Hot Press Irish Music Hall of Fame

A previous post on a briefly operating (1999-2001), expensive, Dublin tourist attraction with a drink licence did fairly well, so why not do another?

The Hot Press Irish Music Hall of Fame shares a few similarities - it cost in the millions to open, it was open from 1999-2001, it flopped, and it is still licenced (as N2256 The Academy). The major difference to the Icon Centre is that you can actually still get a drink there today - and I have, in both of its replacement incarnations. 

Hot Press, for the somehow unaware, is a long-running Irish music magazine, founded in 1977. Like Baileys, its name had some value to add to a tourist attraction - the magazine has circulated outside Ireland and is mentioned in the novel Fever Pitch, for instance - and Hot Press were directly involved in actually running this, rather than just renting their name to an operator.

Dublin's place as a global tourist attraction was growing throughout the 1990s, and more and more tourist attractions and time-killers were being opened every year. Both the Hall of Fame and the Icon Centre would have been part of this trend, to try capture the ever increasing tourist trade.

I missed visiting both of them, for different reasons. As an inquisitive teenager armed with Pat Liddy's walking tour books (I covered the pub crawl elements of these books some years ago), I've actually visited all sorts of semi-obscure museums and attractions that popped up in the years before their publication (1998 & 2001); but the Baileys centre would have been 18+; but the reason I didn't do the Hall of Fame I can't remember - I thought now it might have been expensive tickets or another age bar, but ads showed that it was £4 (€5) for under 16s. 

The story of the Hall of Fame itself starts earlier than the Icon Centre (I'm going to try stop the comparisons now), in 1995 with a planning application for Trinity Street, in the building which then housed the Hot Press offices. This received the green light in 1997; but progress didn't wait for that permission as there were articles in 1996 claiming that it would be open on that site in 1997. Prices given in those 1996 articles ranged from £1.5m  to £2m (~€2-2.5m); and apparently just under £1m (~€1.3m) was raised via a Business Expansion Scheme model - a tax efficient investment structure of the era with modern equivalents.

But the Hall of Fame didn't open on Trinity Street, or anywhere, in 1997. A 1998 interview with Niall Stokes discusses the now £5.3m (€6.7m) proposal for Middle Abbey Street, which is what did actually happen. This site had been placed for sale in 1996 with planning for a theatre, and £5.3m is realistic for the costs of building a multi-room music venue. The site was previously Cowan's Furriers, closing in the late 1980s.

Recruitment ads start in January 1999, initially for chefs and managers for the "new innovative world cuisine" restaurant - an odd choice for a museum of Irish achievement, in my opinion - followed a few months later by ads for bar staff. 

The Hall of Fame opened in April 1999 - with an "official" opening on July 30th 1999 -  although some reports of both openings focused more on the music venue - branded as HQ - and the restaurant (Jam) and bars than the actual tourist element. However, the tourist  element was the main daytime use of the premises.

The tourist bit sounds more interesting than some equivalent things I've seen or suffered around the globe, particularly by the standards of 1999. The tour was apparently 100 minutes in length, using a headset timed to various video features, memorabilia items and physical interactions including the option to "role play as a rock star stepping on to a brightly lit stage to thunderous applause" according to the Sligo Champion's June 1999 review. The music covered seems to have been a fair representation of Irish music, from that with primarily domestic impact (showbands) through to trad, pop and the internationally successful rock bands of the 70s-90s. The interactive elements were reportedly by Martello Media, who have been involved in work at a number of other noted attractions such as the GPO Witness History Centre.

The music venue gets plenty of listings coverage throughout 1999, with occasional awards ceremonies (including Hot Press's own Awards) interrupting a succession of Irish and international acts; and special events such as a Thin Lizzy gig for what would have Phil Lynott's 50th birthday.

But what is a Hall of Fame without inductees? It would be a grandiose name for a museum otherwise. This was answered in September 1999 with the first induction, of Van Morrison. There are no reports of a 2000 or 2001 inductee, though, so presumably Van is still all alone in the Hall.

The path to closure here isn't as obvious as it was for the Icon Centre (this should be the last set of comparisons, honest) - the Hall of Fame was in the city centre, it had a more obvious draw and had a very busy secondary life as a music venue compared to occasional conferences in the Icon. There were no reports of dire attendances either, as the Icon had. However, the Hall of Fame did still close. 

The circumstances of the closure are unclear - it is reported as having been in October 2001, but there are, possibly poorly researched, pieces in some regional papers that imply it is still trading in March 2002. It was loss making, however, and it looks as if it may have just made more sense to use the premises for another use. Arguments over liability for losses between the various shareholders and investors eventually reached court in 2007.

After closure, the first re-use of the building was for Spirit, the first of a small chain (they had a branch in New York, in the former Twilo, and at least plans for more) of nightclubs - albeit the original Spirit was more of an entertainment venue than specifically a nightclub, with much more daytime use, as described in an interview with its owner. The latter years of Spirit would be the first time I actually entered this venue; and like many good nights I can't remember bugger all about them. A quick look at those who played there during the Spirit era shows what I'd probably think to be the biggest act to take the stage there during this time - Prince's aftershow in 2002.

Spirit closed in 2007, with The Academy opening the same year. I seem to remember that it hadn't actually changed particularly much since what little I do recall of the Spirit era, and I was at some gigs there early with significant issues with sound, toilets, working bar equipment and so on - potentially everything from 1999 was still in use at the time. It briefly closed in 2014 for a refurbishment, and trades to this as a four room music venue, covering quite a range of musical styles.

So what still exists now, other than there being a music venue on the site? Well, if you look up on your way in to a gig at The Academy, some of the artwork commissioned for the Hall of Fame is still extant. Also, some of the memorabilia is now with the 2015 opened Irish Rock n Roll Museum - although I doubt they have the Dana memorabilia mentioned in some of the 1999 promo material!

Hot Press are still going, a rarity globally now as a print music magazine.