There are a lot of places in Dundee where bands can play - and do! The main ones are listed here, but there is one live music venue in the city that stands above the rest in terms of its reputation and position, and that is The Doghouse.

DOGHOUSE, 13 Brown Street, Dundee. Tel: 01382-206812
Recently won a seriously prestigious industry award for being Scotland's leading music venue in 2007, putting the venue as not only runaway leader in the city, but now biting the heels of the likes of King Tuts for overall nationwide recognition and respect. The leading, largest yet most unusually shaped venue in Dundee in terms of its layout (used to be a school apparently) but the main concert hall area and bar area are in a sort of T-shaped formation, complete with pool tables not to mention the friendly staff (hi Jenny, Mark, Frankie and the rest!!!). All run by the inimitable, lively and oh-so friendly Sarah, with band promotor Jonathan responsible for the concert side of things, their aim is to have live music on as many nights a week as they can manage. PA courtesy of Audio Wave and superb sound, high and wide stage, and a great place for bands to play, with dressing room facilities too. But not only that, they have rehearsal rooms upstairs that have been used exhaustively by The View (who did a lot of early work at The Doghouse) as well as The Law and others. Have hosted private gigs for the likes of KT Tunstall and The View, to name but two.
For those of you out there - and, unless you're under-age, where on earth have you been? - who've never been to The Doghouse, then let me tell you that just to walk into the place is a feast for the eyes.You wander through the courtyard, through these wooden and glass doors and into this dimly lit, high-ceilinged, T-shaped, almost church-like, pub-as-music venue. All over the walls are gig posters - new gigs, old gigs, tonight's gig - huge barrels make for leaning posts on which to cluster around and put drinks on as you chat. Three wide sofas provide intimacy around low-slung tables. The immensely long bar has bar stools one side of it, friendly and enthusiastic staff the other, eye-catching drink displays and, above all that, stretching the whole length of the wall, this amazing mural of Dundee as viewed from the Fife side of the Tay.. It's then that you notice the enormous multi-coloured mural on the upper part of the wall adjacent to it, with the venue name and band names, part of the graffiti. Then, in one corner by the door, there's an old-fashioned telephone booth, genuine article too, and next to that gaming machine and album request machine. Over in the far corner are two more such devices. At the other end of the "T" is the area for the two pool tables. The whole place is wood - wood everywhere (OK, the walls aren't but you get my drift!! - it's like being inside a giant antique. As the concert time draws near, a staff member pulls away this huge folding door that separates the bar area from the huge main dancefloor and you see the square dancefloor area, again high-celinged, with wall-mounted shelves either side and a decently high stage running the width of the room at the bottom. With black backdrops revealing the Doghouse name in white proudly emblazoned on the back wall, Audio Wave's mixing desk directly opposite the stage, and the stage itself littered with amps, equipment, mic stands and more, huge speaker banks either side of the stage, the event is ready to roll. I would imagine that the more you frequent the venue, the easier it is to get used to what is one of the most amazing interiors of any venue in Scotland, but I've been going there for three years now, seen all the changes and it still knocks me out every time I see it.
As a result of the award, they had the honour of being given a sizeable interview/feature article in the excellent magazine, Reverb, which you can access at:
Reverb Mag Website or obtain entirely free at anySound Control store (The UK's Number One Instrument Retailer)
In Vol 2, Issue 7, writer Kadie McGinley provided this excellent insight into what the venue is all about, and the magazine ahs kindly given Dead Earnest permission to reprint the article here on the website - thanks guys!!

Venue Spotlight: The Doghouse, Dundee
Words: Kadie McGinley
With corporate companies swallowing up venues across the country and making live music all about the pound signs, it’s refreshing to find an independent venue that puts the bands themselves at the top of the agenda. This issue, we look at The Doghouse in Dundee, birthplace of The View and a shining light for musicians from Dundee and beyond.
In the past couple of years the Dundee music scene has taken on a radical change, moving from relative non-existence to a thriving and exciting area that has the music industry talking. That’s not to suggest that the musical talent or passion was by any means lacking in Dundee. No, the problem was that all this talent was confined to bedrooms and garages throughout the city as no real outlet was made available.
Let’s thank the sweet lord then that Sarah Hill decided to take on The Doghouse back in 2004 and do her bit to change the face of the Dundee scene and force bands like The View and The Law in to the national spotlight.
Turning the old school house into a functioning music venue was no easy task. With very little money and support behind her, Sarah had to overcome many obstacles to piece together a working venture. Playing catch-up with the bank balance and her ‘making it up as we go along’ attitude is certain to make any accountant shake in his boots, yet there is something about all this that is making it work so well. Nothing about The Doghouse appears contrived, from the random array of church pews outside to the graffiti and poster clad walls inside. It is a sense of rugged grittiness that gives the place a relaxing atmosphere – a little musical haven hidden in Dundee. Certainly, there is a unique atmosphere to this place, Sarah suggests why maintaining this is important: “We want it to be a nice atmosphere; it’s all about the music. It’s all about the bands doing something they want to do, not having to go out and be a plumber or a joiner. They’ve got a creative mind and there is a job there for them - it’s not just a pie in the sky any more.”
Perhaps that’s what the unique feeling of The Doghouse is: everything down to the very walls breath music and work towards helping every band that walks through the doors reach their potential. After taking over the role of promoter Jonathan Dawson has began to lead The Doghouse to bigger and better things, but even he suggests, “It’s all about nurturing the bands, it’s not about some big commercial thing that’s just ripping off the bands.” In fact nothing annoys these guys more than hearing of the bad treatment local bands receive at other venues in the area. “We treat every band the same, it doesn’t matter [how ‘big’ they are] they are all doing the same thing – it doesn’t mean you should treat them any differently,” said Sarah, and this is certainly not all talk. This lady puts her money where her mouth is. As it stands there is a rehearsal space that is free to use at anytime, rather than having each band pay £20 for an hour of rehearsal elsewhere. Every band (no matter how small) is offered a rider, petrol money and a guest list when they play – refreshing when you think of the system cities like Glasgow have. where bands are forced to sell X amount of tickets to even get their winkle-picker clad feet on a stage.
Further to this Jonathan has set up links with other promoters that allow up and coming bands from other areas to make their name know in the Dundee scene and vice versa. This has led to setting up ‘The 25 Band Weekender’ – a free yearly event that showcases the best talent you can tune your grubby little ears to.
The Doghouse is not just concerned with keeping the performers happy - the primary concern is the people who crowd into the 350 capacity stage area to show the homegrown talent their support. Here they can do so comfortably, as Sarah points out: “We encourage our security to be friendly; they’re not allowed to growl at anyone, they’re not allowed to be nasty to anyone, they’ve got to be friendly and happy. I mean we’ve got the best bouncers in Dundee.” Jonathan adds: “They are only security when they need to be. We very rarely have any trouble because of that.” Customers and bands are afforded a great amount of respect and in return The Doghouse receives the respect it demands.
The only downfall to this is that many other venues in Dundee are trying to replicate this winning formula, clearly a matter of frustration for leading lady Sarah. “I think it’s great but I wish the other pubs would work a bit harder. We work our asses off to get, you know, the shows, and the bands, and the atmosphere.” Their hard work is evident, setting The Doghouse in a league well above anything else Dundee has to offer.
So what does the future hold for this fine establishment? Well, most profits made over the next few years will be invested straight back into the venue. Much of the venue is to have a face lift, courtesy of two talented Dundee graffiti artists, whilst the rehearsal area will see a radical transformation into a plush recording area, set alongside a spanking new kitchen. Though they are hardly swimming in a pool of crisp £50 notes, Sarah and Jonathan are proud of they way things are happening for them. “We are different, its all homegrown, we are just making it all up as we go along and it works.”
Yes it does. It works very, very well.

Doghouse Website   Doghouse Bebo Page  Info and some of my reviews!!

The Doghouse staff are soooo friendly!!!

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