THE FORUM WAS once the biggest venue in Waterford, playing host to countless musicians and comedians over the years.
It was also home to one of the top nightclubs in the city before winding down last year.
The Forum may now just be a bingo hall — a bingo hall that Woody Harrelson has played in, no less — but our memories of Saturday nights there live on. Like…
1. First of all, it was an absolute trek to get to
Particularly if you started off the evening in Geoffs.
So many hills, so much stopping for “a rest” because someone’s heels were killing them.
2. But it was totally worth it if you didn’t fancy going to Escape or Electric Avenue
God forbid.
3. The bouncers didn’t take any nonsense
Reader, I once didn’t get in because I was 17 and my lip started quivering in the bouncer’s face. “But I’m 23. I never carry an ID because this never happens to me,” I wept, despite the fact that I (a) was not 23 and (b) looked 14.
The bouncer was not moved by my tragic tale and my Mam came to pick me up a short while later.
*smallest violin starts playing*
4. But if you did manage to get in, the world was your oyster
Before you knew it, you were bouncing between the bar, the stage and the smoking area.
5. If it was a Saturday night, chances are that Traffik was on
The Munster Express once referred to Traffik as “The Forum’s super cool indie club” so you almost certainly danced to I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor at some point.
6. Your night was absolutely made if a local band like Torann, Swamp Stompers or Shane Barry and The Distractions were performing
7. But really, you’d settle for moshing to something like Killing In The Name Of at the end of the night
“SOME OF THOSE THAT WORK FORCES ARE THE SAME THAT BURN CROSSES”
*flings body around*
8. You had to go downstairs to the smoking area and it was essentially a bunker
One regular of The Forum recalled it as being “like something you’d see in the first pub opened after the apocalypse”.
Fair.
9. It did have weird murals, though
Is it a demented face? Is it just loads of swirls? Who knows.
10. Every so often someone very famous would perform in The Forum and it would be the talk of the town
Like when Calvin Harris played in 2010. As in, Calvin Harris, who now dates Taylor Swift and is one of the highest-paid DJs in the world.
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Calvin Harris <3 Waterford.
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What a difference five years makes, eh?
11. There wasn’t really any dress code
But Converse were definitely the preferred footwear.
12. The nights The Forum really came to life? Spraoi, Halloween and New Year’s Eve
You usually had to spend at least 30 minutes in the queue while you sobered up/complained about the cold/listened intently as your friends told you to “just stay quiet” and not say anything that might betray your drunkenness.
13. When it came to the end of the night, you’d have a wicked hard time trying to get a taxi
Typically, another big trek down Patrick Street was necessary.
With some “my feet are sore” stops along the way.
14. But if you did stick around, you could get your feed next door
From Tony’s Takeaway. (Or Andy’s, as it’s known now.)
Memories.
<3
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