Bored in Belfast

Friday 20 November in Belfast

Belfast times. Last refreshed Sat 11:03.

Showing Music only.

Friday 20 November 15 listings

18:30

The Shamrocks

The O2 Belfast · Music
IT'S NEARLY TIME! PLAN YOUR NIGHT Food & Drink As soon as the doors open at The O2 Belfast, you’ll find a variety of food and drink options ready to go. From great-value meal deals to quick service and plenty of choices, we've got something for every taste. Check out our options here . Traffic & Parking Traffic around the venue and Odyssey car parks is expected to be busy. Check out live traffic and roadworks updates via TrafficWatchNI here . The O2 Belfast car park is now operating a ticketless parking system. For all information and FAQs ahead of your visit, please click here . Lounge Upgrades Elevate your evening in our Rewards Lounge. Check out what's included and eligibility criteria here . Heineken® Lounge Menu If you have purchased tickets to the Heineken Lounge for this event, please find the set menu for the evening here. The Shamrocks are coming to The O2 Belfast! Following on from their two sold out Waterfront Hall, Belfast shows later this year, Emmy Award-winning, international Irish Vocal Sensation, The Shamrocks have announced their biggest Belfast headline show to date at The O2 Belfast on Friday 20th November 2026. The roaring, rousing atmosphere of traditional Irish pubs will be brought to stages across the country as The Shamrocks embark on their debut UK tour. After wowing audiences across the globe - from the Sydney Opera House to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC - the five-piece harmony and multi-instrumental group are set to bring their incredible show and Belfast charm to some of the most prestigious venues across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2026. The Shamrocks’ 12-date tour kicks off at Birmingham Symphony Hall on Saturday October 17 and runs until Friday November 20 ending with a homecoming show at The O2 Belfast.
Venue listing
19:00

Chloe Slater: Riot Youth Tour

Oh Yeah Music Centre · Music
Chloe Slater ’s debut album Riot Youth seems to unfold in the fleeting, chaotic moments before doomsday – a coming of age record fit for the modern world. It arrives right on time in an era when hopelessness and nihilism run rife, painting the truest portrait of what it is to be young, British, and brave enough to be hopeful today. Across 10 tracks, Slater departs her signature, succinct commentary on the issues plaguing her generation: social divide, toxic internet culture, our dwindling sense of community, the climate crisis and, ultimately, the vampirish billionaire class cashing in on our collective misery. Slater began carving out her witty yet pointed take on protest music with her debut EP, ‘You Can’t Put A Price On Fun’, in 2024, which was swiftly followed up with ‘Love Me Please’ the following year. Both projects showcase her undeniable skill as a lyricist, introduce her as a promising new voice in indie rock, and see her take hold of a torch lit by great British songwriters before her – those who have also woven gold from the bleak circumstances of their own generations. On ‘Riot Youth’, Slater shifts from these frank descriptions of society to moments of gorgeous, gut-punching poetry, crafting anthemic choruses and intoxicating one-liners from the gripes many of us can barely muster the words for. In doing so, Slater has earned herself a devoted fanbase, racking up almost 2 million likes on TikTok alone. Meanwhile, she’s quickly making a name for herself as a live performer not to miss, opening for Alessi Rose, Role Model and Courtney Bartnett over the past two years, as well as taking to the stage at Glastonbury and the prestigious BRITs Fringe showcase. Beyond soundtracking this peculiar moment of history, Slater hopes Riot Youth will shake us out of our tendency to seek constant distraction and instead prompt conversation. “We're upset about the way the world is, but we feel like we can't change it, so we go and listen to music,” she says. “I just hope this is the kind of music that is comforting but not distracting. It’s addressing how people are feeling, and it's saying that we can make a change.”
£20.4514+Tickets & info
19:30

CHAPTERHOUSE

The Belfast Empire Music Hall · South Belfast · Music
Chapterhouse always managed to be in the right place at the wrong time. They were acid-rockers as acid house hit; they were shoegazers when grunge germinated; they were experimental dance-rockers as Britpop broke. It’s only with the benefit of hindsight that we can see they have always been a band ahead of their time. Formed over the summer of 1987 by a bunch of school friends from Reading, they started out jamming on Stooges covers and songs from the Pebbles compilations for fun, which initially led to them being taken under the wing of Spacemen 3. After a couple EPs, the band dropped the classic ‘Pearl’, with its mix of guitars and beats borrowed from John Bonham and Schoolly D. It still sounds daring and audacious to this day and is rightfully revered alongside My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Soon’ as one of those significant moments that pushed indie music into uncharted new waters. It also features backing vocals by Rachel Goswell from their Reading contemporaries Slowdive, whose guitarist Christian Savill fondly remembers the early Chapterhouse gigs as “some of the best I’ve ever seen”. Chapterhouse’s 1991 debut album Whirlpool is a shoegaze touchstone. A wonderful record that manages to be both weird and accessible at the same time and saw them collaborating with Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins. Record company politics clouded the creation of the follow-up a couple years later, but Blood Music is a brilliant album and one that has aged remarkably gracefully. Its synthesis of dance and rock has frequently been cited as an influence by electronica artists such as Ulrich Schnauss, helped by the Pentamorous Metamorphosis reworking by Global Communication. However, as the Britpop battles raged, the band struggled to find a way forward when everyone else was busy looking backwards and decided to call it a day in 1995. But it wasn’t the end, a one-off festival performance in 2008 blossomed into a full-blown reunion the following year, with tours in the UK, US and Japan. Even when they reformed, Chapterhouse managed to be ahead of their time – their reunion pre-dating the reformation of their contemporaries from the shoegaze scene. And now they are back to do it all over again; 35 years on from the release of their classic debut– which proudly sits at number 17 in Pitchfork’s list of the best shoegaze albums ever – this is finally the right place and the right time for Chapterhouse. SILK and BARRY PEAK have been announced as the supporting bill. SILK are one of the most exciting new bands on the Irish scene. They have received considerable press and radio coverage, already completed several Irish headline tours, and this year performed at Gazefest in Belfast and Dublin. SILK released their debut mini-album ‘Auralux’ in May receiving gushing reviews like “shoegaze perfection” and “a masterpiece” BARRY PEAK is best known as the singer and guitar player in 90s band, backwater, who signed to ché records, had a couple of minor indie hits and toured with the likes of Mogwai. Barry has returned to making music and released Read Like Lisa; Skate Like Bart, which The Thin Air called “One of the Irish Albums of the year”. A new album, Bicycle Soul Riding, is due for release in October 2026 Tickets on sale now online from Ticketmaster (Fees apply) or in person from the venue (no fees).
£24.50Tickets & info
19:30

The Songs of Glen Hansard: In Support of Simon Community

The Crescent Arts Centre · South Belfast · Music
Join Belfast singer-songwriters Clare Galway and Michael Cunningham for a special evening celebrating the life, music and legacy of Glen Hansard, while raising funds for Simon Community Northern Ireland . Clare and Michael will be joined on stage by special guests, who will perform songs spanning Glen’s remarkable career — from The Frames and Once to The Swell Season and his solo work — accompanied by stories from his life and the music that made him one of Ireland’s most loved songwriters and performers. Glen was a passionate supporter of people experiencing homelessness, famously taking part in the annual Christmas Eve busk on Dublin’s Grafton Street to raise funds and awareness for homelessness charities. In that same spirit, this is a free event, but booking is essential. There is no charge for your ticket; instead, you are asked to consider making a donation to Simon Community Northern Ireland on the night. This is also a BYO event, so feel free to bring your own drinks and settle in for the evening. Come along for an intimate evening of great songs, stories and music, while helping support the vital work of The Simon Community here in Northern Ireland.
Venue listing
19:45

Ulster Orchestra: Seasons & Splendour

Ulster Hall · Music
Ulster Orchestra: Seasons & Splendour comes to Ulster Hall on 20 November 2026. A spectacular concert filled with colour, drama and breathtaking musical beauty France in spring and summer: it suggests balmy sunshine and the intimacy of romance. And certainly, as the Mulholland Organ meets Montmartre in Saint-Saëns’s most spectacular work, his Third Symphony, we’ll bask in a burst of sumptuous orchestral colour and an epic blaze of musical drama. Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps bustles with energy, but in this musical trip to Europe there are also chilly shadows to split the sunshine and secrets and loss within the love – Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été resonate with guilt and yearning as much as they do with passion and desire. Lili Boulanger D’un matin de printemps Hector Berlioz Les nuits d’été Camille Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 Organ CHLOÉ VAN SOETERSTÈDE CONDUCTOR NIAMH O’SULLIVAN MEZZO-SOPRANO
£10–38Tickets & info
20:00

No Apologies

The Black Box · City centre · Music · LGBTQ+ · Outburst Festival
No Apologies is a radical, queer mis-remembering of Nirvana’s iconic 1993 MTV Unplugged concert, written and performed by multi award-winning theatre and TV writer Emma Frankland. Urgent and politically sharp, this spectacular collision between theatre and grunge, autobiography and alternate history, weaves threads of pop culture with mythology and ritual, fuelled by the experience of coming-of-age in the nineties. 18+
£15–18Tickets & info