Counter Culture / September 5, 2022

Drum and Bass Bike DJ to return this October

Image: Dom Whiting (@domwhiting on Twitter)
Counter Culture / September 5, 2022

Drum and Bass Bike DJ to return this October

Words: Ellen Kenny

Dom Whiting is bringing his turntable bike back for a special drum and bass event next month in order to accommodate Dublin’s nightlife rules.

Last August, DJ Dom Whiting brought his custom-made turntable bike to Ireland for a drum and bass bike rave through the streets of Dublin.

Now, Dom is coming back to Dublin for a special drum and bass club night next month. On October 15, Dom will hold a Drum and Bass on a Bike event at Centre Point, Temple Bar. This will be Dom’s first ever club event outside the United Kingdom.

Drum and Bass in Dublin will feature an “exciting light show”, according to Dom. And of course, the famous bike-turned-turntable will make a special appearance.

Tickets will start at eight euros, and you can find out when tickets go on sale by signing up for updates here.

Drum and Bass on a Bike in Dublin

When Dom announced he was coming to Dublin for a rave last month, he only expected “about three or four hundred people” to take part. However, he was shocked to find out 1,500 cyclists joined him in cycling through Dublin, drum and bass accompanying them all the way.

“People really appreciated it, because it’s not a normal thing,” Dom told District, “I know in the UK it’s more saturated at this stage.”

Dom said the energy and enthusiasm for his bike rave in Dublin was “quite different than the usual rides” he takes.

Dublin’s Drum and Bass Bike Rave finished at the Grand Canal. Image: Dom Whiting

However, following the end of the cycle, Dom planned to host his post-cycle afterparty at the Grand Canal. These afterparties usually run until Dom’s turntable bike runs out of battery. However, according to Dom, only “ten minutes in” to the afterparty, Gardaí who had escorted the bike ride through the city ordered Dom and his cyclists to head home.

Dom realised that stricter rules around outdoor drinking and earlier closing hours in Dublin nightclubs meant he had to think a new way to give Dubliners the full drum and bass bike experience.

“There’s no drum and bass scene here, and the nightlife isn’t so good, and I really took that into consideration,” Dom explains his mindset following his first cycle, “The minute I packed away my bike and I finished talking to everyone I was like, ‘right I need to come back ASAP’, because it was so good.”

So Dom will be hosting his afterparty two months later at Centre Point, although you don’t have to cycle to attend this special event. And while Dom does not plan on hosting another cycle on this visit, he told District that Dublin is now “right up there as one of the priority rides” following the success of his previous visit, and we can expect another cycle soon.

Elsewhere on District: Brendan Gleeson to star in Joker’s musical sequel