6 tips to make the most out of visiting Belfast

9 March 2018

6 Music is heading to Belfast for BBC Music’s Biggest Weekend and we’re keen to explore the city.

With staging two days of music at the Titanic Slipways on 25 and 26 May, featuring the likes of Underworld, Beck, First Aid Kit, Manic Street Preachers, Courtney Barnett and more we’re looking forward to making the city a true home from home.

Fortunately, our own Tom Robinson is on hand to show us around as he’s been a regular visitor ever since his band first played Belfast at the height of punk and new wave.

“Belfast was a big thing for me, because back in the days of the band there was this whole thing of whether new wave acts would make it over there or not,” he explains. “The Clash tried to get over there but got banned before they could even play a note, so The Tom Robinson Band were the first of the new wave London bands who managed to play a gig there. That was special for us and for them because punk was one of the few things that brought the two communities together.

“Punk kids from both communities mixed with music because both sides were rejected by their parents. So as fellow outcasts they knitted together. We played to a totally integrated audience which was brilliant, and it was so exciting to go back and play each time. I’ve gone there every few years to play and then my daughter moved to Belfast so I’ve been a frequent visitor to the city for years.”

All board for 6 Music’s guide to Belfast…

Tom Robinson: You can do this before even setting foot in Northern Ireland – tune in to BBC Radio Ulster's legendary New Music programme Across The Line, which has been essential listening ever since it started in 1986.

It's hosted by two titans of the Northern Ireland music scene - the award-winning radio presenter Rigsy with writer and journalist Stuart Bailie (below).

For over 30 years the show's had its finger on the region's musical pulse, and to this day there's no better guide to what's bubbling under across all six counties than tuning in to ATL via the website or on the BBC iPlayer Radio app any Monday night from 8-10pm.

While you're there, check out the Soundscapes programme coming out of BBC Radio Foyle in Derry/Londonderry. Each week Stephen McCauley crafts a one-hour themed collage of 'found' sound from around his hometown mixed with music.

It’s a captivating listen that touches the very essence of local life and culture - Wednesday nights from 10-11pm

Tom Robinson: Once you’ve physically arrived in Belfast, you'll find signs and tourist guides directing you to the city's various cultural 'quarters'. Confusingly there's more than four of these and may be as many as eight - though nobody can quite agree.

For music this May, let's focus on just two of them. The newly regenerated Titanic Quarter on the waterfront is where BBC Music's Biggest Weekend events are taking place. And to its west, the Cathedral Quarter is home to some of Northern Ireland's most riotous nightlife - and more bars and music than you can shake a stick at. Your first stop there should be the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Gordon Street. It was founded in 2007 as a musical hub for artists and bands by Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol and Stuart Bailie from ATL - among a team of many others.

Oh Yeah is venue, recording studio, rehearsal space and more. It's a great place to hang out, have a drink and hear some music – and also home to a standing exhibition dedicated to Northern Irish music and musicians from the 1950s to the present day.

Tom Robinson: The Cathedral Quarter is teeming with atmospheric bars and live music venues – my own favourites include The Dirty Onion, Spaniard, Harp Bar, Duke Of York and The National.

But next day if you crave a chillout space to rest and recover from your revels, try the airy, elegant Metropolitan Arts Centre (MAC), nestling right next to St Anne's Cathedral itself. Open 7 days a week - and largely staffed by volunteers - the building's a marvel of modern architecture, with free exhibition spaces and comfortable seating scattered across multiple floors.

Visitors with kids will want to know there's a free Family Room equipped with books, games and toys - also a peaceful airy reading room for adults upstairs. Not very rock'n'roll, but good to know it's there.

Tom Robinson: When there isn’t a gig going on it’s still a great place to hang. If it's rock'n'roll you're after, head to the Western edge of the Cathedral Quarter and the proudly independent Voodoo Bar – whose deep red décor, cantina vibe and music-friendly attitude make it a prime alternative hangout.

With its warm welcoming atmosphere it's easy to see why Voodoo is supposedly the spiritual home of (Good Vibrations legend) Terry Hooley. It hosts regular open mics and themed evenings dedicated respectively to mod, drum & bass, rock, metal and punk.

Be warned: you can easily drop by for one drink and find yourself staying the rest of the night.

Tom Robinson: The Spirit Of Belfast (below) is a public sculpture dominating the busy pedestrianised crossroads right outside the Victoria Square shopping centre and for that reason it's an absolute magnet for buskers.

I've watched every kind of performer there from trained opera singers to schmaltzy balladeers, traditional folk performers to a gang of spindly teenagers playing flawless New Orleans funk.

Wherever you're heading by day in the city's pedestrianised heart, a detour past The Spirit Of Belfast may just spring a musical surprise or two on the unsuspecting passer by.

Tom Robinson: I’m quite certain that while the Biggest Weekend is on the venues in Belfast will be staging their own fringe events which will be astonishing too! It's going to be a great weekend.

Live music runs through the very veins of this city and you'll be astonished by the range of venues it contains.

Over the years I've played everywhere from Queens University to The Ulster Hall, The Harp Bar to the Waterfront auditorium - taking in the Europa Hotel, Empire Music Hall and Limelight nightclub along the way. My favourite these days is The Black Box on Hill Street - just a stone's throw away from Oh Yeah.

With a schedule covering not just live music, but theatre, comedy, film, live art, cabaret - and even circus – it's arguably the coolest and vibiest performance venue in the whole Cathedral Quarter.

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