Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall have become synonymous with the sound of live music beating in the heart of Belfast. We’ve hosted them all from Led Zeppelin first playing the iconic Stairway to Heaven in the 1970s to this year’s Brit Award Winner, Mabel, singing Don’t Call Me Up to a sell-out crowd in January.
As we entered into March 2020, our priorities shifted and as much as we love welcoming tens of thousands of people through our doors every month, now was the time for everyone to #StayHome and #StaySafe. The sounds of the Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall are on a pause, and we cannot wait until the day that we can bring live entertainment back to Belfast!
While venues across the globe grounded to a halt, artists everywhere found new and inventive ways to keep entertaining the masses - even if from their own homes
We’ve brought together some of our favourite #LockdownSessions that have sprung up on the internet.
Kerry Ellis
Kerry Ellis has played all the greatest roles on the West End; from Elphaba to Nancy to Fantine, she’s done them all. Her voice was soon picked up by rock legend, Brian May, who chose her to be the original character. Meat. in the West End musical We Will Rock You. It wasn’t long before Brian and Kerry were recording an album together and in this special lockdown session, Brian joined Kerry for a special (virtual!) performance of Love of My Life.
Kerry is playing Ulster Hall in her first ever solo Irish show on 06 December 2020. Get your tickets here.
Ryan McMullan
Ryan’s popularity has sky-rocketed in recent years having gone from playing gigs in local bars in Portaferry to supporting Ed Sheeran on his European Tour. Ryan’s shows have quickly turned into one of the hottest tickets in town and when you listen to this, you’ll soon understand why. Here’s Ryan giving us a treat to his song Letting Go For A Little While from his home, putting the term Homegrown Talent on a whole new level!
Ryan is playing Waterfront Hall next March and with one show already sold out, you’d better to quick to get tickets to his show on 21 March 2021. Get your tickets here.
Katherine Jenkins
Were you fortunate enough to see Katherine Jenkins as she performed at Waterfront Hall last May? Bringing classical music to the mainstream, Katherine has a voice of angels and the audience certainly agreed! This year was slightly different as Katherine performed in an empty Royal Albert Hall for a spectacular performance as part of the VE Day celebrations. Here is Katherine performing We’ll Meet Again in a duet with a virtual Vera Lynn.
