About

Hope Started in 1984 as a fanzine reader starting a band and trying to get gigs it then morphed into something after we put the Membranes on in Dublin in 1986.

Other bands then looked to come over to Ireland and letters were exchanged with great eagerness. Anhrefn, the fflaps, DI and The Vandals quickly followed and then we heard about Fugazi. It is a story in itself but after many phone calls Fugazi agreed to let Ireland feature on their first European tour. Many bands then looked to come over so we decided to put a name on the poster, to try and let people identify with what we were doing. That name was Hope.

Fast forward to 1994 and Hope became Hope Collective when more people got involved. Weekly meetings were held and our gigs became events. We would pass around popcorn, leaflets—anything that encouraged and welcomed people. The idea of the gigs was that we were people not promoters and bands and audience were equal. At our gigs there were no supports just people helping out.

At one of our weekly meetings it was suggested we try and put a book together to Document our activities. Years later and many many hours of work that book saw the light of day. It was decided to have a page for each gig, each show could tell a story and each story had a vegan recipe to accompany it. We wanted to let people know about what we did, about what was important to us, and more importantly how they could do it too.

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hope, el presidente and the wild hearted outsider discovered punk rock at various times in our lives.  One thing is for sure, it has made a lasting impression on us and has helped shape our lives.  We want to share some experiences with you here and document a cultural movement