Boiler Room is coming over here: what took it so long?

The most surprising thing about Boiler Room’s forthcoming visit to Belfast for the AVA Festival is that it will be its debut appearance in Ireland. Given the Irish market’s appetite for top-ranking club experiences (especially imported house and techno names), one would have assumed that some smart promoter would have been on the case before now.

For the unitiated, Boiler Room is a well-travelled series of events that have taken place in 50 cities across the world. Aside from hosting the DJ and live sets in those locations, Boiler Room also streams each performance via its own website and platforms such as YouTube and Dailymotion.

Phenomenal word-of-mouth about the series ensures a huge global audience for such acts as Jamie xx, Questlove, Little Simz, Cinthie, I-F, Mouse On Mars, Chet Faker and hundreds of others who have appeared on Boiler Room stages over the years. (Even the fans who elbow their way to the front row to nonchalantly nod along to the music have achieved their own degree of fame.)

The line-up for Boiler Room in Belfast will include Belfast natives Bicep, Galway-based deep house maestro John Daly, Extended Play's Timmy Stewart, rising Belfast stars Schmutz and Space Dimension Controller, the man behind sci-fi funk album Welcome to Mikrosector-50.

You’ll find Boiler Room in situ on the AVA Festival’s stage at T13 on May 30. See avafestival.com for more information about this and other events at the one-day festival in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter.