Club Onion is the brainchild of Twisted Onion promoters Steve Solbé and Steve Hardaker. The events bring a mix of live bands, electronic artists and DJs to locations across the UK with the vibe being very much 1988–1992, bringing to mind the Megadog events from back in the day. The fifth Nottingham edition took place at The Old Cold Store...
There’s an air of expectancy at The Old Cold Store for tonight’s Club Onion 5 featuring Eat Static, Filter Sequence, Steve Hardaker and DJ Indigo Herder. The event has relocated from The Chapel to this larger space as previous events featuring the likes of Banco de Gaia and Sunscreem have sold out. The crowd is a mix of aging ravers and many who were yet to be born during the heady 90s. The walls and stage are illuminated by mind-bending visuals care of Brendan O’Melia’s Metempsychosis light show.
The night starts with a wonderful set from DJ Indigo Herder warming up the crowd whose impeccable choices join the dots between acid house, trance and techno. We get to hear Primal Scream, Transglobal Underground and Underworld amongst his heady sonic cocktail.
The first live act is Nottingham favourite Filter Sequence who takes to the stage wearing a large Spanish onion on his head as well as a pair of glasses that seem to change colour as the music twists and turns. Early into the set he performs Acid Jubilee which features live vocals inbetween squelches and bleeps which he tweaks with the 303. New track I am Not a Goth has a cheeky sample of Nottingham’s Bloodworm which some members of the crowd seem to spot. Images of 80s goths are projected on the stage to transport people back to 1982. Favourites including Derby Ravers and Garvey Haircut really get everyone going and at one point Filter Sequence plays the 303 with his teeth like some acid house Hendrix being egged on by the enthusiastic crowd.
Next it’s the turn of tonight’s headliner - the legendary Eat Static. Wearing his trademark alien mask, he is welcomed on stage by an expectant crowd. Behind him an image of a B-movie UFO is accompanied by sub bass and alien electronics. The UFO and sonics take off and the place erupts. Over his 35 year career, Eat Static (Merv Pepler) has headlined festivals all over the world including regular performances at Glastonbury.
Eat Static pioneered the psytrance sound of the early 90s and tonight’s set also includes nods to jazz and world music. The hypnotic projections from Metempsychosis further add to the sense of alien abduction unfolding on the stage. It’s a continuous set full of peaks and drops that takes us to the outer limits of time and space. The energy coming from the stage and crowd is palpable and there’s not a static body in the room.
The set reaches its final zenith and he finally leaves the stage. The euphoric crowd cannot believe what they have just witnessed. It turns out that that today it’s Merv’s birthday and Filter Sequence appears on stage carrying a cake and candles. The crowd start singing “Happy Birthday” and Merv makes his way back to blow out his candles. A very surreal moment to end an incredible set.
The final act is Walsall’s Steve Hardaker whose banging psytrance draws parallels with Eat Static or Juno Reactor. Steve is a virtuoso pianist so it’s nice to see him hammering out chords on his keyboard. The set finishes with the wonderful Ocean Drive which is in the same territory as Orbital’s Belfast. Smoke and lasers dance overhead as Steve’s sublime melodies and 303 throb wash over the grinning crowd. Before we know it, he’s gone all too soon and DJ Indigo Herder puts on Leftfield’s Sea Shanty.
For just one night, it really did seem like it was 1992. Club Onion certainly is becoming one of the best nights in the East Midlands with their choice of artists and a fantastic happy crowd… know your onions!
Club Onion returns to Nottingham on 11th April 2026.
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