The Output Belfast Music Conference returned for another successful year in 2026. This successful day was followed by the annual Evening Showcase across 7 Cathedral Quarter Venues and brought to you by 13 different music industry hosts!
The one that I had the chance to attend was at The Oh Yeah Centre and hosted by New Champion Management!
Panic Over started the night off with ‘Part Of Something’. This is a genius and unique blend of indie-rock with elements of pop influence. Their music, in addition to their terrific audience interaction, really forces the crowd to get up, dance and be apart of the overall experience! The stand-out song from their set was “Paper Planes”. It is unsurprising that this tune was featured on ITV Sport’s big closing montage of the England vs Ireland 6 Nations Rugby clash as it really was something special and different to anything I’ve heard in the local scene at the moment!
Following on from Panic Over was the Belfast-based alternative-rock/grunge band GUSH. GUSH started their set off with their newest release, ‘Constance’. Constance has a blend of psychedelia alongside their usual fuzz-drenched guitar tones and their minute pop hooks that gives the song a pretty introspective feeling. Their vocalist, Chelsea Andrews, pulls a lot of emotion behind both the lyricism and its delivery onstage. She doesn’t just sing the lyrics but feels the lyrics and performs them to the entire crowd, leaving those in the audience in awe. GUSH’s performance and music at Output reminded me of high-octane 90s alternative bands such as Hole mixed with a little bit of Siouxsie and The Banshees and Spinnerette.
The Thing Is… then took to the stage. One thing that I really enjoyed about their set was their usage of spoken dialogue. This was used to great effect on their opener, ‘Disconnect’. I think that this is truly reflective of emotions and added so much to their lasting performance overall. Their soundscapes were extremely melodic and worked so beautifully with their raw lyricism. They also had such a variety of sound, with some of their songs being lighter and less instrument-heavy, whereas others were filled with anger and darkness. The highlight from their set was closer ‘COINT’.
To finish off the night was the solo art-pop classical violinist and singer Pinsleep. Pinsleep was truly something that I’ve never experienced before. The instrumentals of their music combined with layers of acoustic violin with vocals, all done using live electronic equipment. There was something beautiful yet so eerie about how she incorporated sound effects with her live music. What a finishing act for a great night at Output 2026!
