Photography: James Ward
Hope Works, Sheffield’s iconic underground electronic music venue, opened its doors for the last time on Saturday night.
The venue, which has been a vital part of the city’s underground music and rave scene, was set up in November 2012 by Founder Liam O’Shea.
After 12 years, Liam announced on Instagram in December that the venue would be closing, with the closing party taking place at the end of February.
In his statement, Liam said: “[Hope Works] has been my passion, an act of determined resilience to create something in Sheffield like no other. A uniquely programmed beacon of hope and restless freedom in the Steel City.”
It has to be said that running an underground music venue in today’s ever shifting and volatile nightlife landscape has been challenging. We survived COVID and have delivered hundreds of parties since 2012.
“However for me to continue to expand my work into new areas and have time for my family, something needed to change.”
Liam started a project called ‘Mixed in Sheffield’ back in 2009, which aimed to strengthen the electronic landscape of Sheffield.
As an artist himself, Liam ‘Lo Shea’ wanted to broaden Sheffield’s musical range past the infamous indie scene and put it on the map as an underground music hub.
He began to set up multi-genre parties in the city, which resulted in creating a club night with his friends called ‘Downlo’ at night-life venue Dan Sane from 2010-2012 and shortly after, Hope Works was created.
Hope Works was originally a WWI gun barrel factory in the industrial heart of Sheffield before it was repurposed as an events place.
I’ve been told by so many people how Hope Works was the soundtrack to their university years or it introduced them to real rave culture.
At the event on Saturday, one partygoer said: “I moved over here in 2012 and this was the first nightclub I ever came to. Before I even moved to Sheffield, I came to this nightclub. It was nice to come and feel like I’d found somewhere I belonged.”
Another first-timer at Hope Works said: “This is my first time here. From the door staff, to the people here, to the music that’s on, it feels safe.
“Sheffield used to be indie music, now it’s the kind of music we’re here to listen to tonight.”
Nowadays, you go into any club and you hear bassline. It’s the sound of the city. That’s what was so good about Hope Works – it was Sheffield sound.
While Hope Works will be missed, Liam has ensured that his festival ‘No Bounds’, which draws in crowds from all over the country, will continue to go ahead.
He says that Hope Works is “a story that’s still ongoing”.
