We went raving in an 800 year old crypt beneath the streets of Dublin with Vision Collector

There were strange noises rising from the crypt of Christ Church Cathedral recently. No, the dead weren’t rising, Dublin-based record company and events organiser Vision Collector were holding a night there. The crypt, which is over 800 years old, played host to some of the finest Techno Dublin has to offer with Chris Wyse aka nonethewyser, RSCH14 and Nathan Jones amongst others testing its ancient foundations. Naturally dark with low hanging stone ceilings, the Crypt made the perfect atmosphere for dancing to Techno while the driving bass was so contained were it not for the people outside smoking you would never have known what was going on inside.

Vision Collector (VC) pride themselves on the underground side of things and they are proponents of good vibes and authenticity. That night was all these things and more. It definitely wasn’t your standard Techno night in Dublin, the vibe was definitely more of a festival one with the VC staff, the DJs and the crowd all on top form. In fact, one of the VC staff went above and beyond all duties and walked around with a fan cooling everyone down! I never thought an 800-year-old crypt could be that warm in October, but I was mistaken. It got so hot down there one girl’s glasses kept steaming up, but this improved the aesthetic rather than hindered it.

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Given that Vision Collector usually champion the late night after party rather than club night, it seemed odd that they would start the night at 7pm and end before 2am. But the Crypt has been open to the public for over a decade now and doubles as a function room, so it was a case of party now during normal hours or miss out. Before the night, attendees were asked via Facebook to attend as early as possible – VC know their demographic quite well – The Dublin crowd would rather have a few drinks in the pub then all turn up at midnight. But it also showed that they were proud of the set up they have and wanted people to enjoy it as much as possible (as well as to get their money’s worth; it was quite expensive but worth every penny).

Vision Collector already has another night lined up on 18 November in the Old Irish Times Warehouse and if the last one was anything to go on I strongly advise getting yourself a ticket.

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Photo Credit : Lisa Keane


About the Author

Journalist and writer based out of Dublin. Culture enthusiast and lifelong electronic music fan, I’m completely rubbish at creating music so I‘ve decided to do the next best thing and write about it. I enjoy good beer, food and vibes. Also dancing, I’m terrible at that too, but the essential happiness required to enjoy life is best derived from making a show of yourself on a dance floor or in a muddy field. The quote I most empathise with is a little known one from Hunter Thompson ‘About nine-tenths of the time I feel like an obvious fool – but the rest of the time I know I am a saint and a hero.’