy Bishop's comedy has covered social issues, such as poverty ...

, Jason Byrne, Damien Dempsey,

The Dubliners The Dubliners were an Folk music of Ireland, Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personn ...

, Erasure,

The Frames The Frames are an Irish rock band based in Dublin. Founded in 1990 by Glen Hansard, the band has been influential in the Dublin rock music scene. The group has released six studio albums. In addition to Hansard, the band's current line-up in ...

, Andy Irvine's 70th birthday concerts,

Kíla Kíla is a 1987 Irish folk music/ world music group from the Irish language secondary school, Coláiste Eóin in County Dublin. Band History Kíla began in 1987 in the secondary in Coláiste Eoin, in the first year they busked nearly every we ...

, Dylan Moran, Moving Hearts, Mundy,

Josh Ritter Josh Ritter (born October 21, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006, he was named one of ...

Tommy Tiernan Tommy Tiernan (; born 16 June 1969) is an Irish comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for hosting ''The Tommy Tiernan Show'' (2017–present) and playing Gerry in the sitcom ''Derry Girls'' (2018–2022). Early life Tiernan was born in ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Fu ...

, and Foil, Arms & Hog.

Awards

Vicar Street has been awarded the ''Live Music Venue of the Year Award'', in the national and Dublin-based categories of the IMRO awards, for two years running in 2009 and 2008 – the first two years of the IMRO Music Venue Awards. In addition in 2008, it also received the ''Hot Press Readers Award for Best Live Music Venue in Ireland''.

References

External links

Official site

Reviews of various concerts in Vicar Street
{{Coord, 53.342667, N, 6.277815, W, type:landmark_region:IE, display=title Music in Dublin (city) Music venues in Dublin (city) Tourist attractions in Dublin (city) Theatres in Dublin (city)