New stage in Tipperary pub breathes new life into local music scene

Hickey’s pub in Thurles has recently undergone a major renovation.

The project, undertaken by Stu Hill, has seen the indoor stage area completely revamped in order to better facilitate indoor gigs.

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Where previously the old rectangular stage limited the movement and direction of the many performers who played in the pub, the new round corner stage ensures that performers are able to face the crowd at any given moment.

Stu and his team also put a great emphasis on sound quality throughout the design and construction of the project, resulting in a greater amplification and quality of sound throughout the bar.

Speaking with the Tipperary Star, Stu outlined how the project came to be, and what tasks were undertaken to see the plans come to fruition.

“Ollie approached me after the Feile last year and asked me to kind of source him a PA system for the pub. And I think his hope was to put on more events, but obviously, as the guy that looks after the pub, he's got to pay the band, he's got to be a sound engineer, and he's got to get an engineer to bring in equipment. So I proposed to him that we revamp the spaces there and put in equipment which belongs to the pub, and then that way we can put on more events. And, you know, I'm minimizing the time and equipment I'm bringing down, and we can do more without a large expenditure, which, you know, everyone is kind of struggling now, so that's what my thought was there.”

Stu spoke of the scale of the upgrade which the stage has undergone, saying that the old stage felt almost out of place in the pub with how it was designed, compared to its current iteration, which feels like a much more permanent and purpose-built feature within the pub, feeding into performers’ confidence whilst performing.

“The stage originally, where it was positioned in the pub, you know, it was only ever used as a stage, or used to kind of store extra stools and stuff, it kind of felt, you know, temporary, whereas it looks like a proper stage now. That was my main thing when I was going to sell an idea to Ollie, was, you know, you build a stage that looks the part and makes people who are performing on it feel the part, that they're on a stage. And I think that raises everyone's confidence.

“Beforehand, it was just a very simple stage. The position of it, you were playing to kind of half the room. And I wanted to open it up so that when you stood on the stage, you felt as if you were performing the entire pub. That was why we kind of changed it from a rectangular shape pointing down one side of the pub to a semicircle in the corner. That way, you've got a larger degree of the pub to play to. It also kind of worked better acoustically, and the space on the stage is more usable for your atypical kind of band setup where we have the draft the drums to the rear and then the performers out front.”

Stu spoke of the great excitement that has come with the renovation, with many acts already having performed on the new stage, with many more set to perform in the near future.

“There's a real buzz about it, which I was really happy about. And I was surprised at how much people are getting excited by it.

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“It's a great asset. Now, not only can we put on more events, but for the local musicians themselves, it's a great kind of stepping stone. We had an all ages gig there, and it was great to see young people get up on stage, and not just feel as if they're on a proper stage, but get the experience of it. And we also have the capability of recording the live set, both as a single track and as a multi track, which I hope to kind of utilize a lot more and give especially younger bands, or younger bands that are just getting a start now, the opportunity to do a live gig and have the recording, which I think is a great help for local musicians that are kind of struggling.”

“Before I had finished the stage, we already had about eight bookings for local bands.”

You can keep up to date with any future upcoming performances set to take to the new stage in the pub by heading over to Hickey’s social media accounts, Hickey’s Pub, Thurles on Facebook, and hickeyspub on Instagram.