The Ambassador Theatre - Gig Memories

[Blankety Blank]

I see that The Ambassador at the end of O'Connell Street is going to be used for gigs again. It seemed like I was at a gig there every month during it's peak. Has anyone any good memories/stories? It seemed like it took over from the SFX for gigs.

Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf tour. Lanegan was touring with them. I think it was Oliveri's birthday and he played the gig in the nip.

Velvet Revolver - they were close to breaking up at the time. You could tell Weiland didn't want to be there. The lads pulled up stools for an acoustic version of 'Patience' and he made a point of sitting behind them on the drum riser.

Trivium/God Forbid- an all ages gig. It felt like a crèche. The bar was closed and there was kids running everywhere. Horrific.

Also saw Deftones, Therapy?, Down, and Anthrax there. I remember fuck all.

[Paul keohane]

I was only at one gig there ever,Anthrax.I think I tried to get a ticket for Slayer there but it sold out!.

What was the capacity of the place?,seemed small enough,for the level of bands that played there.

[Sworntothecans]

Was delighted when I saw they're doing shows there again.

The QOTSA show was excellent. Anthrax when Joey came back and Motorhead on the Inferno tour were savage craic too.

[Paul keohane]

Found this on Facebook from the 2003 Anthrax gig.

[Bürggermeister]

The first of the three(?) Anthrax gigs there was very special, the WCFYA tour. Great, great fucking gig. The second one I also enjoyed despite the lower attendance , Metallica were playing the next day, I think? The reunion gig wasn't great at all, you could tell they and Spitz weren't getting on and it didn't seem to be a bed of roses with Joey either. Total cash in and it showed.

Who else? Sepultura supporting someone shite when they had Mayorga on drums. Megadeth with the two Drovers was a surprisingly enjoyable gig. Mastodon touring Leviathan supporting Slayer touring GHUA, possibly? I'm sure there were more.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Only went to a handful of gigs there and the only one that springs to mind was the Killswitch/Chimaira/Shadows Fall/God Forbid one.

[Honkers97]

Lots of great gigs there indeed!
Slayer, Sepultura (opening for In Flames), Monster Magnet, WASP, Anthrax (a few times) Korn, Annihilator (opened for Trivium), Fear Factory and Machine Head played there loads of times. There was a slight gradient towards the stage from where the old cinema seating used to be. Will check ticket stubs for other gigs.

[Carnage]

I was only at two there I think: that QOTSA one - which was excellent - and I brought a friend's younger brother to CKY. They were absolute shite, pissed and had the plug pulled on them at the end but the support band - Fireball Ministry - were alright. That said, I bought one of their CDs and played it maybe twice.

I was there more when it was a cinema.

[Trev]

Ah that was a great venue, good to hear it's coming back. Think Motorhead was the last show I saw there back in '08 maybe? Closed down soon after that if I remember right

Remember going to Machine Head, Killswitch/Shadows Fall, Sepultura, Bad Religion, Mastodon, Apocalyptica, and I think Down. Probably a few others, need to check the old stub book

[stearl]

No mention of Tenacious D gig ca. 2002?

As mentioned above, that Megadeth gig with the Drovers was surprisingly good.

[The Great Cull]

That first Anthrax gig for WCFYA was amazing. Still in my top 5 gigs I've ever been to. Front row all night and was handed the extra mic from John Bush for the Antisocial singalong and pass it on.
I went to the next gig the following year but passed on the Joey reunion show because I felt my hero John Bush had been shafted. Have seen Anthrax about 6 times since with Joey playing the same fucking setlist every time.

The Slayer/Mastodon show was incredibly forgettable. Considering it was when Lombardo was fresh back in the band it was such a let down... and I was stone cold sober at it. It was my first Mastodon experience and they were a a mush of sound. They never have decent live sound though.

It was the first place that Phil Demmel played with Machine Head in 2002. Great gig that was too before they went down that Blackening shite hole.

Saw Megadeth there twice. The 2nd time had Lomenzo on bass and was a decent show. The time before was just after The System Has Failed was released and I wasn't too impressed that time.

Saw the infamous/disastrous Down show there too and the time they came back a year or 2 later.

The Shadows Fall/KSE/Chimaira gig was great fun. I remember thinking Shadows Falls singer looked like a giant on stage. Met him later in the lobby and he was tiny. Got me thinking if he was that small then how small were the guitarists.... 2 mins later 2 long hair midgets strolled by. 

I actually went to see Nu Metal heroes POD there too and they were surprisingly good.

That Sepultura gig with Mayorga may be the only time I've missed seeing Sepultura since 2000 or so.

[Born of Fire]

I was at the Megadeth and Slayer gigs there when I was 16/17. I remember them being strict about having ID for Slayer, got in with a doctored driving licence. Met the Mastodon guys outside after and got the ticket signed.

[Circlepit]

I was only there twice, Trivium nit long after they took off. The support was It DieS Today and All That Remains. Awful,
awful stuff.
I was at whichever Down gig was there where they started with the movie and they were fighting the whole time. Shit.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Oh yeah, that Megadeth show on The System Has Failed tour was there! 2005? First time seeing them, I was in full-on screaming teenage girl frame of mind, right up the front. Might in part explain why I don't at all recall the room around me 

[The Great Cull]

A few pics from the first Megadeth show there on 2005







I thought Glen Drover looked like Meatloaf at this show.

And a few from the 2nd show in 2007 (I didn't take these ones, found them on a forum around the time of the gig)







That's me in the white Suicidal shirt
being the world's worst Where's Wally