• Gig of the week: Champion Sound Showcase

    September 11, 2013 - By 

    Our gig of the week this week is set to be an outright highlight of this year’s CultureTECH in Derry/Londonderry: a showcase by Belfast-based label Champion Sound at the most excellent Sandinos on Friday September 13 featuring performances two of the label’s most exciting names. Fast-rising Derry electronic artist Ryan Vail (above) and decidedly anonymous producer Unknown lead the way on the night. Visuals coming courtesy of award-winning Belfast collective DSNT, the labels bosses of both Planet Mu (Tom Quaye) and Champion Sound (Lyndon Stephens) will also perform DJ sets on the night Tickets are five pound at the door. Check out ‘Fade’ by Ryan Vail below.

  • Culture Night Belfast line-up revealed

    August 29, 2013 - By 

    Set to take place on across over six hours on September 20, the impossibly eclectic line-up for this year’s Culture Night Belfast has been announced. The city’s self-proclaimed “biggest and boldest cultural celebration” will see 250 events take place across 100+ venues to over 30,000 people in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter beyond from 4-10pm. A Banksy exhibit in the city’s smallest contemporary art gallery, an evening of drinks and book-readings with local novelists in McHughs basement, a poetry slam at Golden Thread Gallery, “new tunes and new talents” live at the check-out of a Tesco… the lists of things happening goes on…

  • Voodoo Fiend Club

    August 29, 2013 - By 

    A new monthly metal, hardcore and punk night in Belfast’s Voodoo Bar, the Voodoo Fiend Club is presented in conjunction with Belfast-based independent label Savour Your Scene records. Proposing to “bring you the best in alternative music on a night out – metal, hardcore, punk, crust, d-beat, noise prog and thrash – the next club night is on Friday, August 30. Hit up the club’s Facebook page to keep up to date with future nights. Watch ‘Cut Throat Blues’ by Belfast-based Savour Your Scene band Lantern For A Gale below.  

  • No Alibis Bookstore present: Jo Nesbo @ Ulster Hall

    August 29, 2013 - By 

    Internationally acclaimed and best selling Scandinavian author Jo Nesbo will hold a special talk at Belfast’s Ulster Hall on Sunday, September 15 in association with No Alibis Bookstore. Also a musician, songwriter, economist and ex-footballer, Nesbo will discuss his new book, Police – the tenth installment of his Harry Hole series. Tickets are priced at £7 and are available purchase here.

  • CultureTECH: Champion Sound Showcase @ Sandinos

    August 25, 2013 - By 

    One of the more enticing prospects of this year’s CultureTECH in Derry, Belfast-based label Champion Sound will hold a showcase at the wonderfully inimitable Sandinos on Friday September 13. The line-up is comprised of two of the label’s most exciting names: fast-rising Derry electronic artist Ryan Vail and decidedly anonymous producer Unknown (above – sort of). With visuals coming courtesy of award-winning Belfast collective DSNT, the labels bosses of both Planet Mu (Tom Quaye) and Champion Sound (Lyndon Stephens) will also perform DJ sets. Tickets are five pound at the door.

  • The Mystery of Tears

    August 24, 2013 - By 

    A free admission event at part of Belfast Festival at Queen’s taking place at Belfast’s the MAC from October 18-27, The Mystery of Tears is a series of works “aimed to elicit a sincere and powerful shared response on the the part of the viewer”. Examining the ability of various types of art to literally move one to tears, the exhibition also looks into “why we may have become culturally conditioned to express too readily, and without real or genuine empathy, our emotions and, in particular, our openness to the act of weeping.” Admission is free so need to cry…

  • In The Court Of… Tom Ravenscroft @ The MAC, Belfast

    August 24, 2013 - By 

    Following the wonderful success of its being curated by none other than Duke Special last year, writer, broadcaster and 6Music DJ Tom Ravenscroft is set to curate this year’s In The Court Of… at Belfast’s the MAC. Taking place from September 24-28, Ravenscroft has hand-selected five line-ups of music, spoken word and a special club night, kicking off with New York singer-songwriter Nina Nastasia and Katharine Philippa. See below for the five full line-ups. Tuesday, September 24: Nina Nastasia and Katharine Philippa Wednesday, September 25: Adam Buxton: Kernel Panic Thursday, September 26: Slow Dance Party Friday, September 27: Ghostpoet, Girls Names and…

  • Thriller Live @ Grand Opera House, Belfast

    August 24, 2013 - By 

    Taking place from Monday September 23 to Saturday September 28, Thriller Live – the “spectacular concert created to celebrate the career of the world’s greatest entertainer” – returns to Grand Opera House, Belfast. Set to feature over two hours of songs paying homage to the so-called “world-class spectacle of Jackson’s legendary live performances” this is a great opportunity for fans of Michael Jackson for fans and newcomers alike to experience both his music and the art of his live craft. Tickets for festival start from £14.5o. Go here to book and for more information.  

  • Gig of the week: Documenta @ Titantic Slipway

    August 20, 2013 - By 

    Our first ever gig of the week (initially “wig of the geek” but we daren’t get too backward, eh?)  is Belfast-based drone pop outfit Documenta at the Titanic Slipway on Friday, August 23. Organised in association with Belfast Film Festival, the Joe Greene-fronted band – set to release their third full-length effort in the coming months – will perform a singularly scenic set before  Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1968 sci-fi film 2001: A Space Odyssey is screened, 40 feet below sea level. Not yourself gig-going jaunt down to Voodoo, is it? Tickets for the show – available here – are priced at £10. Doors are…

  • International Beckett Festival 2013

    July 27, 2013 - By 

    The world’s largest annual multi-arts celebration of Nobel Prize winning writer Samuel Beckett, the Happy Days International Beckett Festival returns to Enniskillen this August from Thursday 22 to Monday 26. Encompassing a number of events in not only theatre but also dance, comedy, visual arts and several special one-off performances. The first annual festival to celebrate Beckett’s work and influence, last year’s festival coincided with the 400th anniversary of the founding of Enniskillen. Beckett himself spent his formative years attending the town’s Portora Royal School, previously attended by Oscar Wilde and latterly by Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy. To buy tickets…