Staff WriterWith a renewed sense of momentum, longtime Galway promoter Lolz charts the city’s electronic revival in a new column celebrating Ireland’s most resilient and community-driven scenes.
As someone who has been running events in Galway since 2013, I’ve seen the music scene here at its best and at its worst. When I first started promoting under Bap to the Future in 2013, Ireland was still emerging from the recession, and in Galway, it was nearly impossible to run an electronic music night anywhere in the city. Venues weren’t willing to take risks. They needed guaranteed revenue, and electronic events didn’t fit that bill.
That year, Factory opened in what is now known as Electric, and everything changed. It gave many of us a platform to build a real scene and a genuine community here. We booked both international acts like Objekt, Call Super, Helena Hauff and Stingray alongside national and local talent. It was truly an exciting time for the scene here, where we built a long-lasting community and friendships.
Then, of course, COVID hit. Venues shut their doors again, and the scene took another major blow. But Galway has bounced back, and right now the scene here is in a genuinely good place again. Sure, the issues are still there: limited venue options, early closing times, slow ticket sales, cost of living crisis, but despite all that, there’s a serious amount of energy and enthusiasm bubbling under the surface.
Galway has always been a student town, and student nights typically perform very well here. Events like Reboot regularly sell out Monroe’s nearly every Tuesday, and Thursdays are consistently busy in venues across the city. Where nights have traditionally struggled, however, is on weekends.
For the first time in forever, though, people in their twenties are moving back to Galway, or are choosing to stay here longer. This has definitely contributed to the success of several nights and has brought a fresh energy to the scene, with new faces injecting life back into Galway’s nightlife.
One example is Shampain, who has helped restore some much-needed energy back into Galway nightlife, especially through his events in the Róisín Dubh, booking the likes of OK Williams and Regal86 and making the Róisín a go-to spot for younger crowds again. Now there are regular electronic music club nights happening in that venue, which was never really a thing in the past.
The DIY scene in Galway has always been alive. Even though the city has long struggled with a shortage of larger and dedicated venues, that gap has only encouraged promoters and collectives to get creative. They’ve learned to make do with smaller pubs and back rooms, and any space that’s willing to host something.
A perfect example is the Community Skratch Games. Next year will mark their 20th anniversary, which is incredible for an event that started as a small gathering of DJs, turntablists, and music lovers who just wanted a space to experiment. Over the years, they’ve built a real home in the Bierhaus, transforming it annually into a mesh of creativity, collaboration, and chaos. The fact that such a niche, community-run event has thrived for two decades says everything about how strong Galway’s DIY scene is.
Club Áras na nGael has been vital in helping underground and DIY parties grow legs. Just look at Ar Ais Arís, arguably the best party in Ireland right now. They’ve built a dedicated following, going from intimate gatherings to selling out any party they put on. There’s also been a noticeable rise in younger promoters putting serious energy into the DIY scene, like Rave Culture, who are running gigs week in and week out in different venues around town, whether it’s in a small pub or venue or a rave on a beach.
Underground dance music has always had a role in the scene here, and that is evident from some of Galway’s best parties, like Ireland’s only dedicated electro night Deep Sea Dweller, long-running house and techno night Basement Project and my own new night, which I run in collaboration with Eliza and Maeve O Neill, Time in Body. The revival of Electric and their latest venture, The Space, has made it possible for nights like ours to bring top international acts to Galway again. This year alone, we have hosted acts like Rob Hall, Shackleton, Jerome Hill, Radioactive Man, Plant43, and Or:la.
One of the most important things about all of this is that the scene here is more diverse than it ever was. When I was running Gash Collective parties, the scene was incredibly male-dominated, and I was one of the few women DJs and promoters here in Galway. Now there are so many more FLINTA DJs and promoters like Hannah Hession, Supergross, Stella, Lana Hayes, DJ Rúibí, Kelsey, Ciara May, Frontleft, Menace and Vasuki Red to name a few. It’s also been exciting to witness some of these people, like Sophie Reid and Kirsty, gain international recognition this year.
For the first time as well, I’m seeing dedicated queer electronic music nights pop up in Galway. This is something that simply didn’t exist here for a long time. Tabú has helped pave the way for that. They are providing a safe space for Galway’s queer community to dance and party. Squeeze, run by Menace and Sleepyhead, is another new queer night which has also popped up.
Another exciting shift is the use of spaces that would never have been considered electronic music venues in the past: places like Nun’s Island, Druid Theatre, and even St. Nicholas’ Church are hosting events, a huge contrast to the struggle just to get a look-in back in 2013. We are very lucky to have Kate Howard as the night-time economy advisor here in Galway, as she has definitely been a driving force behind some of these events.
Most importantly, there’s a real sense of community behind the Galway scene. This has always been there, but it seems to be more evident at the moment. People really get behind one another, support each other, collaborate on events, show up to nights, and push things forward. It is the beauty of living in a small city that you can go out and support each other rather than be in competition.
There will always be struggles in nightlife, and the cost of living now is definitely having a significant impact. People simply don’t have the money to go out the way they used to, or they are choosing not to go out at all. But despite all that, Galway’s electronic music scene is alive, evolving, and more vibrant than it has been in years. I’m genuinely excited to see what happens next. Gaillimh Abú!
For our next Time in Body event, we are collaborating with Tengu to host Lena Willikens and Vladimir Ivkovic for a special extended set on December 19th. You can purchase tickets here.
