First gig with Dolores O’Riordan 30 years ago today

July 14, 2020  |  4 Comments  |  by Axl  |  The Cranberries

30 years ago today, The Cranberry Saw Us – not yet The Cranberries – played their first concert with Dolores O’Riordan as new lead singer replacing Niall Quinn. They were opening that day for the band They Do It With Mirrors. The show took place in Limerick at Cruises Hotel in the Ruby’s Club.

Happy Anniversary!!

Posted in The Cranberries. Bookmark the permalink.

4 Responses to First gig with Dolores O’Riordan 30 years ago today

  1. Will we ever hear Hot Dog and Gringo?

  2. Tony Molloy

    I was there that night with two friends, Pat Foley and Davy Nolan. We knew the Hogan brothers through their father Noel Sr. He was good friends with my father and we all drank in the same small pub in Limerick, Squire McGuires.

    In the early 90’s the lads used to drop in for a pint. We knew they were in a band one of many around town at the time and that they were looking for a new singer. I remember the day, sitting in the pub on a saturday afternoon watching the football results coming in, Mike told us they had found a new singer, a county woman called Dolores. We thought it was a joke. Who ever heard of a rock singer called Dolores, and a county girl, we reckoned they were turning into a country and western outfit. ( C&W was very popular in Ireland at that time 😉 still is )

    So the three of us trundled off down to Ruby’s Night Club for their first gig. There were about 100 people there. The majority for the late drinking. In those days pubs in Ireland closed at 10.30pm on sunday night, but night clubs could serve until 1.30am.. To cut a long story short Dolores and The Statues were superb. Whatever about the lads playing ( The Statues ) Dolores could sing. Singing Linger she quietened a rowdy night club like I’d never experienced before or since. I bet you no one can remember who they were opening for that night. I can’t.

    The Statues!! A nickname for the group for a while around Limerick. The two lads just stood up looked at their boots and played. Dolores spent more time looking at the drummer than the audience. And when she did face the audience she also looked down never really making eye contact. Seriously you would never have thought they would make it except for that voice. It was different ( even for someone used to the Limerick accent 😉 ) . It was great to see them develop into a real group over the next few years.

    Great days to be around Limerick, great memories.

    RIP Anne Hogan.

    • Axl

      Thank you very much, Tony. Awesome story and memories, very much appreciated!
      I will add your words to the concert page as well, it is so rare to find people who attended Dolores’ first show (and very early years shows). So glad you shared your memories with everyone here. Best, Axl

News

Cranberries World (Present - 01/2012) Cranberries Press (01/2012 - 10/2011) Zombieguide (09/2007 - 07/1999)