HELL HOLE or: How I Learned to stop Worrying and Love the Music
So I had been asked to review Hell Hole, all that I knew was that it was some kinda alternative electronic music night in East Belfast. My expectations weren’t high, electronic music in Belfast is usually a rather boring brand of techno and deep house. I am fan and a creator of electronic music myself, and for years I was never fully impressed with the local scene. However, I am so glad that my expectations were low, it made the payoff so much more worth it as I ended up having one of the best nights I’ve had in Belfast in ages.
My girlfriend and I got out of the taxi at the CS Lewis centre and then began looking for the venue. This is where I encountered an obstacle, the venue was hidden and need to know. This was an exclusive and secret rave, the address left on the Facebook event was vague, all I knew was that I was looking for an old Ulster Bank. After about 45 mins of walking around trying to figure out where the venue was I got a call from Jordan, the event organiser, who very kindly showed me the way. At this point in the night I was tired, cold, my bag which carried my beers was breaking, and my girlfriend was very obviously unhappy. But all these negative feelings melted away almost as soon as we walked through the doors of the old Ulster Bank building.
HELL HOLE or: How I Learned to stop Worrying and Love the Music
March 18, 2019
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Aidan Sheppard
So I had been asked to review Hell Hole, all that I knew was that it was some kinda alternative electronic music night in East Belfast. My expectations weren’t high, electronic music in Belfast is usually a rather boring brand of techno and deep house. I am fan and a creator of electronic music myself, and for years I was never fully impressed with the local scene. However, I am so glad that my expectations were low, it made the payoff so much more worth it as I ended up having one of the best nights I’ve had in Belfast in ages.
My girlfriend and I got out of the taxi at the CS Lewis centre and then began looking for the venue. This is where I encountered an obstacle, the venue was hidden and need to know. This was an exclusive and secret rave, the address left on the Facebook event was vague, all I knew was that I was looking for an old Ulster Bank. After about 45 mins of walking around trying to figure out where the venue was I got a call from Jordan, the event organiser, who very kindly showed me the way. At this point in the night I was tired, cold, my bag which carried my beers was breaking, and my girlfriend was very obviously unhappy. But all these negative feelings melted away almost as soon as we walked through the doors of the old Ulster Bank building.
I was greeted with a brilliant stage setup, tables full of equipment and mixers on the concrete floor, a projector showing some great visuals behind the setup. The crowd wasn’t the usual electronic crowd either, I saw such a variety of people and outfits and personalities, it was extremely refreshing, mostly when I go to electronic dance gigs in Belfast it’s usually full of identical buzzcuts and fades while a bunch of dudes bob their heads in their vintage tracksuits. But before I noticed any of this, I noticed the music. I didn’t hear the usual four on the floor monotony i expected, instead I heard a heavy breakbeat. Instead of hearing overused British soul samples, I heard and saw Son Zept (one of the performers) playing live synth on a vintage Korg. I was entranced, my feet were moving, I looked over to my girlfriend as she noted she was now having a really good time and that the effort we went through to get here was worth it, thoughts shared by myself.
I danced the night away and saw some incredible sets from SON ZEPT, EWUAGH and LLOYD CHRISTMAS. The variety of genres and styles were exhilarating, it was great fun until the last moments, then the police arrived due to some noise complaints and everyone filtered out, in a way it kinda added to the experience (I later found out from Jordan that the situation with the police ended fine).
Events like Hell Hole are exactly what the Belfast scene needs right now. New Artists, new and interesting music, brilliant low budget creative shows. I am so excited watching this scene grow and you can bet that I will be first in line to the next Hell Hole.
Be sure to check out Hell Hole on Facebook
By Aidan Sheppard